Curated OER
Google Earth
Students explore cardinal directions and the compass rose using Google Earth. In this cardinal directions and compass rose lesson, students use Google Earth to visit Disney World. Students choose which direction to go to get there....
Curated OER
Breaking News English: Paul McCartney's Space Station Concert
In this ESL/ELL reading and speaking activity, learners read or listen to an article entitled, "Paul McCartney's Space Station Concert." They complete a variety of comprehension activities including true/false, listing life songs,...
University of Colorado
Spacecraft Speed
Space shuttles traveled around Earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour, way faster than trains, planes, or automobiles travel! In the 13th installment of 22, groups graph different speeds to show how quickly spacecraft move through...
American Museum of Natural History
Cosmic Cookies
Scholars read about each planet then bake a plate of cosmic cookies—no-bake cookies decorated to look like the planets; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
Curated OER
Space Science
Eighth graders study the objects in our solar system. In this space lesson students identify and describe planets, then classify them as terrestrial or gaseous.
T. Smith Publishing
Earth
Young astronomers read an informational text passage and then answer questions based on what they read.
Glynn County School System
Light, History, Gravity, Distance, Relativity, and Space-Time
Let the star's color be the guide! The color of a star indicates its temperature and its mass and distance affect the gravitational force. The lesson presentations address these concepts as well as how the theory of special relativity...
Curated OER
Remote Sensing and Landsat Satellite Imagery
Learners comprehend how satellites use remote sensing to produce images. They use supervised classification with Landsat images. Students recognize that the earth's surface has different basic land surfaces that reflect/emit different...
Curated OER
Get the Picture!
Astronomers practice downloading data from a high-energy satellite and translate the data into colored or shaded pixels. As a hands-on activity, they use pennies to simulate high-energy satellite data and they convert their penny...
Curated OER
Get a Leg Up
Traveling through space is an amazing experience, but it definitely takes a toll on the body. After reading an article and watching a brief video, learners perform an experiment that simulates the effects of zero gravity on the human body.
Curated OER
Food for Spaceflight
When astronauts get hungry in outer space, they can't just call and have a pizza delivered. In order to gain an appreciation for the challenges associated with space travel, young learners are given the task of selecting, testing, and...
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: From a Distance
Challenge your class with an amazing set of ideas that really put the project back into project-based learning. It all starts with a whole class research task. Each learner will look up and take notes on multiple facets of things that...
Curated OER
Regolith Formation
Students explain the difference between regolith formation on Earth and the Moon. In this space science instructional activity, students model the different factors affecting regolith formation on Earth. They identify the different types...
Curated OER
The Building Blocks
This PowerPoint is a comprehensive review of all the facts related to an atom's basic structure and function. What makes this unique is that it is geared toward an audience of junior geologists. After introducing the periodic table of...
Curated OER
The Magic School Bus Lost in Space
Students 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.
Curated OER
Geography Lesson Plans Using Google Earth
Geography lesson plans using Google Earth, or other interactive websites can make this topic current and interesting for students.
Midnight Martian
Moon Globe
Not just a simple globe of the moon, this interactive version allows you to choose lighting according to the location of the sun, views from different positions on Earth, and more! Satellite images and topographic data have been combined...
Journey Through the Universe
How Far is Far?
The earth only revolves around one thing — and it's not any of your pupils. The lesson includes two activities dealing with the distance to the sun and the moon. First, scholars create a pin hole camera and use the rules of similar...
Columbus City Schools
Moon Phase Mania
Now you see it, now you don't. Our moon seems to pull a disappearing act from time to time—but why? Take your seventh grade scientists above and beyond to discover the truth about the moon and the role it plays in Earth's little corner...
Institute for Geophysics
Understanding Maps of Earth
Here is your go-to student resource on primary geography concepts, including facts about the surface of the earth and its hemispheres, latitude and longitude, globes, types of maps, and identifying continents and oceans.
McGraw Hill
Lunar Phases Interactive
View the moon changes from space while simultaneously experiencing the changes on Earth. A creative lesson allows pupils to view the big picture as they watch the orbit of the moon through a calendar period. At the same time, they see...
Curated OER
Seeing Solar Storms in STEREO-II
In this solar storms worksheet, students use a diagram given the location of two STEREO spacecraft satellites, a coronal mass ejection, the sun and the Earth to solve 2 problems about the coronal mass ejection. Students use segments,...
Curated OER
View of a Comet from Earth
Students investigate comets. For this space science lesson, students study overhead transparencies of the orbits of Earth and a comet. Students identify various locations and times where comets would be visible from Earth.
Curated OER
Introduction to Earth Sun Relationships Incorporating P.E.
Third graders investigate space science by performing physical activities. In this solar system instructional activity, 3rd graders perform a relay activitiy with their class in which they race between different "planets". Students...