Activity
National Earth Science Teachers Association

Windows to the Universe: Origin of Jupiter's Rings

For Students 9th - 10th
University of Michigan and Windows to the Universe offers information showing that with the help of the Galileo spacecraft, scientists figured out that the rings are made from dust that was kicked off of the small moons surrounding...
Activity
NASA

Nasa: Our Solar System Overview

For Students 9th - 10th
This site has links to all the planets, providing an overview of the solar system. It also contains information about asteroids, meteors, comets and other features of our solar system.
Website
National Earth Science Teachers Association

Windows to the Universe: Our Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
Our solar system is filled with a wide assortment of celestial bodies - the Sun itself, our eight planets, dwarf planets, and asteroids - and on Earth, life itself! The inner solar system is occasionally visited by comets that loop in...
Handout
Ducksters

Ducksters: Astronomy for Kids: Glossary and Terms

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn about the glossary and terms for the science of astronomy including words and definitions such as asteroid, comet, meteoroid, galaxy, eclipse, etc.
Website
Nine Planets

The Nine Planets: An Overview of the Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed overview of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of each of the planets and moons in the solar system.
Website
NASA

Nasa Star Child: Star Child

For Students 3rd - 8th
StarChild from NASA defines and describes the Solar System in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. The website is broken down into two versions for the student, grade school and junior high.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Asteroids, Meteoroids, and Comets

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this flipchart students will compare and contrast asteroids, meteoroids, and comets. They will also learn about their origins. Assessment questions are included.
Website
Other

Space weather.com

For Students 9th - 10th
Want to know what the current weather conditions are in space? Find everything here you may want to know about the latest solar flares, sunspots, asteroids and more. Site also includes essential web links to quench any user's thirst for...
Website
Virginia Tech

Virginia Polytechnic Institute: Greenhouse Dinosaur Extinction Theory

For Students 9th - 10th
This comprehensive page discusses the Asteroid Impact vs. Volcano-Greenhouse dinosaur extinction debate. It was written by paleontologist, professor, and scientist Dr. Dewey McLean.
Unit Plan
NASA

Nasa: Solar System Exploration

For Students 9th - 10th
Enter our solar system to interact with the planets, moons, asteroids, meteors, and more. Investigate with NASA scientists and explore missions related to space exploration. Read facts, compare statistics, look through resources, and...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Earth Impact

For Teachers 7th - 9th
This activity poses the question: What would happen if a meteor or comet impacted Earth? Students simulate an impact in a container of sand using various-sized rocks, all while measuring, recording and graphing results and conclusions....
Website
NASA

Nasa Space Science Data Archive: Photo Gallery: Galileo

For Students 9th - 10th
A well-indexed collection of NASA images taken by the Galileo spacecraft. Images include the spacecraft itself prior to launch and all of the solar system objects this incredible mission has visited.
Unit Plan
NASA

Nasa: What Is a Planet?

For Students 9th - 10th
This lesson teaches students about the characteristics of planets, comets, asteroids, and trans-Neptunian objects. After learning about these different things, students then are to debate about a new object that is found in space.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Meteor Showers

For Students 3rd - 8th
This video segment adapted from NASA uses animation to illustrate the properties of meteor showers and comets. Included is are visualizations of a comet's tail and of Earth passing through a debris stream left behind by meteoroids.
Graphic
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Our Solar System Lithograph Set

For Students 6th - 8th
View these amazing high-quality images of our solar system from NASA with this lithograph set. Each lithograph contains images, facts, dates, and general information on a particular subject. Background information and teaching tips are...
Website
Space Telescope Science Institute

Amazing Science: Solar System Trading Cards

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Amazing Science looks at the Solar System with this FAQ site and lesson plan.
Graphic
Curated OER

Deep Space 1 Rendezvous'd With an Asteroid

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration provides a fun project on rockets. "Nothing in space stands still. Everything either orbits around something else, or moves toward or away from something else. So how do...
Graphic
Curated OER

Rocket Launched in Same Direction as Earth Orbit and Rotation

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration provides a fun project on rockets. "Nothing in space stands still. Everything either orbits around something else, or moves toward or away from something else. So how do...
Handout
NASA

Nasa Space Science Data Archive: Giotto Mission

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the National Space Science Data Center provides information on the Giotto mission which was designed to study Comet P/Halley. The spacecraft encountered Halley on March 13, 1986 and approached to within 600 km. This page...
Handout
Cosmos 4 kids

Cosmos4 Kids: Solar System Details: Kuiper Belt

For Students 3rd - 8th
Explore space beyond Pluto in the Kuiper Belt region of our solar system. Find out about the space bodies that exist there and what our space missions have taught us about this far away region.
Website
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Berkeley Lab: The Fruitful & Inventive Mind of Scientist Luis Alvarez

For Students 9th - 10th
This article, reprinted from the fall 1979 LBL News Magazine, was written about Dr. Luis Alvarez and his part in the study of geological sediments and the great extinctions.
Unit Plan
Scholastic

Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Our Solar System: The Universe

For Students 3rd - 5th
A video and a short multiple-choice quiz on the Universe and what it is made up of.
Unit Plan
E-learning for Kids

E Learning for Kids: Science: Antarctica/ What Are the Different Parts of the Universe?

For Students 4th - 6th
In this lesson, students learn about objects in the universe, including constellations, planets, meteors, asteroids, and comets.
Handout
Nine Planets

The Nine Planets: Small Bodies

For Students 9th - 10th
This site explores the smaller bodies in the solar system, namely the various asteroids and comets. Links are also provided for additional information on related subjects.