The moon orbits Earth while the Earth is rotating, and the Earth revolves around the sun. This can be a tricky concept for young astronomers. Implement an activity that helps distinguish between the movements of Earth's systems around...

Ancient texts, like Homer's Odyssey, mentions navigating ships by observing constellations. Pupils learn about the link between history and astronomy as they relate to navigation in the Bronze Age. Scholars complete two hands-on...

Pupils observe and discuss motions of the Earth and the Moon as they spin and orbit the Sun.

Students explore the earth's rotation and phases of the moon. For this planets lesson, students rotate and revolve around a light representing the sun. Students use movement and props to simulate what causes the phases of the moon as...

Third graders construct a model of the earth-sun-moon system using students as the sun, moon, and earth. They discuss ways that time is related to the movement of the earth and moon.

A timelapse video hooks learners' attention to the phases of the moon. After discussing their observations, pupils use the Moon Giant website to view the moon on their birthday and complete a bar graph. The class creates an anchor chart...

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...

Students participate in a demonstration and complete an online activity that illustrates the earth orbits the sun once a year, and that the moon takes approximately 28 days to orbit the earth.

What does math have to do with the behavior of the earth and sun? Learn how the movement of celestial bodies has influenced the development of trigonometry. Scholars connects the details in mathematics to their...

Third graders explore the rotation of Earth and the moon. In this solar system lesson, 3rd graders participate in an Earth and moon simulation in which part of the class "becomes" the sun, while other children represent the moon by...

Students become familiar with different times around the world through the reading of 9 O'clock Lullaby.  In this Earth, sun, moon lesson, students recognize the movement of the Earth and the relationship to the sun and the...

Students compare and contrast the environments of the moon and the earth. They discover how the differences might change one's daily activities.

Learners understand basic concepts about Earth, the Sun and the Moon, such as relative movement and the phases of the moon. Through discussion, looking at pictures, listening to Native American stories, observing, and building models,...

Learners investigate that the sun is at the center of the solar system through role play. One student is the sun and one student is the Earth. The students then show how the Earth orbits around the sun. Learners view a flashlight and...

Students investigate one or more of the following topics and develop a plan for the future regarding it: global warming, lunar exploration, space travel, Mars exploration, or terraforming. They disucss the audio files and the video that...

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.

Students investigate the Earth and the Moon. They select activities from a menu of options including viewing videos, drawing magnetic fields and plate tectonics, creating vocabulary flashcards, observing the phases of the moon over a...

Students compare/contrast the environments of our moon and earth, and examine examples of how these differences would affect their daily activities on our moon. They develop lists of emergency supplies to bring if their spaceship crashed...

If you are looking for an outstanding lesson plan on the Moon for your budding astronomers, look no further! This outstanding plan is full of wonderful, meaningful activities for your charges to engage in. Pupils will discover why there...

Students examine the rotation of the Earth as it occurs in the 24 hour cycle. They use models of planets and the globe to make observations of movements made. Students brainstorm prior knowledge and then participate in a demonstration of...

Basically, this is an interactive exploration of educational astronomy software and an app. Young astronomers discover how the apparent motion of the sky relates to Earth's movements and the position of the observer. It is out of this...

Students explore the relationship between the earth, sun, and moon in our solar system. They create a moonrise/moonset chart, perform a dance that models the moon phases, and create a Styrofoam model of the moon's surface.

First graders complete an experiment illustrating why the moon appears to change over time using a flashlight and ball. Students discuss the shape of the moon and identify it as a sphere. Students write a short informational piece after...

Students build the Voyage scale model of the Solar System on a playground and "travel" to each planet. They recognize that the Sun and planets are tiny worlds in a vast space, giving them a new perspective on the Solar System, and...