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Unit Plan
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Core Knowledge Foundation

Astronomy Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthologys

For Teachers 1st Standards
A read-aloud anthology focuses on astronomy. Each week for three weeks, first graders are introduced to and listen to a text, answer comprehension questions, then complete extensions that include a learning activity and skills practice....
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Planetary Mysteries

For Students 6th - 12th
A website all about planetary mysteries—it's a one-stop-shop for all things, stars, planets, and space travel. Scholars read an astronomy overview to discover the page's big ideas, then choose from the plethora of resources, including...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

NOVA Sun Lab Lesson Plan

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Looking for a sun-sational multi-lesson plan full of videos, simulations, and discussion? Introduce your young scientists to all things solar with a four-part hands-on adventure. Pupils learn the basics of solar anatomy, space weather,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth from Space Maps

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students use photo images from space to create a large map of the United States or the world, find where they live and label other places they know. They are exposed to a Web resource that allows them to view photo images of Earth taken...
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Interactive
Curated OER

Sunspots and Space Weather

For Students 4th - 8th
This assignment is out of this world! It is an online worksheet about sunspots and solar cycles, a sort of WebQuest if you will. Links to two NASA websites and spaceweather.com are written into the questions so that your aspiring...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Deep Convective Clouds

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars observe clouds. In this deep convective clouds instructional activity, students analyze cloud data recorded over one month and draw conclusions based on results.  Young scholars predict "Thunderstorm Season" and prepare to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Drawing Portraits Using a Grid

For Teachers 5th - 8th
A well-developed art lesson is always great to have around. This lesson on portrait drawing includes a full procedure, modifications, background information on artist Chuck Close, recommended websites, and a few thoughts from the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Suited for Space

For Teachers 5th - 8th
A fantastic lesson on survival in outer space should excite your learners! Pupils explore the challenges that living, working, and surviving in space elicit. They focus on the spacesuit itself; how it protects astronauts, and enables...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discovering Saturn, The Real "Lord of the Rings"

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Reading, writing, and rings! A lesson from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this lesson are pre-reading activities, four mini informational booklets on Saturn, a structured note-taking...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's Out There? Space Shuttle Exploration and Simulation

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Learners simulate life in space aboard the space shuttle. In this space exploration lesson, students work in small groups to model life aboard the space shuttle. Each student is given a job, conducts Internet research on space, and...
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Handout
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NASA

What Comes Next

For Students K - 12th
Where is NASA going next with their rockets? A reading provides an overview of the next generation of rockets for space exploration. A full-page diagram gives the reader a scaled perspective of what this rocket may look like, for both...
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Handout
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NASA

A Pictorial History of Rockets

For Students K - 12th
3, 2, 1: Blast off! Take a look at the history of rockets through a camera lens. A set of 41 cards displays more than 2,000 years of rockets, from their use as toys to space flight. 
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Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

African Americans in Astronomy and Astrophysics

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A two-part instructional activity focuses on the contributions to the fields of astronomy and astrophysics of two African Americans: Benjamin Banneker and Dr. George Carruthers. In part one, scholars learn about Benjamin Banneker by...
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Activity
NASA

Missed Messages

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Learners investigate the challenges of space communication with a kinesthetic modeling activity. Group members In space must communicate one word to other members on Earth while overcoming barriers such as distance, gravity, and physical...
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Activity
NASA

Exploring Exoplanets with Kepler

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Calculate the movement and properties of planets like professional astronomers! Scholars use Kepler's third law to find Mercury and Venus's distance from the sun. Using changes in brightness of distant stars and Kepler's third law,...
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Activity
NASA

Marsbound! Mission to the Red Planet

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Changing one aspect of a mission impacts all the others. Learners consider a list of criteria as they develop their own science questions related to Mars and design a solution while considering all the important systems: computer,...
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Activity
NASA

What Tools Would You Take to Mars?

For Teachers K - 2nd
Having the right tool for the job is a must. Young space explorers design their own missions to Mars by deciding what they would like to learn about the planet. At the end, they draw and write about the tools they need to accomplish...
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Activity
NASA

Exploring the Colors of Mars

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Minerals on Mars are not that different than those on Earth. Using mineralogy concepts and satellite images, individuals use color to highlight the different surface minerals on Mars when creating a model of the planet. They enhance...
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Activity
NASA

Parachute Design

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
Bring the science of space exploration to the classroom. Young learners explore the mechanics of the parachute-landing mechanisms on the Mars Rover. They design and build their own parachute models and test their ability to land a probe...
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Activity
NASA

Collecting Light: Inverse Square Law Demo

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Light, distance, and mathematics come together to help scientists plan for space missions. Groups examine the relationship between distance from the sun and light availability in a hands-on exploration activity. They model the inverse...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

The Process of Early Space Flight: The Gemini Program

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Ideas take flight in an exciting activity on the NASA Gemini Program. Young scholars analyze photos from NASA's Gemini Program and place photos in the correct sequence of events. Academics also discuss the program and how the steps to...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

The Space Race: Project Mercury

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Race to the moon! An engaging activity focuses on NASA's Project Mercury and the Space Race. Scholars read a memorandum regarding the project and explore how it fueled Cold War tensions. Academics complete a worksheet and discuss the...
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Lesson Plan
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Workforce Solutions

A Colony for Lunar Living

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Two lessons explore the possibility of living on the moon. First, scholars read various scenarios to identify which careers would best transfer to life in space. Finally, pupils examine a website to locate items made for outer space,...
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Activity
NASA

What Do You Know About Mars?

For Teachers K - 2nd
Learn exciting facts about Earth's neighboring planet—Mars! Young scientists collaborate on a KWL chart about Mars, adding information as the activity progresses. Scholars listen while teachers read an article about Mars and watch...