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Hot Equator, Cold Poles
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In this activity, learners use multiple thermometers, placed at different angles, and a lamp to investigate why some places on Earth's surface are much hotter than others.
Amazing Albedo
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In this experiment, learners work in teams to investigate how the color of a surface influences its ability to reflect light and therefore heat.
Make a Prism
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In this activity, learners will make their own prism and use a glass of water to separate sunlight into different colors.
Zero-Energy Housing
In this activity, learners investigate passive solar building design with a focus solely on heating.
Solar Flare Flip Book
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In this activity, learners make their own flip book that shows real solar flares erupting from the Sun in November 2000. Step-by-step instructions are included with photos.
Model the Sun and Earth
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In this activity, learners make scale models of the Sun and Earth out of paper mache.
Solar Energy
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In this activity (page 11 of PDF), learners compare the air pressure within a dark and a light bottle both heated by the sun, and discover that solar energy can be collected and stored in many ways
What's the Angle?
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This activity helps learners understand how the angle of the Sun affects temperatures around the globe.
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.
House Warming
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In this physical sciences activity, learners explore how passive solar design increases energy efficiency.
Cook with a Solar Oven
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In this activity, learners make their own solar oven to bake s'mores and learn about how solar energy is absorbed on Earth.
Detect Solar Storms
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In this activity, learners build their own magnetometer using an empty soda bottle, magnets, laser pointer, and household objects.
Big Sun, Small Moon
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Learners will explore the concept of angular distance, and investigate why the moon appears to be the same size as the sun during a solar eclipse, despite the sun being much larger.
Water Cycle in a Bag
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In this activity, learners create a biosphere in a baggie.
Make a UV Detector
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In this activity, learners use tonic water to detect ultraviolet (UV) light from the Sun and explore the concept of fluorescence.
Spot the Sunspots
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In this activity, learners use binoculars (or a telescope) to identify and track sunspots. If using binoculars, learners need a pair that can be secured on a tripod.
Measure the Sun's Size
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In this activity, learners make their own pinhole viewer in order to measure the size of the sun.
Sun Cookies
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In this activity, learners use candy pieces and a cookie to make an accurate model of the Sun they can eat. Parts of the delicious model include solar granules, sunspots, and solar prominences.
Save Your Skin
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This is a fun activity about the power of the Sun and the importance of using sunscreen to protect your sensitive skin from its rays.
Cooking With the Sun
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In this activity, learners build a simple solar oven out of household materials to melt chocolate and marshmallow between graham crackers--known as s'mores.