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Behind the Mission to Mercury
High schoolers read an E-Sheet about the Mission to Mercury. They follow a variety of worksheets and on-line activities that follow the E-Sheet. They discuss several different scenarios regarding space exploration. They analyze one of...
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Is Anyone Out There? Examining Astrobiology and the Value of SETI
Blow their minds with a lesson on the search for life outside of our planet! A brief video proposes the question of how to define life. A couple of articles investigate the possibility of alien existence. Finally, the class is divided...
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Spacecraft Launched on Mission to Pluto
Students read a news article about a space mission being launched to the planet Pluto. They study the necessary vocabulary and complete an anticipation guide of questions which they revisit after they read the article.
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Fill-In | Space Tourism
Fill in the blanks, that's what young readers of this New York Times article are going to do. They read an article relating interesting facts about space tourism, then fill in 20 blanks. A copy of the article and a word list is included.
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Rocketry
Students design and construct a paper rocket that can be launched with a drinking straw. They participate in a lecture and read an article about rocketry and how Newton's Third Law applies to rocket launches. Each student constructs...
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One, Two, Three--Isaac Newton and Me
Pupils experiment to develop understanding of Newton's Laws and how they apply to space travel in this ten day lesson sequence.
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Interplanetary Distance and Travel Time
Students are introduced to the challenges involved in understanding the space travel distances and the time involved to do so through the use of an interactive fable. The modeling and comparisons deal with specific distances at different...
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Exploring Space: Scramble
Middle-school space science explorers review remote sensing and electromagnetic radiation vocabulary terms by unscrambling them. Consider having space scholars write out the definitions for each after unscrambling. If they take time to...
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Space Travel
Students study the International Space Station and space exploration. In this space travel instructional activity students describe the different types of engineers that contribute to space travel.
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Discovery, Ship to Shuttle
The history of Florida is explored in this lesson which covers topics from Ponce de Leon to space travel. Learners listen to stories about Ponce de Leon's search for the fountain of youth and then move on to a discussion of the space...
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Team Moon
Young scholars read "Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon," by Catherine Thimmesh. They watch portions of the movie "Apollo 13." Students use the internet and the attached study guide to discover specific...
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Navigation and Trajectory
Students prepare a creative demonstration of how Earth and Mars revolve around the Sun. In this astronomy lesson, students determine the different challenges engineers face when building spacecrafts. They draw possible paths for a...
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Understanding Space Travel
Students study the unique environment of the moon and Mars. In this space science lesson, students design a city located in the outer space. They create a computer aided design, models or drawings of their cities and share them with the...
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Investigating Planetary Life
Students research about the search for life in Mars. In this space science instructional activity, students develop a creative visual display of their findings. They present their project in class.
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Spacesuit Design
Students analyze the conditions on Mars and design a spacesuit to help humans survive. In this space exploration lesson plan, students identify the inhospitable conditions on Mars. They work to design a spacesuit for a specific mission...
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Mission Survival
Students determine ways to survive the extreme conditions of Antarctica. In this space and earth sciences lesson, students work as a group to determine how to survive after a plane crash in Antarctica. They relate survival in Antarctica...
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NASA Robots
Students explore the world of robotics. In this robotics lesson, students discover what a robot is and work with partners to find out how hard it is to accurately guide robots through simple tasks.
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The Outer Planets
Students study the planets Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. In this solar system lesson plan, students read facts about the planets and their location in the solar system. Images, diagrams, and background information on the planets is...
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Could the Solar System have Ten Planets?
Students react to statements about the solar system, then read a news article about a recently discovered object that could be another planet. In this space science and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the lesson with a...
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Stars and Galaxies
In this space travel worksheet, students will write a short essay about taking a trip to another galaxy including details about where they would go, how long the trip would take, and what they would see along the way.
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Women In Space: Sally Ride
Second graders explore the life and accomplishments of Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. Through reading and discussion, they recall details from Sally Ride's life.
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Strange New Planet
Students choose a spherical object to decorate with stickers, scents, etc to make it interesting. They write a key to the features for future explorers. Students use viewers to observe mystery planets. Students simulate NASA missions by...
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Algebra: Mirror, Mirror on the Universe
Students assess how algebra, telescopes, space exploration and optics are so important in astronomy. They encounter studies on the Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Deep Field and how algebra helps to determine the effects of contamination...
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Ethics of Exploration
Students examine space exploration and its domination by governments as well as the fact that some private businesses want to explore space too. They investigate the ethical questions surrounding a space exploration through research and...