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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Moon Orbits the Sun?!?!

For Teachers 8th - Higher Ed
Students calculate the strength of gravitational force exerted on the moon by the sun and earth. In this orbital lesson plan students view a demonstration to see the gravitational forces between bodies.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Saturn’s Moons

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students compare Saturn's moons to the Earth's moon.  In this moon lesson plan students work in groups and complete a lab activity then answer questions. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bringing the Solar System to Life

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students walk marked paths as they simulate the orbit of the planets.  In this solar system lesson, students recognize the relationship between the sun and the planets.  Students visualize how the phases of the moon are seen.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Our Sun and the Four Seasons

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Young scholars discover the relationship between the sun and Earth.  For this weather lesson, students examine the effect of the sun on the Earth's seasons.  Young scholars complete a weather activity using props to simulate the sun and...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

The International Space Station

For Students 8th - 10th
In this International Space Station worksheet, students are given the altitude changes in the space station on a graph from 2000-2004. Students answer 5 questions about the trends in the graph, the changes in altitude, the reason for the...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

A Matter of Timing

For Students 7th - 9th
In this orbital period worksheet, students solve 2 problems about satellites and their orbits. They determine how many days it takes for two satellites to be in "opposition", they find the least common factor between their orbit periods...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Drawing Ellipses Lab

For Students 9th - 11th
In this ellipse worksheet, learners learn the difference between an orbit and an ellipse. They draw ellipses and calculate the distance between foci, they calculate the length of the major axis and they determine the eccentricity. They...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Phases of the Moon

For Students 4th - 7th
In this moon phases learning exercise, students learn about the different phases that the moon goes through. They then use the information the learned to answer the 9 questions in the packet. The answers are on the last page.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stellar Resorts

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners explore the future of "orbital vacations" and create fanciful tours of the Milky Way Galaxy. Students respond to the following prompt in their journals "Entrepreneurs are currently designing concepts for accommodating tourists...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocket Science 101

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners explore the aspects of Newton's First and Third Laws of Motion as they conduct controlled rocketry experiments and analyze the Mars Mission in terms of the principles of rocketry.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cosmic Wheels

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students build a scale model of the Solar System and determine the time other planets take to travel around the Sun in comparison to the time of the Earth's revolution. The velocity of the planets are also determined in this lesson.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Orbital Mechanics

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders examine the misconceptions of Newton's laws of motion.  In this motion and gravity activity students interpret data and see the effects of gravity. 
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Worksheet
Curated OER

The Universe

For Students 6th - 8th
In this space science instructional activity, middle schoolers use the clues given at the bottom of the sheet to complete the crossword puzzle relating to the universe. There are 16 clues to solve in the puzzle.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Our Moon

For Students 7th - 9th
In this space science worksheet, students use the clues given at the bottom of the sheet to solve the crossword puzzle on our moon. They name another name for the moon and the moon's gravity compared to that of the earth.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Plasmasphere

For Students 10th - 11th
In this plasmasphere worksheet, students determine how long the plasmasphere takes to rotate around the Earth using two satellite images taken three hours apart.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Keep Your Eye on the Sky

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Pupils examine the different types of satellites, cloud formations and weather patterns.  In this weather lesson students use the Internet to research weather satellites, then write an article and create graphs. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Orbiting Satellites

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore the concept of orbits.  In this Algebra II lesson, 11th graders investigate Earth-orbiting satellites as they use algebraic thinking to calculate altitude and velocity. 
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Organizer
Curated OER

Exploring the Solar System

For Students 6th
In this exploring the solar system worksheet, 6th graders use the online Gizmo then answer 14 questions and complete a chart about planets and orbits.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Catching Some Rays

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore the tilt of Earth's axis. In this Earth lesson, 6th graders read a Greek mythology story explaining why there are seasons. Students build a sun-ray gathering tool from styrofoam, glue, thermometers, skewers, and...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

ISS-Orbit Altitude Changes

For Students 10th - 12th
In this ISS-Orbit worksheet, students read about the International Space Station and determine the altitude of the station on April 2009 given the re-boosting necessary to prevent the Space Station from burning up in the atmosphere.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Our Solar System

For Students 6th - 10th
In this solar system worksheet, students read about the planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and the moon. Then students complete 25 multiple choice, 4 true or false, and 3 short answer questions.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Homework on Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion

For Students 7th - 10th
In this Kepler's Law worksheet, students answer questions given a diagram of the orbits of two planets about the sun. They use Kepler's Three Laws of Planetary Motion to answer the questions.
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Organizer
Curated OER

Earth, Moon, and Sun

For Students 3rd
In this earth, moon, and sun orbits worksheets, students will read the cause of four different events that focus on the earth's rotation around the sun and the moon's rotation around the earth. Then students will write in the effect of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Sun

For Teachers 8th - 10th
In this space science worksheet, students identify and name which gases make up the sun and the name of the part of the sun that we can see from Earth. Then they describe a solar eclipse and draw a diagram illustrating what happens...