Curated OER
Return to the Moon
Students react to statements about space exploration, then read a news article about plans to resume manned flights to the moon. In this space science and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion and...
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Destination Outer Space
Students investigate space travel. In this space travel lesson students examine space exploration history, engineers and scientists involved in space exploration, and Newton's third law of motion. Students make rockets.
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Using Data from Sensors
Beginning with a discussion about using technology to collect data, this resource includes a video about the next Mars rover as an example. Young scientists are taught that filtering is necessary before collected data can be analyzed....
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What's Out There? Space Shuttle Exploration and Simulation
Students 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...
NASA
NASA Visualization Explorer
Read some of the most up-to-date information available from NASA's current Earth and space research! Along with showcased stories, you will find computer animations and satellite images that help you to view what humans cannot see with...
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Mission Complete, Houston
It was a bittersweet event when the space shuttle Atlantis touched down for the last time on July 21, 2011. Space science learners read an article about this event in The New York Times and then write answers to who, what, where, when,...
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Get the Picture!
Astronomers practice downloading data from a high-energy satellite and translate the data into colored or shaded pixels. As a hands-on activity, they use pennies to simulate high-energy satellite data and they convert their penny...
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Solar Proton Events
On this worksheet, space scientists use a data table to answer questions about the relationship between the brightness of solar flares and the intensity of the solar proton events. They apply what they learned from the data to address...
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Single Event Upsets in Aircraft Avionics
In this aircraft avionics activity, science fans read about the first unmanned air vehicle that collects data about the Earth and is subject to damage by cosmic ray showers. Pupils analyze two graphs of data showing the neutron flux vs....
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Communication Delay
Construct a maze in your classroom and have a blindfolded scientist act as a space rover, maneuvering unfamiliar terrain while another scientist plays commander. Classmates record the number of occurrences of the commander having to...
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Exploring the Solar System: All About Spacecraft/Spaceflight
Rarely do you find resources that reach high school astronomy learners. Here is something at their level! The physics of flyby missions is explained via several examples. Landing, penetrating, and roving spacecraft are examined. Diagrams...
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Escape Velocity
Sixth graders create/use spreadsheets to solve real-world problems, explore patterns, make predictions, select/explain most appropriate types of graph to display data, use information to create product, and have basic understanding of...
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Lost in Space
Here is a case study for high school or college-level learners about space exploration equipment that has failed. The class reads about the Mars Climate Orbiter that was destroyed in 1999 and discusses the costs and benefits of space...
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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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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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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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Investigating Planetary Life
Students research about the search for life in Mars. In this space science lesson, 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, students identify the inhospitable conditions on Mars. They work to design a spacesuit for a specific mission on Mars.
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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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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...