Lesson Plan
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Glowing Glimpses of Our Universe

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students will complete hands-on space activities. In this space science lesson, students will create a glow-in-the-dark model of the solar system, visit a planetarium, make star pictures, and paint constellations. Activities are meant to...
Lesson Plan
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Distance in Space

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore space science by measuring distances between planets. In this solar system lesson, 6th graders view a Bill Nye video and discover the conversion between the metric system and imperial measuring systems. Students...
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Observations From the Past

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders explore direct and indirect evidence. In this astronomy lesson, 9th graders investigate the contribution of early astronomers to their field. They create a model of the solar system.
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Space Exploration to Find Habitable Planets

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Students explore space science by reviewing scientific vocabulary terms. In this planet identification lesson, students identify the nine planets in our solar system and discuss which ones could potentially harbor life at some point....
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Following in Galileo's Footsteps

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students explore the findings of Galileo and research the moons of Jupiter. They construct simple telescopes, and examine the moons for themselves at a star party. They record their findings in a journal.
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Star Gazing: Understanding the night sky

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students observe star charts to understand the difference between a star and a planet. In this star lesson plan, students also explain why we see different stars at different times of the year.
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Multiculturalism Through African Folk Tales And Mayan Myths

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners study the myths of various African cultures and of the Mayan people. They identify unique characteristics of African myths and Mayan myths. They define and recognize the style and tone of the Mayan myths and create their own...
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The Amazing and Beautiful Aurora

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create an oil pastel painting. In this pastel painting lesson, students examine images of the aurora borealis. Students produce an original pastel painting of the aurora.
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What are Stars?

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students research the solar system and it's characteristics.  In this solar system lesson, students are broken into 4 groups, each assigned a specific part of the solar system.  Students use the Internet to research their part...
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The Magic School Bus Lost in Space

For Teachers K - 2nd
Learners learn along with Ms. Frizzle's class. In this Magic School Bus lesson plan, students explore outer space as they visit the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars in order to learn about our solar system.
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Star Child Astronomy

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students gain understanding of the relationship of Earth within the Solar System. They increase knowlegde of the planets, sun, moon, meteoroids, asteroids and comets.
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Bringing the Solar System Down to Earth

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students develop a scaled down model of the solar system. In small groups, they calculate the scaled-down diameters of the planets and the sun, the scaled-down distance of the planets from the sun, complete two charts, and create a...
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Fractions, Decimals, and Gravity

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students discuss how weight is directly related to gravitational force on a planet. Students then choose Space Traveler as companion and compute how much their guide weighs on various planets, based on each planet's relative surface...
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Earth and Beyond!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate one or more of the following topics and develop a plan for the future regarding it: global warming, lunar exploration, space travel, Mars exploration, or terraforming. They disucss the audio files and the video that...
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Earth Science Lesson Plans on Geologic Time

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Springboard your fourth and fifth graders into the study geologic time. They will complete 7 activities to learn about geologic time and the topics most often associated with it: astronomy, creation, planet formation, volcanology,...
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Reading Satellite Images

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students analyze satellite images.  In this astronomy lesson, students examine 3 satellite images in order to understand how satellite images are taken and what they can teach scientists.
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Please Ex-Planet

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders create a model of an earth centered solar system and a model of the sun centered solar system. As a class, they discuss why the earlier astronomers believed their model and why it changed when evidence arose that this...
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Our Solar System to Scale

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars calculate the diameter of planets and their relative distances.  In this space science lesson, students discover how small or big the planets are in comparison to each other. Young scholars use cross multiplying...
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Probes to Other Planets

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders use a list of robot components and common household items to design and construct a robot spacecraft model suitable for exploring the Saturn System. They present the robots to the class.
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Space Science: Phases of the Moon

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Looking for a terrific activity on the phases of the moon that has lots of good worksheets? With two excellent websites are embedded in the plan, the activity is sure to spark some interest in your astronomy unit. Some common...
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Mars Curriculum

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners study Mars and other plants in the night sky. In a planetarium setting using Digitarium planetarium system, students identify the Big Dipper and Polaris. They explore the major differences between the planets and the stars. ...
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Exploring the Constellations, a WebQuest Activity

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore space science by participating in a class WebQuest. In this constellation identification instructional activity, students view star charts based on the four seasons and identify the changes our sky goes through in the...
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Earth, Moon, Mars Balloons

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students demonstrate size and orbits of Earth, Moon, and Mars. In this space science lesson plan, students will use balloons to show how the size and distance between the planets and satellite compare.
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Colonizing the Stars

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners compare and contrast the size, composition and surface features of the nine planets of our solar system with the possible sizes and compositions of extra -solar planets.