Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Build a Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
Make a scale model of the Solar System and learn the REAL definition of "space." You tell it how large to make the sun (in inches or millimeters) and the page will do all of the calculations for your scale model solar system and provide...
Activity
Science Struck

Science Struck: 5 Creative Solar System Project Ideas Kids Can Try

For Students 3rd - 5th
Detailed descriptions of five solar system science projects for students.
Unit Plan
BBC

Bbc: Space Race

For Students 9th - 10th
There are galaxies far, far away, but just how big is our own solar system? Scroll through this interactive to quickly observe just how much we know and have learned about our solar system.
Website
NASA

Nasa: Solar System Exploration

For Students 9th - 10th
A website with various activities for different grade levels covering the subject of space exploration. Activities include building your own solar system, coloring pages, making models, and even a solar system cookbook.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Experimenting With Angular Diameter and Distance (Study of Outer Space)

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In studying the solar system, students compare the relative sizes of the sun and the moon, and experiment with angular diameter, apparent diameter and distance.
Website
University of Maryland

University of Maryland: The Astronomy Workshop

For Students 9th - 10th
Find tools to calculate astronomical distances and sizes, to view various Solar System models, to compare gravity's affect on weight, and more. A good place to find interesting facts, simple animations, and astronomy links to physics and...
Website
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: A Guide to Astronomy Resources

For Students 9th - 10th
A portal to resources on the sun, the Earth's neighboring planets, and the weather in space. Find out why Saturn is the "jewel of the Solar System" and explore what happens when Venus and Mercury make their rare transits across the sun.
Activity
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Activity: Scale of the Universe on a String

For Students 9th - 10th
This activity will help your students comprehend the huge scales of time and space by using familiar objects. You can explore the massive distances of our Solar System using scale models made out of string. Included is a scale model of...
Lesson Plan
NASA

Nasa: Mars and Earth: Science Learning Activities for Afterschool

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
This set of activities teaches students about the big picture of science using Mars as an example: how to collect data, use evidence, and look at models.
Website
Enchanted Learning

Enchanted Learning: Zoom Astronomy

For Students 3rd - 5th
Where is our Solar System? How far away is the sun? What makes up the sun? Find out all you want to know about our solar system. This is a comprehensive on-line site about space and astronomy. Check out all of the excitement!
Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Discovery Education: Classroom Planetarium

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Create a classroom model of the solar system while teaching about relative size of all the planets, and each planet's distance from the sun.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Daylighting Design

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students explore the many different ways that engineers provide natural lighting to interior spaces. They analyze various methods of daylighting by constructing model houses from foam core board and simulating the sun with a desk lamp....
Graphic
NASA

Nasa: Astronomy Picture of the Day: Jupiter's Clouds 3 D

For Students 9th - 10th
Every day is a cloudy day on Jupiter, the Solar System's reigning gas giant. This 3-dimensional visualization presents a simplified model view from between Jovian cloud decks based on imaging and spectral data recorded by the Galileo...
Website
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: The Wind Swe Home Page

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a technical site from MIT. It provides data and information from satellites which observe solar winds. Provide 3-D models of the heliosphere and uptodate plots of solar wind data.
Website
Other

Paper Plate Education: Serving the Universe on a Paper Plate

For Students 3rd - 8th
Excellent resource for "paper-plate" activities that help simplify various astronomy topics. Learn how to build a "Moon Finder" and "Planet Pointer," and create a paper-plate model that explains the Transit of Venus.