National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Life on Mars
Through reading and discussion, aspiring astronomers consider the question of whether or not there was ever life on the planet Mars. Throughout the process, they review how scientific investigations are carried out, examine the...
Pacific Science Center
Worlds in Comparison
Young astronomers follow a step-by-step procedure for dividing a lump of dough into parts, resulting in a scaled volume set of puny planets. Along with the printable directions is a template chart of planet names on which learners can...
NASA
Earth, Earth’s Moon, Mars Balloons
Very specific diameters are given for blowing up three different balloons to represent, in scale, the moon, Earth, and Mars. In groups of three, amateur astronomers explore scale measurements and distance in space.
Curated OER
Imagining China Through Words
Middle schoolers create a drawing from a written description to examine images of China in European art. In this art analysis activity, students create a visual image from a written description of an object. Middle schoolers compare...
Curated OER
Runaway Greenhouse Effect Exercise
Students role-play biologists, coal geologists, space warfare experts, astronomers, pollution-control scientists, and hydrophysicists as they answer the question, "Why is Venus so much hotter than the Earth?"
Curated OER
Categorizing Celestial Objects
Students work together to develop a classification system for planets. They take a class vote and read an article about an astronomer's classification system. They write an essay on how scientists make decisions for the general public.
Curated OER
Biography of a Star: Our Sun's Birth, Life, and Death
Students examine how astronomers use parallax to determine the distances of stars in the Sun's neighborhood. They construct a pinhole protractor, and measure angles and calculate distances.
Curated OER
Unveiling the Secrets of Saturn
Students read and study an article then answer questions on Saturn. In this investigative lesson students identify ways space exploration has helped humanity and then they search the Internet for space pictures and sketch a drawing of...
Curated OER
When a Ruler is Too Short
Students measure distances using parallax. In this math lesson, students explain how this method helped astronomers with their studies of the solar system. They determine the length of their arm using parallax and compare it with other...
Curated OER
How Do We Know...?
Students identify and explain how various inventions and astronomers have improved our appreciation of the universe. Students identify at least two constellations in the sky and discuss how they were used in ancient times to tell time...
Curated OER
Herschel Infrared Experiment
Students perform a version of the experiment of 1800 by the famous astronomer Sir Frederick William Herschel.
Curated OER
Our Solar System
Students analyze the theories of the formation of the universe and solar system. Students analyze planetary motion and the physical laws that explain that motion: Rotation, Revolution, Apparent diurnal motions of the stars, sun, and...
Curated OER
The Discovery of the Solar System
High schoolers study the ideas behind the heliocentric theory of Copernicus. They examine about retrograde motion of the planets as they move around the sun. They study astronomers who include Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Galileo.
Curated OER
`Great Debate' Lesson Plan for Undergraduates
Students study the Curtis- Shapley debate which highlighted the view of human place in the universe. They examine the clash of these two astronomers in a debate which took place in 1920.
Curated OER
How Distant Is The Moon?
Students discover how Aristarchus, a Greek astronomer around 230 BC, used a simple observation of the eclipse of the Moon, plus clever reasoning, to deduce the distance of the Moon. They practice the same calculation technique.
Curated OER
Measuring Elevation
Students practice measuring elevation, one of the key coordinates used by astronomers. They describe how the elevation of an object is measured.
and combine compass directions and elevation to find celestial objects.
Curated OER
May The Earth Be Revolving Around The Sun?
Young scholars trace the beginning of the heliocentric theory of the solar system--the idea that the solar system revolves around the Sun--to an observation by the Greek astronomer Aristarchus, which convinced him that the Sun was much...
Curated OER
Parallax
Students discover how astronomers used the diameter of the Earth's orbit around the Sun as a baseline for estimating the distance of some stars, and the meaning of "Parsec" and "light year."
Curated OER
Teaching Poetry Using DARTs
Students interact with texts. They are given the first four lines of Walt Whitman's poem "When I heard the learned astronomer." Students read them and discuss what they think Walt Whitman did when he heard the astronomer.
Curated OER
As the Sun Burns
Students test commercial sunscreens or sunglasses for accuracy of their Sun Protection Factor. They devise a method for testing UV beads with a visual clues which they publish as research. They investigate occupations such as...
Curated OER
Discovering a Law of Space Physics
Students use data collected by an astronomer to determine the relationship between the time it takes the planet to orbit the sun and the average radius of the planet's orbit around the sun. Students use trial and error to find the...
Curated OER
Mississippi’s Contribution to Space Exploration
Eighth graders engage in a class discussion while going through a PowerPoint on Mississippi's contribution to space exploration. For this Space science lesson plan, the students will also participate in Brain Pop quizzes where they will...
Curated OER
Having Tea Among The Stars
Students study the struggles and achievements of women in the field of astronomy. They create comparisons of the lives of these women through research. They write a vignette with their group that describes these women sitting down to tea...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Galileo: Revealing the Universe
To gain an understanding of the significance of Galileo Galilei's revolutionary ideas, class members watch the short video "Stargazing Before Galileo," and conduct a close reading of Galileo's Sidereal Messsenger. They then compare...
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