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Reasons for the Seasons
Students discover how the Earth's axis of rotation affects the angle of sunlight and the length of day. They take a survey and give the survey out to family members and friends. They tally their findings and then determine the correct...
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Kepler and his Laws
Students examine Kepler's Laws. They confirm Kepler's 3rd law by comparing orbital periods and mean distances for all major planets and study conic sections, qualitatively.
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Unit 2 Sun & Stars
Students describe stellar objects using terms such as stars, planets, satellites, orbits and light. In this sun and stars unit, students research stellar objects through seven individual lessons discovering star characteristics, how...
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How Big Are Earth, Sun, and Moon?
Third graders draw what they believe is in space on a dry erase board. In groups, they are given a beaker half filled with water and they add a teaspoon of oil, observing the different layers that form. To end the lesson, they identify...
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Moon Glow
Students identify the Earth-Moon relationship and the phases of the Moon. They participate in an activity that illustrates why the Moon has so many different looks within a lunar cycle. They discuss solar and lunar eclipses.
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Cooling With Sunshades
Students conduct research in order to find the effects of properties exposed to heat and how they change temperature. They consider the effect of sunlight upon objects that are placed outside with the help of an experiment. They also...
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Place Value Through Billions
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...
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Reasons for Seasons
Students investigate a model of the tilt of the Earth in its relationship to the Sun during the different seasons of the year. They study the solstices and equinoxes, while determining how sunlight hits the Earth with different angles in...
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The Moon
Students explore the relationship between the earth, sun, and moon in our solar system. They create a moonrise/moonset chart, perform a dance that models the moon phases, and create a Styrofoam model of the moon's surface.
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Atmospheric Shielding from Radiation I
In this radiation worksheet, students calculate the distance of a satellite in orbit to determine the placement of a radiation detection device. This worksheet has 2 problems to solve.
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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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Earth, Moon, Mars Balloons
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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Universal Proportions: Earth and Moon
Students create scale models of Earth, the Moon, and the distances within the universe. Working in groups, they construct their models of Earth and the Moon on a scale of 50:1 and calculate how far apart to place their models. They...
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Ellipses And Kepler's First Law
High schoolers explain that planets actually orbit the center of gravity of the solar system, and that distant planets may be detected by motions of their central star around the centers of gravity of their planetary systems.
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Colonizing the Stars
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.
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Earth and Seasons
Sixth graders comprehend that the path Earth takes as it revolves around the sun is called its orbit. They also comprehend that the axis is an imaginary line that passes through Earth's center and its North and South Poles. Students...
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Lesson-Mass and Weight
Student identify the three stationary positions, on the Earth, on the Moon, and in a house floating atop the cloud layers of Jupiter. They also identify the three orbiting positions, orbiting the Earth, orbiting the Moon, and orbiting...
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Place Value to 10,000
In this ten thousands place worksheet, learners review the table that shows the diameters of the largest moons in the solar system and the planet it orbits. Students use the table to help them understand numbers with a place value of...
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The Nature of Science and Technology
Students study the environmental concerns of orbital debris. In this orbital debris lesson students complete several activities.
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The Seasons
Students determine the effect of the earth's tilt on the amount of incoming solar radiation throughout the year. They simulate the earth's orbit around the sun using a light bulb and a globe to simulate the seasons. Assessment questions...
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Eclipse: An Introduction
Young scholars write journal entries about eclipses with a focus on solar eclipses.
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Nature of Meteor Showers
Ninth graders describe, in general terms, the distribution of matter in space and
identify evidence for, and describe characteristics of, bodies that make up the solar system. They then investigate predictions about the motion,...
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Got Space?
Students explore our solar system of planets through research and activities. Using cooperative grouping and interaction, students gain an understanding of how the characteristics of the planets differ from one another.
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Moon Observations
Learners study the science of the moon. In this moon observations activity, students study vocabulary associated with the moon, study a lunar calendar, and a phases of the moon's orbit around the Earth.