Students examine the rotation of the Earth as it occurs in the 24 hour cycle. They use models of planets and the globe to make observations of movements made. Students brainstorm prior knowledge and then participate in a demonstration of...

Third graders explore the rotation of Earth and the moon. In this solar system lesson, 3rd graders participate in an Earth and moon simulation in which part of the class "becomes" the sun, while other children represent the moon by...

Students are introduced to the challenges involved in understanding the space travel distances and the time involved to do so through the use of an interactive fable. The modeling and comparisons deal with specific distances at different...

Students study photovoltaic technology. In this photovoltaic technology lesson, students simulate a photovoltaic system. Students discuss how to simulate a cloudy day.

Model how the sun's energy strikes the planet and help your class relate it to a climate map. Assign small groups an individual climate zone to discuss. They reflect on and research how humans survive in the assigned climate and write a...

Shine some light on the topic of seasonal change with this collection of activities. Whether it's by measuring the change in the length of their shadows, or modeling the earth's orbit around the sun using a lamp and a globe, these...

Learning about the moon has never tasted delicious! Using the popular Oreo cookie as a model, young scientists carve out the cream filling to represent the different phases of the moon.

There is more about the Milky Way that scientists don't know than what they do know—that leaves a lot to discover! A thorough lesson presentation explores the components of the Milky Way Galaxy and their behaviors. 

In this solar system activity, students will name the two models of the solar system and compare their differences. Students will state the hypothesis behind the formation of the sun and planets. Students will compare and contrast the...

Students explore the Solar System and examine the characteristics of al the planets. Through research and discussion, they create catalogs of the Solar System's components. Next, students use their findings to create Powerpoint...

Sixth graders calculate a light day, light hour, and light minute from the standard of a light year. After establishing the distances, a one meter scale is created to demonstrate the distance between the sun and the planets of our solar...

Learners research the characteristics of planets in our solar system. In this space science instructional activity, students create a solar system model with each planet arranged according to their distance from the sun. They solve...

Students determine rotation rates of a variety of solar system objects using images and the Internet.

Students examine how Earth's rotation causes daily cycles in solar energy using a microset of satellite data to investigate the Earth's daily radiation budget and locating map locations using latitude and longitude coordinates.

Just how big is Earth's moon? With a hands-on simulation, scholars use Play-Doh to model the sizes of the planets Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and their moons. They make predictions as a class, work together to make their models, and discuss...

Young conservation biologists have an opportunity to get involved in the effort to save endangered species. After reading and illustrating the tale of the Flying Frog, they craft a tale about another fictional endangered species.

Students make a model of the solar system. In this solar system lesson, students make paper mache models of the planets to hand in the classroom, measure the distance to each planet scaled with footsteps, and model the moon's movement...

Students, in groups, research a planet from our solar system. They create Styrofoam models of the planets and place the planets on a correct distance scale from the sun.

Students create a three-dimensional model of the sun. In this solar system instructional activity, students design a scale model of the sun using plasticine.

Learners read an article about NASA and Mars and complete short answer questions about the article. In this Mars lesson plan, students also create a scale model of the solar system.

All of the gas giant's atmospheres consist of hydrogen and helium, the same gases that make up all stars. The third in a series of 22, the activity challenges pupils to make scale models of the interiors of planets in order to...

In this second lesson of the series, pupils learn to observe similarities and differences in photos of the sun and record them in a Venn diagram. Then, small groups practice the same skill on unique images before presenting their...

There are many interactions among living things and their surroundings. By completing a reading, scholars learn about the Earth, the moon, and the sun and how they relate to the solar system. They also investigate the basics of physical...

Connect scientific notation to a real-life situation. Measuring distances in our solar system require large numbers. As pupils make conversions using these large numbers, they begin to see the necessity of scientific notation. They...