Curated OER
Volcanoes in Space
Students research volcanoes on the Internet to compare/contrast the volcanoes on Earth to the ones found on Io, a moon of Jupiter. Students list the similarities and differences in science journals, and illustrate pictures of the volcanoes.
Curated OER
Spuds in Space
Students explore the effects of velocity on an object when it collides with another object. They design and outfit a potato astronaut in a spacesuit to withstand the hazards of high velocity impacts from space debris and meteoroids.
Curated OER
Spacecraft Launched on Mission to Pluto
Young scholars read a news article about a space mission being launched to the planet Pluto. They study the necessary vocabulary and complete an anticipation guide of questions which they revisit after they read the article.
Curated OER
Gingerbread Spacecraft
Learners explore the different parts of the Cassini spacecraft. In this space science lesson plan, students create a model of the spacecraft using food products. They compare and contrast their model with the real one and evaluate its...
Curated OER
How Does the Earth's Energy Budget Relate to Polar Ice?
Students use satellite data to see how radiation budget relates to the ice that is present in the North. In this energy instructional activity students correlate data to see a relationship.
Curated OER
Science Jeopardy - The Earth Sciences
The earth sciences are the focus for this Jeopardy-style review game. Categories include geology, space, scientific investigation, meteorology, and oceanography. Diagrams and pictures are involved with most of the questions, making this...
Curated OER
Soaring in the Solar System
Who doesn't love learning about space? This presentation provides a mnemonic device and a song to help young students remember the names and basic facts about each of the nine planets in our solar system.
Curated OER
A Day on the Space Station
Fifth graders discover what it would be like to live in space. For this technological advancements lesson, 5th graders discuss how space life would be different from Earth life. Students also identify how technology has made life in...
Curated OER
GED Vocabulary: Earth and Space Science
In this earth and space science worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle given seven clues and seven terms about earthquakes, the solar system, and convection currents.
NASA
Food For Thought
Science can be quite tasty. A delectable unit from NASA shows learners why it's important to consider food, nutrition, and health in space. Four lessons explore the idea in great depth, including testing cookie recipes. Along the way,...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Science at 100,000 Feet
Take your class up, up, and away with an engaging weather balloon simulation! Individuals get hands-on experience in creating and launching their own airborne labs to study how temperature and pressure affect substances at 100,000...
Voyage Solar System
Round and Round We Go — Exploring Orbits in the Solar System
Math and science come together in this cross-curricular astronomy lesson plan on planetary motion. Starting off with a hands-on activity that engages the class in exploring the geometry of circles and ellipses, this lesson...
Messenger Education
Star Power! Discovering the Power of Sunlight
It takes less than 10 minutes for energy from the sun to travel 90 million miles to Earth! In the first installment in a series of four, groups measure the amount of solar radiation that reaches Earth. They then discuss how this is...
NASA
Cleaning Water
From their sweat to the water vapor in their breath, astronauts recycle every possible drop of water while in space. After watching a short video describing the different ways materials are recycled and reused in space...
Space Awareness
Living in the Milky Way
Get to know our galaxy with an astronomy-themed, hands-on activity. Scholars watch an informative video, answer questions, and construct a model of the Milky Way in order to examine its contents and the distance inside it.
Space Awareness
The Climate in Numbers and Graphs
Weather versus climate: weather relates to short time periods while climate averages the weather of a period of many years. Scholars learn about average temperature and precipitation in various climate zones and then apply statistics...
Curated OER
Space Age Technology Comes to Earth
Both GPS and GIS are now used regularly in agricultural careers. Explore the new technologies that require higher education for those interested in agri-science careers. Upper graders examine how agriculturalists use new technologies by...
Teach Engineering
Get Me Off This Planet
What do Newton's Laws have to do with getting from Earth to Mars?The activities in this resource show how Newton's Laws work with rockets to get them into space. Background information includes facts about orbits and how orbits...
Curated OER
Extraterrestrials
Learners discuss the possibility of intelligent life in space. In this space science lesson plan, students decipher a radio message electronically transmitted in space. They create their own extraterrestrial welcome greeting.
Curated OER
Teacher-Astronaut Offers New Lessons
Students read about teacher-in-space Barbara Morgan and life in space. In this space science and current event instructional activity, the teacher introduces the article with a vocabulary activity, then students read the news piece and...
NASA
Down to Earth
There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't. The lesson includes four activities in which students learn binary, convert binary to images, understand CCD arrays, and interpret...
NASA
Space-Based Astronomy on the Internet
Young scientists compile everything they have learned into a report in the fifth and final lesson in a unit on the visible light spectrum. Access to photos from observatories, telescopes, and satellites allows learners to compare...
Teach Engineering
An Inflated Impression of Mars
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...
PHET
Earth’s Magnetic Field from Space
Feel the pull of science! The final installment of this 18-part series is an application of everything learned in the previous high school lessons. Scholars are given a magnetic field map and must propose an arrangement of magnets that...