These 12 guides, developed by the NASA HEAT program, are designed to facilitate a hands-on experience with the basic ingredients to the study of how our sun interacts with Earth. The first guide is an illustrated introduction to magnetism with a specific emphasis on solar storms and space weather. The next three guides explore the plasma state of matter at Introductory (grades 3-5), Intermediate (grades 6-8) and Advanced (grades 9-12) levels. The final three guides explore magnetism and the properties of magnetic fields in space, at the same levels. Five additional guides allow students to build magnetometers of increasing capability to observe how Earth’s magnetic field changes during solar storm events. These are as simple as the soda bottle magnetometer, and progress to Arduino-based systems with near-observatory sensitivity; all under $50. All guides make explicit mention of their connections to the Next Generation Science Standards for the convenience of teachers planning a curriculum.
