Curated OER
Navigation and Trajectory
Middle schoolers 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...
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Gravity and Orbits
Move the sun, earth, moon, and space station to see how it affects their gravitational forces and orbital paths. Visualize the sizes and distances between different heavenly bodies, and turn off gravity to see what would happen without it.
University of Maryland
University of Maryland: The Astronomy Workshop
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...
Other
Sandburg Center for Sky Awareness: What Are the Shapes of the Planets' Orbits?
In this lesson plan investigation students learn about the shapes of the planetary orbits by experimenting with ellipses of different proportions.