McGraw Hill
Kepler's Second Law Interactive
Kepler decided to think outside the box and discovered that planets orbit in elliptical patterns. An engaging activity demonstrates the elliptical orbit pattern in relationship to the area of a planet to explain Kepler's Second Law....
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Mercury
After reading a short excerpt about Mercury, your class will answer four comprehension questions. The worksheet challenges them to fold over the paper and answer the questions without referring back to the excerpt. An answer sheet is...
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Please Ex-Planet!
What is most useful about this lesson plan is the "Student Explanet Worksheet," a set of instructions for collaborative groups to use to collect information about an assigned planet. After students have researched and organized their...
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The Discovery Of The Solar System
Students study the heliocentric theory of Copernicus, the ideas behind it and the explanations which it displaced. A discussion of retrograde motion of planets helps students explain the logic underlying the ideas of both Ptolemy and...
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Puzzling Planets
Students examine the concept of a solar system. In this research based lesson, students compare a star and a planet. They explain the requirements for life in a biosphere.
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A Tour of the Solar System
Students construct a spacecraft out of Lego blocks and other materials. They work on their models in small groups while building. They become familar with the planets while working cooperatively.
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Planet Discovery and Identification
Students explore the internet world of Second Life and create a portfolio about the planets in our solar system. In this planets lesson plan, students provide many facts about 1 specific planet.
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Exploring The Neighborhood of the Solar System
Students 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...
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Simple Searches
In 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...
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Sample the Solar System
Young scholars identify different features of the solar system. They analyze the sun, moon, planets, comets, and asteroids. They use the Internet and other resource sources to find information about the solar system.
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Solar System: Fantasy Planet
Students create their own fantasy planet using computer software on KidPix. In this planets lesson plan, students also write a paragraph about their planet including the name, population, weather, and more.
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The Best of the Solar System (Grades 6-8)
Learners are introduced to planetary research and become familiar with the planets and their features. They view images of the planets, and fill in an information chart which is imbedded in this plan.
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Planets or Not, Here We Come!
Pupils, working in groups, research planets in terms of the size, temperature, number of moons, and potential for life. They use packets and worksheets as guides for their research. Students may role-play as aliens visiting their...
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PLANETS IN PROPORTION
Students discover scales for both the solar bodies' relative sizes and their distances from the sun. They find equatorial circumference and volumes of their solar bodies. Students apply estimation strategies and proportioanl reasoning to...
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Solar Car Series: Angle/Energy Amount
Does the angle of a solar panel change the output? Emerging engineers find out! Demonstrate for your class how they can angle a straw to match the angle of light rays coming from a source. Then turn them loose to experiment with the...
American Museum of Natural History
Beyond Planet Earth
Scholars take a journey through space with 16 eye-catching images. Along the way, learners read captions starting with the moon, then move onto asteroids, Mars, and Jupiter.
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The Ellipse
This is a practical sheet with the instructions to draw a set of ellipses. After following the diagrams, there are ten questions to complete, with calculations expected for alternate orbits and comparisons related to actual planets in...
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Paper Mache Solar System
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...
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A Whole New World
Young scholars work in small groups to investigate statistics regarding the solar system and participate in a 'scientific conference'. They explore available information about the extrasolar planet and assess the importance of this...
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Voyage of Discovery
Students develop a sense of the scale of our solar system by creating a one to ten billion scale model. They calculate the relative sizes and distances for the planets and asteroid belt using a guiding worksheet. To create the model they...
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Asteroids Between Mars and the Sun
In this asteroids of the solar system worksheet, students observe a diagram showing all the minor planets found in the orbit of Mars. Students answer 4 questions about the minor planets inside the orbit of other planets, they find the...
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The Solar Cycle
Students research the solar cycle. In this Science lesson, students use the internet to investigate the solar cycle. Students produce a spreadsheet and graph from the information collected.
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Strange New Planet
Students simulate different spacecraft missions using materials provided. In this space science lesson, students observe and record a planetary model's features from a distance. They relate this activity to scientists' space exploration...
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The Magic School Bus Lost in Space
Students identify the planets by making two models of the Solar System. They create a model that shows the order of the planets and a model that shows the planets sizes as compared to one another. They may write about the planet they...