Preparing for an assessment? Here's an activity that will ensure that all class members have the background knowledge they need to demonstrate their skills on a performance task related to the solar system and the tools astronomers use...

Explore what it takes to service the Hubble telescope. In the set of three activities, groups investigate several aspects of the Hubble telescope, including robotic arms used during repairs, spacesuits, and extravehicular activity (EVA)...

An activity promotes reading comprehension. Readers analyze a text of their choice while activating prior knowledge and asking and answering questions. Scholars enforce multiple strategies to improve comprehension.

The spacecraft is drifting too far off course! Two games help explain how a spacecraft can use its thrusters to maintain its position. The games have pupils be the components of vectors in order to create and counteract the...

Ahoy, matey! Peer through a special telescope to explore the persistence of vision. The telescope has only a thin strip with which to view the world, but as it scans the area, your eye and brain work together to create a complete...

An activity boosts self-management through goal setting and reflection. Scholars choose one goal they wish to obtain by the end of the week. Participants brainstorm ways to make their goal a reality then reflect on whether or not their...

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...

How does the color of the sky change from blue to reds and oranges to black? An illuminating lesson explains how light travels through different mediums using the sun's light as an example. By examining diagrams and illustrations, pupils...

An activity for making a telescope using a cardboard tube and two lenses. Accompanied by an explanation of how the telescope works, and a link to an article about lenses.

Site describes how to construct a telescope and what you can do with it. Also provides a simple explanation of how telescopes work.

At this site students can make their own telescope and see how it works with this experiment. Out of a light, a pair of glasses, a magnifying glass and wax paper.

Directions and suggestions for making a parabolic mirror out of epoxy for use in a reflecting telescope. Links provided for sources of epoxy.

This site has an activity to make a hand-held telescope. "The Hubble Space Telescope that's orbiting Earth right now is the size of a school bus, but you can make a model of it that you can hold in your hands!"