Space Awareness
Know Your Planets
Does your class know their planets? Implement an activity that has them describing the solar system, identifying properties of the planets, and placing them in order from their distance from the sun.
Space Awareness
Model of a Black Hole
Even light cannot leave the force of a black hole! Learners use a model to explore the gravitational force of a black hole. An elastic bandage and heavy ball serve to create the hole, while marbles become the victims of its strong force.
University of Colorado
The Moons of Jupiter
Middle schoolers analyze given data on density and diameter of objects in space by graphing the data and then discussing their findings. This ninth installment of a 22-part series emphasizes the Galilean moons as compared to other...
Discovery Education
The Time of Our Life
Mammals are some of the newest organisms to appear on Earth. Young scholars complete an activity that results in a timeline showing the appearance of different types of living organisms. Provided with a list that spans from prokaryotes...
Curated OER
Understanding the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
How did our universe really begin? Explore the Science Big Bang Theory and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with this multiple activity-based lesson plan that demonstrates that the increase of density due to the decrease of...
Curated OER
The Battle for Ultimate Power
Middle schoolers gain an understanding of how the powers of 10 and scientific notation can be used to represent the scale of things in the universe. They relate the number of stars in the universe to the number of grains of sand on...
Colorado State University
What Makes a Gas, a Greenhouse Gas?—The Carbon Dioxide Dance
Investigate a heated topic in environmental science. Scholars team up to play the parts of gas molecules in the atmosphere. As the teacher moves about, acting as the electromagnetic wave, learners react as their molecules would to the...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Global Climate Change
Here is an extensive reading resource that addresses our climate change crisis. It thoroughly explains the greenhouse effect, related Earth cycles, and the history of climate change. Use it as part of the intended unit, published by the...
Discovery Education
Satellite Telemetry
Satellites require rockets to launch, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand them. Future engineers learn about how satellites send data to Earth and how to interpret satellite images. They see how radio waves play a role...
NASA
Christa's Lost Lesson: Newton’s Laws
How do the laws of motion work in space? Learners explore Newton's laws of motion in different experiments as part of the Christa's Lost Lessons series. They rotate around the room in three stations to experience each law in action using...
Curated OER
Mass vs. Weight
Why do you weigh more in space? Each individual in your class explores this question and others as they determine the mass and weight of different objects using two types of scales. They perform conversions and discuss their...
Curated OER
Universal Gravity and Kelper's Laws Worksheet
High school physicists apply their knowledge of planetary motion. Using Kepler's three laws, Newton's law of universal gravitation, and the provided properties of the moon, sun, and Earth, they proceed to solve 23 problems. An...
NASA
Keeping Nine Eyes on the Weather
Take a look at climate change from another angle. Readers learn about the MISR instrument on the Terra satellite and how it studies Earth. Pupils experience how the multiple cameras give scientists multiple views so they can better study...
NOAA
Technology I
Isn't technology great? The 12th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program introduces technology that marine scientists use. Pupils take part in an activity using conductivity,...
Curated OER
The Solar System and Beyond: The Moon
Here is a very basic look at the moon and its positioning around our planet. The pictures and labels here show different phases and will help your space explorers understand our changing views of the moon along with the Earth's tilt and...
Curated OER
Gelatin Volcanoes
Students investigate magma flow using gelatin volcano models. In this earth science lesson, students sketch the magma bodies as observed from the top of their model. They explain why magma moves that way.
Urbana School District
Light
You matter, unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light ... then you energy. Presentation covers the behavior of light as both a wave and a particle, light versus sound, space travel, why objects have colors, depth perception,...
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Molecules to the Max!—Teacher's Discovery Guide
Molecules to the Max! refers to a movie released in 2009 about the world of atoms and molecules. A helpful discovery guide provides five posters on science topics typically covered at the middle school level. It also explains the...
NOAA
Exploring Potential Human Impacts
Arctic sea ice reflects 80 percent of sunlight, striking it back into space; with sea ice melting, the world's oceans become warmer, which furthers global warming. These activities explore how humans are impacting ecosystems around the...
Curated OER
Cryosat Mission
Beginning with general information on satellites and seasons, concluding with polar ice and the Cryosat Mission, this worksheet gives your earth scientists an opportunity to conduct some research. Most of the assignment consists of short...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Chemical Signatures of Asteroid Impacts
What killed the dinosaurs and how do scientists know? Your high schoolers can examine these fascinating questions with a geochemical lens using the engaging 33-minute video, the accompanying data interpretation, and some thoughtful...
NOAA
Marine Ecosystems
Be at the top of the food chain when it comes to understanding marine ecosystems. The 21st installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program investigates marine ecosystems, ocean zones, and food...
Curated OER
Cosmic Chemistry: An Elemental Question
Space scientists investigate the cosmic phenomena in order to search for answers to possible origins of the solar system. They consider the concepts of elements and isotopes. Data is analyzed looking at tje abundance of elements...
Curated OER
Recycling and Composting
Students set up composting sites that allow food scraps and paper to be recycled by nature. They are introduced to one aspect of recycling; composting. Students see how God recycles as the worms change garbage into something that brings...