- Description
| The NASA "Why?"
Files series is a distance learning initiative designed to integrate and enhance the
teaching of mathematics, science, and technology in grades 3-5. Each episode includes
hands-on classroom and home activities, virtual field trips, subject-matter experts, and
Dr. "D," the tree house detectives' next-door neighbor and mentor. The tree
house detectives form an ethnically diverse cast of inquisitive school children who use
Problem-Based Learning strategies and scientific inquiry to investigate a variety of
issues and problems. |
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- Episodes
The Case of the
Mysterious Red Light
Have you ever seen an unusually bright red sunrise or sunset and wondered why? That's
exactly what happens in The Case of the Mysterious Red Light as the tree house detectives
accept the challenge of trying to find the source of the red light.
The Case of the Barking Dogs (R)
The tree house detectives accept the challenge of determining why dogs in the surrounding
neighborhoods have unexpectedly started barking early in the morning and late at night.
While investigating the mystery, the detectives learn about sound: what it is, how it is
transmitted, and how people and animals hear.
The Case of the "Wright" Invention
Travel back in time with the tree house detectives to learn about the process of invention
from two of the greatest inventors of all time, Orville and Wilbur Wright. As the tree
house detectives try to create their own invention, they get expert help from the Wright
brothers, NASA researchers, and other experts in the community.
The Case of the Electrical Mystery (R)
The tree house detectives notice the power has gone out in all the houses on their block,
yet the electricity in their tree house is still on. Using scientific inquiry, they
discover the cause of the outage while learning about electricity and how it is generated.
They also learn about electrical currents, circuits, and distribution.
The Case of the Inhabitable Habitat
Students are invited to actively join the tree house detectives as they investigate the
devastating changes that have occurred in the local fishing industry. The fish have
disappeared! In solving this case, the tree house detectives learn about various habitats
on land, in the water, and even in space.
The Case of the Challenging Flight (R)
The tree house detectives enter a contest to create an egg carton plane. While designing
their plane, the detectives learn about the four forces of flight (lift, thrust, drag, and
gravity), all in an attempt to build an "egg-tra-ordinary" flying machine.
The Case of the Phenomenal Weather
Join the tree house detectives as they plan a trip to the Caribbean and encounter problems
trying to predict the weather. In this case, the tree house detectives will learn about
violent storms such as hurricanes and tornadoes, weather fronts, global wind patterns, and
climates. While solving the case, they will discover that predicting the weather is not
predictable at
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