Curated OER
Ocean Currents and Sea Surface Temperature
Students use satellite data to explore sea surface temperature. They explore the relationship between the rotation of the Earth, the path of ocean current and air pressure centers. After studying maps of sea surface temperature and ocean...
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Principles Of Flight: Wings That Spin
Students discover how flight is possible. For this physics lesson, students investigate the properties of a blimp and gyro-copter, comparing rotating wings and fixed wings of aircraft. Students create their own model aircraft...
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Why Do We Have Night?
Students engage in a fun, creative way to discover how the Earth moves. This lesson helps students explain why there is day and night. It can also create curiosity to further study the solar system and eclipses!
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Weather
Learners explore the earth's atmosphere, weather, and climate. They begin class with a discussion about weather patterns, atmosphere, and the layers of the earth. After the class discussion, students rotate through four stations to...
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Introduction to the Day and Night Sky
Students explore space science by participating in a sky observation activity. In this astronomy activity, students define a list of astronomy vocabulary terms and examine star charts of the four seasons. Students gather with their...
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Wind Power
Fourth graders develop an understanding of how engineers use wind to generate electricity. They will build a model anemometer to better understand and measure wind speed. They discover that engineers design wind turbines that generate...
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Stations of Light
Student groups rotate through four stations to examine light energy behavior: refraction, magnification, prisms and polarization. They see how a beam of light is refracted (bent) through various transparent mediums. Young scholars...
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Motion Near Earth
In this motion worksheet, students will match 5 physics vocabulary words relating to motion with their definitions. Then, they will review 9 statements of different motion scenarios to determine is the statement is true or false....
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Rotational Dynamics
In this motion learning exercise, students calculate the initial angular acceleration, and the angular speed before and after impact for different objects. This learning exercise has 3 problems to solve.
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Taking a Voyage away from Home
Students experience and participate in a journey through a "Voyage" exhibition of the Solar System and the frontier it covers. They build a dynamic model of the Earth and Sun. Descriptions are given on the relative sizes of the Sun and...
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Foucault's Pendulum
Students investigate how the motion of the Foucault pendulum proves that the Earth is rotating. They research the Internet about pendulums and conduct an experiment online. They view a multimedia presentation about pendulums and read...
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A New Slant On The Seasons
Students identify how the tilt and position of the Earth causes the seasons. After a discussion of the seasons and when they begin. Using themselves as the objects in the universe, they role play how the rotational movement of the...
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Our Solar System
In this solar system worksheet, students complete a database comparing the 9 different planets' mass, surface temperature, rotation period, orbital period, moons, and distinguishing features. This worksheet is a graphic organizer.
TLS Books
Jupiter
Young astronomers read an informational text on the gas giant, Jupiter. Then they answer four multiple choice questions based on what they read.
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Plasmasphere
In this plasmasphere worksheet, students determine how long the plasmasphere takes to rotate around the Earth using two satellite images taken three hours apart.
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Sky Pictures
Students investigate constellations. In this space science lesson plan, students view transparencies of constellations and identify the zodiac constellations. Students research the legends connected with the constellations.
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Our Universe: Always Moving, Always Changing
Students explore the main concepts of astronomy through the eleven lessons of this unit. The past, present, and future methods of studying the science are examined in this unit.
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CHARTING A COURSE
Students model how a gyroscope works with string, an old phonograph record and crayon.
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WHAT HOLDS US TO EARTH?
Students they imagine they are Galileo and try to duplicate Galileo's experiments and results.
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Astronomy
Students complete a unit of lessons on our solar system, its stars, and astronomers. They record information in a space journal, design constellations, define key vocabulary, observe the phases of the moon, and create a group planet...
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Charting Seasonal Changes
Learners research the Earth's patterns of rotation and revolution, create a chart and graph of these patterns and use them to explain the causes of night and day and summer and winter.
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Solar System: Let's Take a Trip
Third graders consider outer space. In this introductory solar system lesson, 3rd graders complete a KWL chart and listen to the story The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System, by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen. They will contribute...
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Losing An Island
Students examine carbon dioxide and determine the impact of greenhouse gases on the earths spheres. In this pollution lesson students complete a lab activity to see the impact of gases on the environment,
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Learning Lesson: Moonlight Serenade
Students complete experiments as they act as the earth. They observe how different angles affect the phases of the moon seen by us. They discuss the differences in light and dark.