Curated OER
Eclipse: An Introduction
Young scholars write journal entries about eclipses with a focus on solar eclipses.
Curated OER
Ocean Currents Quiz
In this ocean worksheet, students complete a 13 question multiple choice on-line interactive quiz about ocean currents. Prior knowledge is assumed.
NASA
Nasa: The Space Place: Orbits 'R' Us
Learn about how Earth orbits the sun and how satellites orbit the Earth. Discover the different types of satellites such as GOES and POES and what they are used to monitor.
American Association of Physics Teachers
Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Earth Orbit Model
Nicolaus Copernicus developed the theory of Earth's orbit around the sun demonstrated in this science simulation.
PBS
Pbs News Hour Extra: Satellites Orbit the Sun to Better Predict Solar Storms
For the first time, NASA scientists have generated a full image of the sun, front and back, using twin orbiting satellites. The new view of Earth's star will allow for the study of solar weather events like coronal mass ejections that...
Harvard University
Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground: The Earth's Orbit
Students perform many inquiry activities related to Earth's orbit. Included are recording daily temperatures, observing the sun's path over several weeks, tracking sunrise and sunset times, and angle of sunlight. Diagrams make lessons...
E-learning for Kids
E Learning for Kids: Egypt: How Do the Sun, Moon and Earth Revolve Around Each Other?
Omar helps his parents sell things at the market. Join him while he learns about the relationship of the Sun, Moon, and Earth.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Reasons for the Seasons
Why do some regions experience full-time heat while others are reckoning with frigid temperatures and snow? And why are the seasons reversed in the two hemispheres? Rebecca Kaplan explains how the shape of the Earth's orbit around the...
NASA
Nasa: The Space Place: What's a Barycenter?
This site from NASA helps in explaining a barycenter. "In the case of the Earth and the Sun, both bodies actually revolve, or spin, around the center of the mass between them. This point is called the barycenter."
Other
Center for Science Education: Eye on the Sky: Motion of the Sun and Earth
Students model the interaction of the earth and the sun. The activity is designed for the playground. You will need chalk, but all the other worksheets are provided.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: The Sun and Moon: Lesson 3
This lesson will analyze the role of the sun and moon relative to the earth's orbit. It is 3 of 4 in the series titled "The Sun and Moon."
Sophia Learning
Sophia: The Sun and Moon: Lesson 4
This lesson will analyze the role of the sun and moon relative to the earth's orbit. It is 4 of 4 in the series titled "The Sun and Moon."
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physical Science: Orbital Motion
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Orbital motion and why it occurs, and the orbits of the Earth around the sun and the moon around the Earth.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Gravity and Orbits
Move the sun, earth, moon, and space station to see how it affects their gravitational forces and orbital paths. Visualize the sizes and distances between different heavenly bodies, and turn off gravity to see what would happen without it.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Tracking Geomagnetic Storms in the Ionosphere
The Sun is the ultimate source of the energy that powers weather systems on Earth. Geomagnetic storms are sun-powered storms in the upper atmosphere, arising from energized particles that are periodically ejected by the Sun. Among other...
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Gravity and Orbits
An interactive simulation that teaches about gravitational force, circular motion, and astronomy by manipulating the sun, earth, moon, and a space station to observe the effects of gravity and orbital paths. This simulation can either be...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Open Course Ware: Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences: Solar System
A university-level course that looks at the structure of the solar system, the sun, the planets, and other bodies in space. Includes course readings, assignments, and study notes.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Our Solar System: A Day on Earth
A video and a short multiple-choice quiz on how the Earth's tilt on its axis, its rotation, and its orbit around the Sun give us a 24-hour day, a 365-day year, and our seasons.
Harvard University
Harvard University: The Solar System
These hands-on activities are a great way for students to gain perspective on the relative sizes and distances of each planet, the relationship between the sun and Earth, and much more.
BBC
Bbc Schools: Ks2 Bitesize: Science: Physical Processes: Earth, Sun, and Moon
Help Sarah Jane and her team put the solar system's planets back in order. Following the activity, read more about the sun, the Earth, and its moon, and then take a quick quiz to check for understanding.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Fifth Grade Science: Earth Science: Earth's Motion in Space
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Discusses the motion of the Earth with its day and night cycle, the seasons, the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and its year-long cycle.
BBC
Bb Ci Space: Earth
The BBC provides a general overview of the planet Earth. Content includes statistical information, a focus on the four seasons, moon information, and more.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the Milky Way gallaxy and how scientists learn about it over time. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story;...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Earth in Motion: Seasons
This interactive activity from the Adler Planetarium explains the "reasons for the seasons." Featured is a game in which Earth must be properly placed in its orbit in order to send Max, the host, to different parts of the world during...