PUMAS Examples

Currently the PUMAS collection contains 93 examples.

The PUMAS examples are aimed primarily at helping pre-college teachers enrich their presentation of topics in math and science.

• You may find a number of examples that relate to your area of interest, perhaps written in different styles, and possibly taking different approaches to the material. There may also be comments/lesson plans filed with some of the examples, written by previous users.
• Use these examples as a resource -- Select, adapt, recontextualize, and present the material to your students in a way that you judge will best meet your students' needs, abilities, and interests.
• You may have ideas related to a particular example that might be helpful to subsequent users. There is an opportunity, on the "Display an Example" page associated with that example, for you to submit your comments/lesson plans.
• PUMAS examples are citable references. If you use material from PUMAS examples in other work, please cite them appropriately, e.g.: Chambers, L.H., "How Now, Pythagoras?", 07_10_98_1, The PUMAS Collection, http://pumas.nasa.gov, 1998.

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This is a good way to start, or to find examples added after a certain date. Click links below to get the list of all the PUMAS Examples, arranged by that field.

Examples by Author

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Aaron, Kim

• Just What is a Logarithm, Anyway?

Bainbridge, Ph.D., Ted

• Finding All Solutions to a Puzzle
• An Example of the Value of Information
• Battle Strategies in the Bismarck Sea
• Confidence in Medical Tests
• How to Win at Rock-Paper-Scissors
• Proving the Pythagorean Theorem
• Motivating Honest Budgets and Hard Work Simultaneously
• Measuring the Earth

Bellar, James

• Domino Multiple Game

Bogaert, Jan

• Isoperimetric Geometry

Broome, Paul

• Square Roots Using a Carpenter's Square

Cantrell, Will

• Why Don’t Clouds Fall Out of the Sky?

Chambers, Lin

• Logarithms: Taking the Curve Out
• Geometry to the Rescue: A Story in Pictures
• How Now, Pythagoras?
• It's Raining Cats and Dogs...and Fish and Frogs...and Birds

Cohen, Martin P.

• Learning from Slide Rules

Cooper, Cynthia

• Why Don’t Clouds Fall Out of the Sky?

Edberg, Stephen J.

• Seeing Interference Fringes with a Telescope
• The Moon Orbits the Sun?!?!
• When a Ruler Is Too Short
• Why is Summer Hot?
• Why Is There a Tidal Bulge Opposite the Moon?
• Studies of a Population of Stars: Mapping the Positions of Stars
• How Big Is the Earth?
• Color and Spectrum
• Earth Turns? Prove It!
• Length of the Day
• Sand or Rock? Finding Out from 1,000 km
• Seeing Interference Fringes
• What the Doppler Effect Tells Us About Distant Stars and Planets
• Studies of a Population of Stars: Distances and Motions
• Studies of a Population of Stars: How Bright Are the Stars, Really?

Foster, James

• Determining the Altitude of Iridium Flares
• Can an Astronaut on Mars distinguish the Earth from its Moon?
• Snowmelt and Floods

Frolking, Steve

• Two Answers are Better than One
• Learning to Think Globally

Gabriel, Philip

• Estimating Planar Areas Using Analogue Methods

Gateau, Katherine

• Launch Speed

Grimes, S. Kathryn

• Estimating Planar Areas Using Analogue Methods

Jones, Alan L.

• Grandpa’s Social Security

Kahn, Ralph

• Spoon Mirror
• The Shadow of the Dog
• How Far Can You See?

Kerski, Joseph

• Mapping Your State and Community

Kiefer, Peter

• What is Wind Chill?

Kleidman, Richard

• Particle Man and the Photon

Manfred, Owe

• Determining the Altitude of Iridium Flares

Manning, Evan M.

• How Many Days Are in a Year?
• Modulus in Real Life
• Automatic Windshield Wipers
• Making Months

Menon, Ramakrishnan

• Algebra Magic - Create Your Own Number Puzzles
• Why Tailgating on Freeways is Unsafe: A Real-life Example Using Quadratic Equations
• Square Root of 2: Irrational, Yes! Impractical, No!

Miller, Dan

• Thermo and Fluid Dynamics of a Homemade “Lava Lamp”

Moore, Richard

• Making Clouds: Aerosol-Cloud Interactions in a Beaker

Moren, Charles R.

• Pilots, Airplanes, and the Tangent of Three (3) Degrees
• Now You See It, Now You Don’t

Moxey, Lucas

• Volcanoes and Urban Planning

Narguizian, Paul

• Scavenger Hunt: Simulating Natural Selection

Ostler, Elliott

• Geometric Addition + Logarithms = Geometric Multiplication
• Probability and Traffic Signals

Parkinson, Claire L.

• Ice Sheets and Sea Level Rise
• Lower Calories, Lower Fat: Making a Healthier Cake Without Loss of Taste

Pasternack, Gregory B.

• Could a World of Swimmers Raise Sea Level?

Rao, Shanti

• Rotational Motion and Rocket Launches

Ratheal, Juli

• Teaching Radicals in Less than Five Minutes
• Domino Multiple Game

Reid, Joseph B.

• Metric Wins!

Remer, Lorraine

• Contouring and Topo Maps
• Mixing and Stirring
• Cross Section and Slope
• Hypothermia in the Little House
• Particle Man and the Photon
• Preventing Hypothermia
• There's Air in There!

Rodriguez, Lizzette A.

• Volcanic Clouds and the Atmosphere

Rosentrater, Lynn

• Learning to Think Globally
• Two Answers are Better than One

Ruby, Joseph L.

• Dr. Smith vs. The Lawyer

Ruzek, Martin J.

• How Thick is the Atmosphere?

Salmons, Phyllis A.

• Dream Job
• Matching Birthdays

Scott, Anna

• What makes cities hot? An urban heat island activity

Simonelli, Glenn

• The Cause of the Earth's Seasons
• Modeling the Motions of the Earth, Moon and Sun
• The Cause of the Phases of the Moon
• The Mathematical Implications of Lying
• The Rubber Band Problem

Spiegel, Murray F.

• The Fall of the Ruler
• Right Place, Wrong Time

Stern, David

• Can an Astronaut on Mars distinguish the Earth from its Moon?

Stevermer, Amy J.

• Coastal Threat: A Story In Unit Conversions

Van Hecke, Tanja

• Corrupted Politicians

Vogel, Jackie

• Dollar$ or Cent$?

Wawers, Kathleen

• Teaching Atomic Structure Using Cooperative Learning

White, Loren

• Water Bottles, Root Beer, and Air

Wylie, Donald P.

• Who Hits Harder: The Nordic Skier or Aerial Jumper?

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