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Before there were clocks, people used shadows to tell time. In this outdoor activity, learners will discover how to tell time using only a compass, a pencil, a handy printout, and a sunny day.

In this engineering/design activity, learners make a kite, fly it, and then work to improve the design. Learners explore how their kite design variations affect flight.

In this activity, learners construct hand-held altitude trackers. The device is a sighting tube with a marked water level that permits measurement of the inclination of the tube.

In this activity, learners explore how engineers design devices that can detect the presence of pollutants in the air.

In this activity, learners design and build a simple wind vane —one of the oldest kinds of weather tools— and use it to show wind direction.

Use this Moon Map Guide to help learners identify features on the Moon, while looking through a telescope.

Learners work in teams to design and build solar water heating devices that mimic those used in residences to capture energy in the form of solar radiation and convert it to thermal energy.

Learners construct one or more of the following kinds of sundials: a shadow plot, a horizontal sundial, and a diptych sundial.

In this activity, learners use their hands as tools for indirect measurement.

In this meteorology activity, learners build weather vanes using straws, paperclips, and cardstock.

Learners build a solar oven from a cardboard pizza box, aluminum foil and plastic. Learners can use their oven to cook S'mores or other food in the sun.

This activity (on page 2 of the PDF under SciGirls Activity: Forecasting) is a full inquiry investigation into meteorology and forecasting.

In this activity, learners use the Sun's energy to cook marshmallows. Learners construct the solar oven out of simple everyday materials.

In this activity, learners make water rockets to explore Newton's Third Law of Motion. Learners make the rockets out of plastic bottles and use a bicycle pump to pump them with air.

In this international citizen science activity, learners measure their night sky brightness and submit their observations into an online database.

This activity shows how our experience of the Sun changes with time and location. The sun dagger at Chaco Canyon is thought by many to be a sort of ancient timekeeping device.

In this activity, learners will measure the length of a shadow and use the distance from the equator to calculate the circumference of the earth.

In this activity, learners make an equatorial sundial, which is simple to construct and teaches fundamental astronomical concepts. Learners use the provided template and a straw to build the sundial.

In this meteorology activity, learners construct simple devices to measure the direction and speed of wind.

In this environmental science activity, learners research what is essential for plant life and the necessary components of soil to support plants.