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Space Weather and Solar Activity ©2014 National Geographic Society + Level High Grades 9-12 Space Weather and Solar Activity ©2014 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. Society. Geographic National ©2014 Brown of FEI and Lola courtesy Photo ACTIVITY: SPACE WEATHER AND SOLAR ACTIVITY Big Idea Students learn how solar activity is monitored and examine the impact the sun has on space weather and Earth systems. Guiding Question How do scientists monitor solar activity? What impact does solar activity have on space weather and the living and technological systems of Earth? TIP: Review the Solar Activity Graph and practice the solar activity internal calculation before your classroom visit. Materials 1. Calculators 2. Pencils 3. Rulers 4. Computer and projector and internet connection (if available) 5. Print one copy of handout for each student in the class 6. Project or print enough copies of this image for small groups of students to share: Sunspot images: • http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/ssn_predict_l.gif • http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/synoptic/sunspots_earth/mdi_sunspots_1024.jpg • http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/hmi_igr/512/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdomission/6830537079/ • “Impacts of Space Weather Illustration”: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/media/photos/000/285/28580.jpg • SDO Image National Aeronautics and Space Administration Solar Dynamics Observatory: Spacecraft. http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/mission/spacecraft.php Set Up Arrange the desks so students can alternate between small-group work and all-class discussions and demonstrations. Student groups will need access to power outlets for their microscopes. For the complete activity and www.classroomengineers.org Page 1 of 9 media resources, please visit: Level High Grades 9-12 + Space Weather and Solar Activity Introduction Teacher introduces the engineer/classroom visitor Setting the Stage • Show the introductory video. • Tell them who you are, what you do, and what it’s like to work in your career. ©2014 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. Society. Geographic National ©2014 • Tell them a story about how you got interested in engineering/your career or something that happened in your work that was really exciting—something that truly made a difference in your life. • Show the activity PowerPoint presentation, as appropriate. Hands-on Activity Solar Activity Graph Have students view the Solar Activity Graph and make observations. Ask: What do the data in the graph represent? Do you notice any patterns, trends, or interesting data points? If so, which ones? Students should realize that although they may not know much about solar activity, sunspots, or the details of the data, they are able to draw some conclusions about the graph. Help them determine that it is a time series graph showing time (years) along the x-axis and sunspot number along the y-axis. They should be able to see a cyclical pattern in the data. Explain that the activity will teach them more about solar activity, how these data were collected, and why it is important to us on Earth. Solar Monitoring: Sunspots and SDO Show students images of sunspots and ask them if they know what the images are showing. Explain that sunspots are dark, cooler areas on the surface of the sun that can move, change, and disappear over time. Sunspots are caused by solar activity, occurring in areas with intense energy and magnetic activity. Sunspot images like these provide the data for the Solar Activity Graph. Tell students that the sun is about 150 million kilometers (93 million miles) from Earth. Ask: Why do you think we care about what’s going on with the sun and its sunspots? Emphasize that solar activity results in interactions between the magnetic fields of the sun and Earth. This can impact Earth’s living and technological systems. Ask: How do we know that the sun’s activity and magnetic field can impact us on Earth? How do we learn about the sun if it is so far away? Explain that until recently, we could not see much beyond small sections of the sun’s surface (photosphere). But now, new spacecraft, cameras, and instruments provide highly detailed data that allow us to “see” all the way through the sun. Introduce students to the mission and monitoring instruments of the Space Dynamics Observatory. Project or share the image, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Solar Dynamics Observatory: Spacecraft. Read or paraphrase the following description: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission collects images and video of the sun’s interior and exterior to better understand features of space weather—sunspots, solar wind, solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CME), and auroras. Solar storms result in interactions between the magnetic fields of the sun and Earth. Measuring Solar Activity Divide students into teams of 3-4. Explain to them that just like the scientists and engineers working on the SDO mission, they are going to work together to calculate the average (mean) interval of solar activity they observed on the Solar Activity Graph. Explain that on the graph the sunspot numbers are used to gauge the level of solar activity occurring on the sun at a given time. Explain that there is a correlation between the number of sunspots and solar activity. Ask: What does it mean for two things (types of data, or variables) to be correlated? Explain that there are positive correlations and negative correlations. Provide teams with the Solar Activity Graph handout, pencils, rulers, and calculators. Each team must decide on the best, most accurate method they can use to calculate the average interval of solar activity. They should discuss and note sources of error that may affect their calculations. Give students 10 minutes to complete their calculations. For the complete activity and www.classroomengineers.org Page 2 of 9 media resources, please visit: Level High Grades 9-12 + Space Weather and Solar Activity NOTE: Students may try to overcomplicate the task. Remind them that 10 minutes is plenty of time for them to calculate and double check their solar activity cycle estimate. Some groups may require additional guidance and prompting. The idea is that students will see the cyclical nature of the graph in the peaks and valleys of the sunspot number (y-axis) over time (x-axis). To calculate the average (mean) interval of solar activity, students can simply divide the graph’s total number of years (approximately 265) by the number of peaks or valleys (approximately 24). Their results will range from 10 to 12 years with an average of approximately 11 years per cycle. ©2014 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. Society. Geographic National ©2014 Wrap-Up Discuss solar activity calculations and findings Discuss student results and findings. Address any misconceptions and questions. Ask teams to share the intervals of solar activity they calculated from the Solar Activity Graph. Optional: Record each team’s result on the board and calculate an overall class average (mean) that can be compared to the actual cycle of approximately 11 years. Ask: How did your team decide on its method? What were sources of error you needed to consider? Sources of error could be related to accuracy and precision of student measurements and calculations. Human error could also be a factor. Students could decrease error by working together, deciding on a precise method, and performing the calculations multiple times. Ask students if they think the number of sunspots and solar activity are positively or negatively correlated. The data show a positive correlation because as the number of sunspots increases, solar activity increases. Likewise, as the number of sunspots decreases, solar activity decreases. Ask: Are we currently in an interval of high or low solar activity? Based on what they learned in the activity, ask students to brainstorm ways space weather and solar activity could impact Earth’s living and technological systems. Project the “Impacts of Space Weather Illustration” to aid the discussion. Examples include global climate, navigation (GPS), communications (radio transmitters), electricity transmissions (power grids), and spacecraft and satellites beyond the atmosphere. Ask students if they think SDO and other missions, including sunspot monitoring, could help predict solar activity and its influence on Earth. In what ways? For the complete activity and www.classroomengineers.org Page 3 of 9 media resources, please visit: Level High Grades 9-12 + Space Weather and Solar Activity SUPPORT MATERIALS—FOR THE CLASSROOM VISITOR Background Information Space weather results from solar activity that creates ever-changing conditions in space. Magnetic energy drives the sun’s activity, which is correlated to the occurrence of sunspots on the sun’s surface, or photosphere. Sunspots are dark, cooler areas on the surface of the sun that can move, change, and disappear over time. Sunspots are caused by solar activity, occurring in areas with intense energy and magnetic activity. With at least 250 years of data, sunspots became the first means of measuring and monitoring solar activity, the driver of space weather. NASA’s Solar Dynamics ©2014 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. Society. Geographic National ©2014 Observatory (SDO) mission collects images and video of the sun’s interior and exterior to better understand features of space weather: sunspots, solar wind, solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CME), and auroras. SDO includes three primary instruments: HMI, EVE, and AIA. HMI (Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager) records and maps where the magnetic field of the sun comes from and how it is converted to space weather. EVE (Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment) measures extreme UV solar irradiance. Solar irradiance is the energy that hits the Earth from the sun. Extreme UV is deadly and can interfere with people, electronics, radio communications, and navigation in space. AIA (Atmospheric Imaging Assembly) takes images of the solar atmosphere in multiple wavelengths to locate different magnetic fields so their movements and energy can be tracked.
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