Two hands-on activities celebrate the sun and moon autumnal equinox. First, scholars create a cairn using a shoebox, flashlight, and drawing tools to view the sun's progression. Second, learners take to the kitchen to bake mooncakes...

We are the world! Each of your class members models Earth and holds a styrofoam ball to see its phases. Thorough teacher background information and a detailed lesson plan will make this a cinch to teach. If you do not want to purchase...

Space explorers take a virtual trip around the sun right within your classroom! They stand in a circle facing away from the "sun" (a lamp) in the center of the room. As they move according to your instructions, they view different...

Learning about the moon has never tasted delicious! Using the popular Oreo cookie as a model, young scientists carve out the cream filling to represent the different phases of the moon.

If you feel like you're standing still, you're wrong! The Earth is constantly rotating and orbiting under our feet. Demonstrate the Earth's movement within the solar system with a collaborative activity. With a candle or lamp in the...

How much do you really know about our planet? Middle schoolers build up their prior knowledge about Earth, its placement in the solar system, its composition, and important geological vocabulary with an introductory earth science lesson.

Why does it look like there is a man on the moon? Why does the moon look different every night? These are the focus questions of a lesson that prompts class members to observe and record the nightly changes of Earth's natural...

Scholars become experts on the moon, its phases, and craters with a series of lessons, activities, and extension opportunities. Learners' expert level of knowledge includes moon facts, how moon craters are created, the ability to...

Who needs the daylight to simulate a lunar eclipse? Astronomers model the positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon to explain the necessary conditions for a lunar eclipse. Investigators cut and label a paper plate to represent the Earth and...

Mrs. Flynt has designed a 12-day moon observation activity that is best assigned when daylight hours are shorter. Middle school moon experts record several factors, including the altitude above the horizon, the azimuth, the phase, and...

Laws of motion apply both in space and on Earth. Young experimenters model object impact on the Earth and moon. They use data to determine the effect mass and velocity have on the resulting craters and how that relates to the energy of...

Help your class understand the magnitude of the distance between Earth and Mars with an activity that asks small groups to use balloons to create scale models of the Earth, Moon, and Mars. Class members figure out the distances...

Ever made solar s'mores? Or recreated the solar system using peanuts? Astronomers young and old investigate all things solar using a variety of activities. Explore how the sun works, types of light it emits, and methods of charting the...

How do you put something as large as the universe in perspective? Use a series of scale experiments. Classmates collaborate around four experiments to examine the scale of the earth-moon system, our solar system, the Milky Way galaxy,...

How is solar energy able to move wind and water to control the climate? Scholars explore the concept of solar energy in the first of 10 activities in the Discover Your Changing World series. They follow instructions to build homemade...

Now this is a clever approach to familiarizing aspiring astronomers with the phases of the moon! They first record the specific dates for ten special events in their lives. Then they use an online moon phase calendar to find out which...

What better way to study the moon phases than to see them in action? The directions on the handout only have kids cut out and tape on the moon phases to make the flipbook, but it would be even more powerful to include the name of each...

How quickly does light travel long distances? A short video simulates light going from the earth to the moon at two different paces. Scholars relate the distance to the rate to understand which simulation is correct.

Explore outer space and decorate your classroom with an astronomy project. Learners create a visual model with the creation of a scaled solar system using different sized balls.

Scholars read about each planet then bake a plate of cosmic cookies—no-bake cookies decorated to look like the planets; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

Why do you weigh more in space? Each individual in your class explores this question and others as they determine the mass and weight of different objects using two types of scales. They perform conversions and discuss their...

Finish or launch your unit on the solar system with a jigsaw project covering major celestial concepts such as the Milky Way Galaxy, asteroids, meteors, comets, Earth's moon, and, of course, all the planets. Learners start by...

How do satellites communicate? What types of satellites orbit Earth? Discover and mimic the way satellites communicate between two points in a hands-on activity that has pupils using mirrors, flashlights, and marbles.

If Earth is modeled by a grapefruit, what planet could be represented by a golf ball? This activity uses everyday and not-so-everyday objects to create a model of the Solar System.