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Exploring Ultraviolet (UV) light from the Sun
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In this outdoor activity, learners explore UV rays from the Sun and ways to protect against these potentially harmful rays.
Making An Impact!
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In this activity (on page 14 of PDF), learners use a pan full of flour and some rocks to create a moonscape.

Solar Water Heater
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.

Using a Simple Astrolabe
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In this activity, learners use an astrolabe to measure the altitude of objects. Learners will first practice taking measurements by measuring the altitude of trees and buildings.

Finding the Size of the Sun and Moon
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In this activity, learners build a simple pinhole viewer. They use this apparatus to project images from a variety of light sources, including a candle, the Sun, and the Moon.

Solar Cooker
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Learners build a simple solar oven from a shoebox, black construction paper, and aluminum foil. Over the course of a few hours, the oven heats up water enough to brew tea.

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

Cook Food Using the Sun
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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.

Rain Machine (Solar Still)
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In this activity, learners work in groups to build simple solar stills filled with salt water. After the stills are complete, learners observe what happens when they place the stills in the sun.

Solar Cell Simulation
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In this activity, learners model the flow of energy from the sun as it enters a photovoltaic cell, moves along a wire and powers a load.

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

Dunking the Planets
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In this demonstration, learners compare the relative sizes and masses of scale models of the planets as represented by fruits and other foods.

Equatorial Sundial
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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.

Biodomes Engineering Design Project
In this design-based activity, learners explore environments, ecosystems, energy flow and organism interactions by creating a model biodome. Learners become engineers who create model ecosystems.

Oil Spot Photometer
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In this math activity related to light, learners assemble a photometer and use it to estimate the power output of the Sun.

Build Your Own Solar Oven
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Learners follow directions to construct a solar oven that really cooks! The solar oven uses aluminum foil to reflect sunlight into a cooking chamber, which is painted black.

Exploring Strange New Worlds
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This fun and simple hands-on astronomy activity lets learners explore model planets (that they or an educator will create), using methods NASA scientists use to explore our Solar System.

Does Sunscreen Protect My DNA?
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In this laboratory experiment, learners explore how effectively different sunscreens protect yeast cells from damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

My Angle on Cooling: Effects of Distance and Inclination
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In this activity, learners discover that one way to cool an object in the presence of a heat source is to increase the distance from it or change the angle at which it is faced.