Astronomy Teacher Resources

Astronomy is literally over your head, but this lesson will explain how we study it. Young scientists make telescopes, calculate and compare the light gathering power of lenses, and simulate detection of infared radiation....

Springboard your fourth and fifth graders into the study geologic time. They will complete 7 activities to learn about geologic time and the topics most often associated with it: astronomy, creation, planet formation, volcanology,...

Crystal ball or big, hairy, dirty snowball? Take young astronomy scholars on an up-close investigation of comets with a video. Topics include the makeup of comets and their two tails, long- and short-period comets, and how they interact...

What lies beyond our solar system? Share an interesting video describing the Oort Cloud with astronomy scholars to find out! The narrator explains that this far-flung region, along with the scattered disk and Kuiper belt, is...

Students create projects on Astronomy using math concepts and use of Internet resources.

Students explore the profession of astronomy.  In this social studies lesson, students read articles on astronomers contributions to society and history.  Students reference the Bible for recorded astronomies impact on the...

Fifth graders participate in online astronomy activities with hundreds of fun explorations into astronomy as a classroom tool for learning how to theorize, experiment, and analyze data.

Students become aware of some of the objects studied in, and concepts associated with, high-energy astronomy. They do this by participating in card games that teach and review these concepts.

Learners will determine distances to nearby stars using parallax. For this Astronomy lesson plan, students will use a web program, trigonometry, and sketches to determine the distance of stars.

Students use the Internet to research astronomy questions written by another class. As questions are answered, clues are given telling where the other class is "hiding" in the world.

Students use the Internet to research astronomy questions written by another class. As questions are answered, clues are given telling where the other class is "hiding" in the world.

Students analyze the optical region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Students explore what black holes are and how gravity is associated with them.  In this space lesson plan students are given enough information to imagine a journey to a black hole. 

Students engage in a fun, creative way to discover how the Earth moves. This lesson helps students explain why there is day and night. It can also create curiosity to further study the solar system and eclipses!

Second graders draw and label each planet, Saturn and Uranus, showing 2 specific individual characteristics of each.

Students explore many of the key scientific and technological contributions made by the ancient Egyptians. Researched data is presented to the entire group.

Seventh graders explore several well documented artistic and scientific accomplishments that were discovered or perfected during The Golden Age of Islam. They are staff writers of a magazine who create a feature article about a topic...

Students work with a real optical spectrum of a gamma ray burst afterglow taken at the Keck Observatory. They measure the shifts of spectral lines, deduce the velocity of the astronomical object, and then use Hubble's Law to get its...

Students become familiar with the variables that control Earth's solar energy supply. They explore the source and nature of solar energy, the genesis of radiation, and the structrue of the Sun, gas spectra are observed and sample...

In this field trip study guide for the planetarium show lesson, students construct a model of the Earth and describe the relative positions of the continents using latitude and longitude. Students construct a star chart to find...

Students examine constellations and planets through completing various activities. Students work individually and in groups to create drawings based on stars, compare and contrast the night sky with and without a telescope and learn...

In this area under the curve worksheet, students use a graph of the number of exoplanets discovered and the year they were discovered to solve 5 problems. Students find the total area under the curve, they find the total number of...

In this round astronomical bodies instructional activity, students use 6 photographs of various solar system bodies to answer 5 questions related to the roundness of these bodies. They create a number to represent the roundness of an...

In this scientific notation worksheet, students are given 10 sets of numbers expressed in scientific notation. They either add or subtract the given numbers.