Young scholars use their knowledge to crash a comet into Jupiter or make a comet fly past the planet without colliding with it.

Eighth graders create a classification system of the planets and give a written rational for their choice of categories.  In this investigative instructional activity students participate in an activity that helps them to explore...

Students explore space science by creating a planetary model in class. In this solar system lesson, students identify the many planets and moons that make up the solar system and decide on one entity in which to research. Students create...

Students work in groups to create the planets of the solar system.  In this planets instructional activity, students create a hanging solar system taking into account the size, shape and position of the planets.  Students...

Young scholars explore the different types of measurements used in astronomy. For this space science lesson, students explain the relationship between planets' orbits and distance from the sun using Kepler's Laws. They discuss how math...

How many times have you traveled around the sun? Aspiring astronomers grasp what a year is and they differentiate between orbit and rotation by walking around the sun right within your classroom. Place a lamp in the center of the room to...

For this math worksheet, students read informational paragraphs and then answer 18 questions using data from their readings. Questions are about vectors, positions, distance and orbits.

The class gets to practice being a mathematician in ancient Greece, performing geometric application problems in the way of Eratosthenes. After following the steps of the great mathematicians, they then compare the (surprisingly...

How do you put something as large as the universe in perspective? Use a series of scale experiments. Classmates collaborate around four experiments to examine the scale of the earth-moon system, our solar system, the Milky Way galaxy,...

In this planetary instructional activity, students practice unscrambling the names of 9 planets and then put the planets into order from the distance they are from the sun.

In this transit of Mercury learning exercise, students read about Earth and Mercury lining up so that Mercury passes across the disk of the sun from the Earth's view. Students solve 3 problems and they determine the diameter of the solar...

Students view a video to gather information about our solar system. They create models of the planets to scale and place them in scale relative to their distances from the sun. They also visit a planetarium or use the internet to gather...

In this solar system activity, 8th graders make a scale model of the solar system, answer 5 questions and write a conclusion.

For this space worksheet, students load a copy of ViewPoint and open the Solar System datafile. There they look through database sheets, using the Preview Sheet and Next Sheet buttons and respond to 8 questions. Then students do some...

Young scholars identify the different objects that orbit Saturn. In this space science lesson, students plot the graph of orbital speed and distance. They explain why planets and asteroids remain in orbit around the sun.

What causes Earth's seasons? Find out through a series of anticipatory questions, an easy yet powerful activity representing the sun-Earth system, a diagram to label, and follow-up questions. Dispel the misconceptions about Earth being...

If you need a comprehensive review of the development of Earth's atmosphere through the ages, then this is for you! The presentation starts with a introduction to theories of planet formation and initial distribution of isotopes in the...

In this science worksheet, students read about the summer of 1971 when the Earth passed closer to Mars than it had since 1924. Students also learn about the retrograde motion of Mars as seen from Earth.

In this Earth worksheet, students review 13 terms associated with the Earth's rotation, revolution, and orbit. Students find the terms in a word search and then fill in the term next to its definition.

Learners 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...

Third graders create a model of the solar system. In this solar system lesson, 3rd graders create a scale model of the solar system. Working in pairs students solve mathematical problems to correctly measure the distance each planet is...

Place value reading skills are the focus of this lesson. Students are given an example of Pluto's orbit distance from the sun to introduce the concept of the billions place value. Students are then given four numbers in the billions, and...

Learners explain why exploring the universe for life on other planets is an important field of study. They use mathematical formulas to calculate the temperatures of planets as it relates to their distance from the sun. Students use...

Students make a model of the solar system. In this solar system lesson plan, 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...