Curated OER
Planet Paths: Studying Planetary Orbital Paths
Students define and identify planetary orbit, ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola, and simulate Kepler's Second Law. They explore interactive websites demonstrating orbital motion and complete modeling activities.
Curated OER
The Scientific Revolution: 1500-1700
Discover the key players involved in reshaping scientific thought during the scientific revolution. Basic information regarding major contributions of Brahe, Copernicus, Galileo, Bacon, Kepler, Descartes, and Newton are covered in this...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan on Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion
Students construct a solar system model. In this space science activity, students calculate the eccentricity of a planet's orbit. They calculate the period of a planet's revolution using Kepler's formula.
Curated OER
Mathematics at the Frontier of Astronomy
Students explore the different types of measurements used in astronomy. In this space science lesson, students explain the relationship between planets' orbits and distance from the sun using Kepler's Laws. They discuss how math aides in...
Curated OER
The Solar System
In this solar system worksheet, students will name the two models of the solar system and compare their differences. Students will state the hypothesis behind the formation of the sun and planets. Students will compare and contrast the...
Curated OER
Cosmic Wheels
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.
Curated OER
Was Kepler Correct?
Students are introduced to Kepler's 2nd law of Planetary Motion. The lesson reinforces the understanding of focal points. They calculate the sector area of an ellipse.Students expand understanding by modeling Kepler's 2nd Law of...
Mr. E. Science
Our Solar System
The presentation starts with the scientists who made discoveries about our solar system: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Brahe, Kepler, and Newton. It also covers the planets, inner, outer, and Pluto, satellites, and an in-depth discussion...
Curated OER
Ellipses and Kepler's First Law
The class examines graphs in the form r = F(¿¿) in polar coordinates (r, ¿¿), in particular with the circle, ellipse and other conic sections. They determine the nature of an ellipse by studying the role of the semimajor axis and...
Curated OER
Black Holes...V
In this black hole worksheet, students read about the black hole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy called Sagittarius A and observe a Chandra image of the area where the black hole exists. Students solve two problems which include...
Curated OER
Kepler's 3rd Law
High schoolers derive the velocity in a circular orbit of any radius. They derive the Earth escape velocity and prove Kepler's 3rd law for circular orbits # A simple formula for the orbital period in a circular Earth orbit of given radius.
PBS
Data Plots of Exoplanet Orbital Properties
Scientists discovered the first exoplanet in 1995 and by early 2018, they confirmed the existence of more than 3,700—that's a lot of data! As part of the PBS 9-12 Space series, scholars interpret data about exoplanets. They compare...
Curated OER
Orbital Mechanics
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.
Curated OER
The Seasons
Discover the change of the seasons by modeling the Earth-Sun system. Learners model the orbit of the Earth around the sun and explore how and why the patterns of winter and summer occur.
CK-12 Foundation
Journey to Mars
Why are there launch windows when traveling to outer space? Scholars explore the trajectory of traveling from one planet to another. By adjusting the departure and destination planets, as well as the launch date, they observe the ideal...
Curated OER
Motions and Their Effects
With a simple blackboard-style appearance, these slides list facts about the reason for the seasons, solstices, and equinoxes. It also touches on Kepler's first law of planetary motion. There are no pictures or graphics to help explain...
Rice University
College Physics for AP® Courses
Take a look at an organized physics course. The 34-section electronic textbook covers material in AP® Physics 1 and 2. Teachers use the text to supplement lectures and have the class work through the labs. Each section contains multiple...
Curated OER
Kepler's Third Law
Students use Kepler's third law to derive the velocity in a circular orbit of any radius, and identify the Earth escape velocity.
Curated OER
Was Kepler Correct?
Students investigate the elliptical orbit around the Sun. They use the information gathered to measure the distance to the Sun from the closest orbital point and the farthest orbital point.
Curated OER
Kepler's Second Law
Students gain an understanding of Kepler's 2nd law--that planets (and satellites) move fastest at their closest approach to the center of attraction, and slow down when far away. They explore the concepts of "potential energy" and...
Curated OER
Kepler's Second Law
Students explore orbital velocities and how they vary along each orbit, according to Kepler's Second Law.
McGraw Hill
Extra Solar Planets Interactive
Studying what you can't see can be challenging. Discover how scientists use indirect measurements to prove the existence of planets and estimate their sizes. The introduction explains the symbiotic movement of planets and stars during an...
McGraw Hill
Orbital Velocity Interactive
Why does it take Pluto 90,000 days to orbit the sun, but it only takes Mercury 88 days? An interactive lesson helps pupils find a connection between the speed of orbit and distance a planet is from the sun. The simulation allows for...
CK-12 Foundation
Orbital Motion
Why do planets orbit the sun in ellipses when moons orbit their planet in circles? Pupils control the semi-major axis, eccentricity of the orbit, and position angle. The resulting orbital appears with the related force vectors as...