TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Reasons for the Seasons
Why do some regions experience full-time heat while others are reckoning with frigid temperatures and snow? And why are the seasons reversed in the two hemispheres? Rebecca Kaplan explains how the shape of the Earth's orbit around the...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Scaled Images of the Solar System
Use the following lithographs to envision the scale of our solar system. View different models of planets at different scales, an infographic about the relative sizes of the planets and distance from the sun, and images of the largest...
Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom: Circular and Satellite Motion: Speed and Velocity
In this interactive module, describe and explain the motion of objects that either move in circles or can be approximated to be moving in circles. Kinematic concepts and motion principles will be applied to the motion of objects in...
Other
Center for Science Education: Eye on the Sky: Motion of the Sun and Earth
Students model the interaction of the earth and the sun. The activity is designed for the playground. You will need chalk, but all the other worksheets are provided.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: What Sizes Are the Planets and How Do They Move Around the Sun?
An outdoor activity where learners simulate how planets orbit around the sun using different sizes of balloons.
Harvard University
Harvard University: The Solar System
These hands-on activities are a great way for students to gain perspective on the relative sizes and distances of each planet, the relationship between the sun and Earth, and much more.
American Association of Physics Teachers
Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Earth Orbit Model
Nicolaus Copernicus developed the theory of Earth's orbit around the sun demonstrated in this science simulation.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Great Gravity Escape
Students use water balloons and a length of string to understand how gravity and the velocity of a spacecraft balance to form an orbit. They see that when the velocity becomes too great for gravity to hold onto an object, the object...
BBC
Bbc Schools: Ks2 Bitesize: Science: Physical Processes: Earth, Sun, and Moon
Help Sarah Jane and her team put the solar system's planets back in order. Following the activity, read more about the sun, the Earth, and its moon, and then take a quick quiz to check for understanding.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Astronomy: The Phases of the Moon
This site from Cornell University provides great information on the different phases of the moon. As the Moon moves in its orbit around the Sun, our view of the side illuminated by the Sun changes. Furthermore, the rising and setting...
NASA
Nasa's the Space Place: King of the Ice Dwarfs
An information page all about Pluto! Learn about Pluto's size, path around the sun, temperature, location, and traveling partner Charon.
NASA
Nasa: The Space Place: What's a Barycenter?
This site from NASA helps in explaining a barycenter. "In the case of the Earth and the Sun, both bodies actually revolve, or spin, around the center of the mass between them. This point is called the barycenter."
Sophia Learning
Sophia: The Sun and Moon: Lesson 3
This lesson will analyze the role of the sun and moon relative to the earth's orbit. It is 3 of 4 in the series titled "The Sun and Moon."
Sophia Learning
Sophia: The Sun and Moon: Lesson 4
This lesson will analyze the role of the sun and moon relative to the earth's orbit. It is 4 of 4 in the series titled "The Sun and Moon."
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about scientists and learning about our solar system and how it works. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the Milky Way gallaxy and what it takes to be a scientist. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the Milky Way gallaxy and how scientists learn about it over time. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story;...
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physical Science: Orbital Motion
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Orbital motion and why it occurs, and the orbits of the Earth around the sun and the moon around the Earth.
NASA
Nasa: Heliophysics: New Science of the Sun Solar System Connection
This site from NASA lists common and uncommon misconceptions about Sun-Earth Science. Site also provides links to activities and lesson plans as well as background reading.
ABCya
Ab Cya: Orbital Order
Launch into space with Orbital Order! Amplify your knowledge of the Sun and the planets of our Solar System in this astronomical activity. Do you have what it takes to put the planets back in order?
Harvard University
Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground: The Earth's Orbit
Students perform many inquiry activities related to Earth's orbit. Included are recording daily temperatures, observing the sun's path over several weeks, tracking sunrise and sunset times, and angle of sunlight. Diagrams make lessons...
National Earth Science Teachers Association
Windows to the Universe: Our Solar System
Our solar system is filled with a wide assortment of celestial bodies - the Sun itself, our eight planets, dwarf planets, and asteroids - and on Earth, life itself! The inner solar system is occasionally visited by comets that loop in...
Oklahoma Mesonet
Oklahoma Climatological Survey: The Seasons
Find out what the seasons are and how they change. Through the use of excellent graphics, content explores the Earth's orbit around the sun and how sunlight reaches the earth at equinox and the winter solstice.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Open Course Ware: Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences: Solar System
A university-level course that looks at the structure of the solar system, the sun, the planets, and other bodies in space. Includes course readings, assignments, and study notes.