Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Astronomy

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students explore space science by utilizing education software. In this moon cycles instructional activity, students discuss the importance of the moon and the different phases we observe from earth. Students demonstrate the earth's...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TE Activity: A Roundabout Way to Mars

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Learners investigate Hohmann orbit transfers using cardboard and string while focusing on the orbits of Earth and Mars. They look at the planets orbits around the sun and transfer orbit form one planet to another to determine what a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students study pictures of space vehicles and make their own space vehicle. In this space vehicle lesson, students study pictures of the vehicles and compare and contrast the pictures. Students classify the space crafts and then create...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sunspot Activity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
In this space science worksheet, students find the data that is needed to help them acquire the knowledge concerning sunspots through observation and data collection.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Planets

For Students 7th - 10th
In this planets worksheet, students read information about Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn and then complete 21 multiple choice, 1 true or false, and 2 fill in the blank questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

SALLY RIDE

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students express what it would be like to launch off into outer space in a space shuttle. They include what it might feel like, look like, sound like, and any thoughts that go through their mind as they dart away from the Earth's...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Impact Craters

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Young scholars investigate the factors affecting the size of a crater. In this space science lesson, students collect data from the activity and graph them. They explain how velocity of impact relate to crater size.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's down there?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
students analyze how oil is formed and where in the Earth we find it. Students take a core sample to look for oil in a model of the Earth. They analyze their sample and make an informed decision as to whether or not they should "drill...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Looking into Surface Albedo

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Young scholars demonstrate how the color of materials on Earth affect the amount of solar energy that is absorbed.  In this solar energy lesson plan students complete a lab to explore how the color of materials on the Earth's...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bringing the Solar System Down to Earth

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students develop a scaled down model of the solar system. In small groups, they calculate the scaled-down diameters of the planets and the sun, the scaled-down distance of the planets from the sun, complete two charts, and create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Faces: A Study of Solar and Planetary Rotation Rates

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students determine rotation rates of a variety of solar system objects using images and the Internet.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

JAPAN, IMAGES A PEOPLE

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students interpret Japanese and American paintings; evaluate paintings as sources of cultural and historical information
Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Phases of Charon

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Charon, the largest of Pluto's moons, was discovered in 1978. Lesson is a walk through of how to solve for the phases of Charon. It uses two different points on Pluto and takes into account the tilt of the pole, the rotational axis, and...
Lesson Plan
Novelinks

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Herber Readiness Activity

For Teachers 7th - 12th
What does it mean to be alone and isolated? What would you do if you were all alone in a strange place? Kids ponder these questions as they prepare to read Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

A View From Above

For Teachers 8th - Higher Ed
Analyzing and interpreting satellite data takes knowledge and patience. Through a detailed lab investigation, young scholars learn the process of analyzing this data. They use technology to create color images and maps from real...
Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Oceans on the Rise

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Temperature rises and land disappears! Through a lab exploration, learners understand the effect of temperature increase on water similar to the effect of global warming on our oceans. As they heat the water in a flask, they measure the...
Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Let's Break the Particles

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Build learning by breaking atoms! Young scientists study the way energy changes with a hands-on activity. As they roll steel marbles down a ramp, learners test the hypothesis that kinetic energy does not go away with friction...
PPT
Curated OER

Origin of The Species

For Teachers 9th - 12th
After viewing information about different types of isolation, students will see that reproduction among a group will cause the frequency of a specific trait to increase. The history of prominent scientists such as Charles Darwin are and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Just How Big is this Place?

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students are introduced to the the formula for calculating travel time. They listen to different scenarios relating to long distance travel into space and calculate travel time using the formula.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Images of Our Changing Earth

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify and explain that remote sensing can detect changes on the Earth's surface that occur over time, and name at least three: urbanization, deforestation, and succession. They select a global change issue to investigate and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pangaea Puzzle

For Teachers 5th - 11th
Learners explore plate tectonics and the formations of the Earth's surface and why maps are distorted.  In this Earth's surface lesson students complete a lab and answer questions. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Structure of the Earth

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders explain the difference between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. They identify the stages in the rock cycle. They discover the origin of rocks as well.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does a Satellite Stay in Orbit?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars explore placing a satellite into orbit, then about forces needed to keep an object in orbit. They examine how satellites orbit in elliptical paths and about properties of ellipses. They learn Kepler's 3rd Law of Planetary...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life Beyond Earth

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students investigate the solar system and what makes a planet habitable. They complete an online Webquest, simulate a NASA training program online, take an online quiz, answer discussion questions, and locate newspaper articles about the...