Scholastic
Lesson One: The Earth, Background and Glossary
How much do you really know about our planet? Middle schoolers build up their prior knowledge about Earth, its placement in the solar system, its composition, and important geological vocabulary with an introductory earth science lesson.
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Out of This World (Language Arts)
Second graders, in groups, research the planets in the solar system and create a guidebook for travel.
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Rolling Through Space
Seventh graders use a foll of toilet paper to visualize the vast distance that separates the sun and the planets of our solar system.
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Space - In Your Face or Not?
Second graders, in groups, examine how it doesn't matter if they can see the planets in the solar system or not--they're there.
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Planet Picking
Students arrange the planets according to their distances from the sun. In this astronomy lesson, students list interesting properties about each planet. They identify an unknown planet photo.
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Extra Terrestial Excursions
Fourth graders determine how long it would take to fly to each of the planets in the solar system. They do two calculations: one, if they were using conventional jet, the other if they were using the fastest spacecraft possible.
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Where Are We Going?
Students practice rounding numbers to ones and tens places, multiplying numbers, and working with simple fractions. They study the placement and distances of planets in the Solar System.
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Sky Watching
Students complete night-sky observations to understand how our knowledge of the sky has been enhanced by telescopes. Students complete a timeline worksheet giving the history of telescopes. Students then then make their own observations...
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Making Regolith
You may not be able to take a field trip to the moon, but that doesn't mean your class can't study moon rocks. Using graham crackers as the moon's bedrock and powdered donuts as micrometeorites, young scientists simulate...
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Space Exploration to Find Habitable Planets
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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Investigating Planetary Soils
Young scholars study soil characteristics and identify properties of soils from different parts of the solar system. In this soil lesson students divide into groups, read soil descriptions, test and record soil samples.
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Outer Space and Beyond
Students compare and contrast the size, characteristics, composition, and orbits of the planets in our Solar System. They view a PowerPoint presentation, and in small groups conduct Internet research on a selected planet. Each group...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Jupiter’s Relative Size
How do you properly illustrate the extreme size difference between two planets—Earth and Jupiter? With the help of jellybeans, of course! Create a scale model of Jupiter's mass compared to Earth using a fishbowl, 1,400 beans, and a...
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Planet Vacation
In this planets worksheet, learners fill out a chart where they fill in the distance each planet is from the Earth, and how much travel time in years and hours it would take to get there. Students do this for 8 planets.
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Puzzling Planets
Students list the order of the planets, describe the general characteristics of each planet and explain why we could not live on other planets without special equipment.
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Our Solar System
Sixth graders use the internet to examine the different bodies in space. In groups, they select one project they want to complete and are given a timeline for when the sections are due. To end the lesson, they present their information...
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Meet the Neighbors: Planets Around Nearby Stars
Students explain why a transiting planet causes a periodic dimming in the light from its parent star. They determine the radius of a planet, and its orbital distance, by analyzing data and manipulating equations. Students compare the...
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Fine Motor Skills
Fourth graders discuss what they know about the planets, space, and the solar system including the colors of the planets. They also talk about why the planets are the color that they are. Next, they color cut-outs of the planets using...
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E.T. Write Home
Students read the book, The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System, and discuss the planets visited by the characters in the book. They write journal entries from the viewpoint of E.T., writing letters home describing his travels in...
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Outpost Communications Exercise
Pupils engage in a unique study of the solar system with the integration of technology in the form of e-mail. They communicate to each other on e-mail and give clues to an imaginary location without revealing the source the students must...
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What's "Out" There?
First graders investigate the five outer planets. In this space science lesson, 1st graders read the book Our Solar System and identify the five outer planets. Students create a booklet and write about outer planets.
University of Colorado
Terra Bagga
One way to identify possible volcanic activity on other planets is by testing the planet for magnetism. A science lesson begins with pupils constructing their own planet from a dead battery, magnets, paper, and tape before labeling...
University of Colorado
Terra Bagga
Earth's magnetic poles switch positions about every 200,000—300,000 years. In the activity, groups create a planet with a magnetic field. Once made, they use a magnetometer to determine the orientation of the planet's magnetic field....
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Planetary Poster
Students engage in a study about the planets and create a poster as one of the projects during the study. They create individual charts for mapping the solar system so the locations can be found in mock space missions to other planets.
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