HS-ESS2-5

Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes.

  1. Climate

    Let’s learn about snow

    Snow is more than just frozen water vapor. Scientists are studying everything from its shape to other planets where snowflakes fall.

    By
  2. Climate

    Surprising long-haul dust and tar are melting high glaciers

    Dust and tar blown onto high mountains, like the Himalayas, boost the melting of snow and ice far more than scientists had realized. Here’s why.

    By
  3. Ecosystems

    Soggy coastal soils? Here’s why ecologists love them

    Coastal wetlands can protect our shores from erosion, flooding and rising sea levels.

    By
  4. Environment

    Here’s one way to harvest water right out of the air

    Need water but you have no access to rain, lakes or groundwater? Materials known as metal-organic frameworks could be used to slurp that water from the air, new data show.

    By
  5. Physics

    How to temporarily ‘fossilize’ a soap bubble

    Here’s how to freeze a soap bubble in midair. Warning: The environment needs to be frosty, and even then it can take a certain amount of trial and error.

    By
  6. Climate

    Explainer: The making of a snowflake

    Have you ever wondered how a snowflake gets its shape?

    By
  7. Climate

    Explainer: Earth’s water is all connected in one vast cycle

    Water on Earth is connected in an endless loop called the water cycle.

    By
  8. Chemistry

    Explainer: How is water cleaned up for drinking

    Unless you’re drinking well water, city folks typically get drinking water that has been treated in a water-treatment plant. Here’s what that means.

    By
  9. Climate

    Explainer: Winds and where they come from

    Temperature and pressure are critical factors affecting why the wind blows where it does. Understanding the nature of wind can teach us a lot about weather.

    By
  10. Earth

    Antarctic ice shelf sheds Delaware-sized iceberg

    Larsen C is a major ice shelf in Antarctica. An iceberg the size of Delaware has just splintered off of it in one of the largest calving events ever recorded.

    By
  11. Oceans

    Teen’s invention can warn of deadly rip currents

    A teen lifeguard from Australia has invented a buoy that can alert swimmers to the strong, swift and deadly rip currents that can sweep them dangerously far offshore.

    By
  12. Climate

    Arctic Sea could be ice-free by 2050

    Everyone contributes to the melting of Arctic sea ice, and all are in danger of making summer ice disappear there completely by 2050, a new study finds.

    By