This planetarium program allows you to create an accurate model of the solar system with icons or pictures of each planet. You can specify a date in the past or the future, change the viewpoint to any latitude/longitude, and even view in...

This activity will help your students comprehend the huge scales of time and space by using familiar objects. You can explore the massive distances of our Solar System using scale models made out of string. Included is a scale model of...

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How objects in the solar system orbit around each other.

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How objects in the solar system orbit around each other.

This site from the Illinois Institute of Technology provides a set of directions for the creation of a solar system model out of paper mache. Includes orbital distances and planet diameters for the nine planets. Great idea for a student...

This two-part lesson begins with a lecture which describes the complex process of creation from molecular cloud to planetesimals to planets to organized solar system. The lecture is followed up with a draw/write activity in which the...

Find tools to calculate astronomical distances and sizes, to view various Solar System models, to compare gravity's affect on weight, and more. A good place to find interesting facts, simple animations, and astronomy links to physics and...

In studying the solar system, students compare the relative sizes of the sun and the moon, and experiment with angular diameter, apparent diameter and distance.

A simulation illustrating Ptolemy's geometrical system of explaining the varying speeds and directions of the planets, sun, and moon.

Several activities are included to teach and research the differences between renewable and non-renewable resources and various energy resources. Young scholars work with a quantitative, but simple model of energy resources to show how...

The purpose of this activity is to use scaling in order to give students an idea of the size of Mars in relation to the Earth and the Moon as well as the distance between them. The students will have to calculate dimensions of the scaled...

In this lesson, 4th graders use their bodies to model the day/night cycles of the Sun and Earth. Next, they discuss the moon's role in the solar system and explore the eight phases of the moon by acting out a story. Finally, a song...

Illustrated instructions for creating a scale model of the solar system.

A portal to resources on the sun, the Earth's neighboring planets, and the weather in space. Find out why Saturn is the "jewel of the Solar System" and explore what happens when Venus and Mercury make their rare transits across the sun.

This lesson plan from the Illinois Institute of Technology demonstrates the causes of; day and night, seasons, and phases of the moon.With a few items, you help the elementary student discover why these phenomena occur.

Develop and use a model of the earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.

Every day is a cloudy day on Jupiter, the Solar System's reigning gas giant. This 3-dimensional visualization presents a simplified model view from between Jovian cloud decks based on imaging and spectral data recorded by the Galileo...

In this activity, "You will investigate the concepts of relative size and distance by creating a basic model of our solar system." Planet printouts are provided and this site contains related links.

A great description of the global scale circulation and heat energy. Discusses a single-cell model, a three-cell model, jet streams and more.

Students review the sizes of planets and their order relative to the Sun. They then learn about astronomical uses and create a model of the solar system that reflects planetary distances. Includes handouts and worksheets as well as a...

A lovely biographical piece about Ernest Rutherford. A number of personal notes, along with extensive information about the physics work he did. Nice quote at the end.

This set of activities teaches students about the big picture of science using Mars as an example: how to collect data, use evidence, and look at models.

See examples of scales based on a range from ten to the twelfth meters to ten to the negative twelth meters. Examples range from parts of our solar system to the nucleus of an atom.

Students explore the many different ways that engineers provide natural lighting to interior spaces. They analyze various methods of daylighting by constructing model houses from foam core board and simulating the sun with a desk lamp....