Notes for Teachers

Wednesday - Activity #1

Overview of Activity
Students will work in groups of 4 to 5 students to calculate the speed of a coronal mass ejection based on its position in a series of images from the SOHO satellite.

Grade Level
Grade 7 and up

Materials Needed
* SOHO CME Images (1 set per group)
* ruler, pencil and paper
* calculator
* tracing paper
* Pre-requisite knowledge needed
* Basic measuring skills are important in this activity.

Recommendations
For the first part of this activity, allow each group to select its own feature. Each group does not need to choose a different feature, and it is useful if at least two groups make measurements on the same feature. Results will be best achieved if either the outer edge of the bright loop at the `top' of the CME, or the edge of the dark cavity `below' the bright edge, is chosen.SPAN

Useful Links
LASCO Image Gallery : Movies and images of Coronal Mass Ejections from the LASCO instrument on the SOHO spacecraft.

The HIgh Altitude Observatory Education page : A wealth of facts about the Sun and CMEs

CME prediction page : Some of the interesting science which may point the way to predicting CMEs

The Space Weather page : Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment

Return to Top