ABCya
Ab Cya: Orbital Order
Launch into space with Orbital Order! Amplify your knowledge of the Sun and the planets of our Solar System in this astronomical activity. Do you have what it takes to put the planets back in order?
PBS
Pbs News Hour Extra: Satellites Orbit the Sun to Better Predict Solar Storms
For the first time, NASA scientists have generated a full image of the sun, front and back, using twin orbiting satellites. The new view of Earth's star will allow for the study of solar weather events like coronal mass ejections that...
Harvard University
Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground: The Earth's Orbit
Students perform many inquiry activities related to Earth's orbit. Included are recording daily temperatures, observing the sun's path over several weeks, tracking sunrise and sunset times, and angle of sunlight. Diagrams make lessons...
National Earth Science Teachers Association
Windows to the Universe: Our Solar System
Our solar system is filled with a wide assortment of celestial bodies - the Sun itself, our eight planets, dwarf planets, and asteroids - and on Earth, life itself! The inner solar system is occasionally visited by comets that loop in...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Build Your Own Solar System
This Java applet creates a model of a solar system with user-defined data. Users can create a solar system with up to four planets, choosing the star type at the center of the solar system, planet name, size, eccentricity of orbit and...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about scientists and learning about our solar system and how it works. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the Milky Way gallaxy and what it takes to be a scientist. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the Milky Way gallaxy and how scientists learn about it over time. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story;...
Utah Education Network
Uen: My Solar System
Young scholars will use a simulation to build their own solar system discovering the relationship between gravity and motion that keeps a planet in orbit.
Cosmos 4 kids
Cosmos4 Kids: Beyond Earth's Orbit
Learn about the different satellites that are probing the solar system on the website. Also included is a video that explores Astrobiology.
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Paper Mache Solar System
This site from the Illinois Institute of Technology provides a set of directions for the creation of a solar system model out of paper mache. Includes orbital distances and planet diameters for the nine planets. Great idea for a student...
Nine Planets
The Nine Planets: The Moon
Explore the mythology, structure, observational history, gravitational force, and orbit of Earth's Moon.
Harvard University
Harvard University: The Solar System
These hands-on activities are a great way for students to gain perspective on the relative sizes and distances of each planet, the relationship between the sun and Earth, and much more.
Other
Solar and Astrophysics Lab: Trace Analysis Guide
This site provides a detailed overview of the TRACE (Transition Region and Coronal Explorer) satellite mission, data received, details about the instrumentation, and how to interpret the data.
Other
Sandburg Center for Sky Awareness: What Are the Shapes of the Planets' Orbits?
In this lesson plan investigation students learn about the shapes of the planetary orbits by experimenting with ellipses of different proportions.
Nine Planets
The Nine Planets: Comets
A detailed description of comets, their distinct parts, and the known comets in our solar system. Links are also provided for additional information on related subjects.
Cosmos 4 kids
Cosmos4 Kids: Solar System Details: Moons of Saturn
Explore the dozens of Saturn's moons orbiting the second largest planet of our solar system. Find out about the Cassini space mission which explored Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
NASA
Nasa: Heliophysics: New Science of the Sun Solar System Connection
This site from NASA lists common and uncommon misconceptions about Sun-Earth Science. Site also provides links to activities and lesson plans as well as background reading.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Reasons for the Seasons
Why do some regions experience full-time heat while others are reckoning with frigid temperatures and snow? And why are the seasons reversed in the two hemispheres? Rebecca Kaplan explains how the shape of the Earth's orbit around the...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: A Strange New Planet
This video segment adapted from NOVA features the first planet to be discovered outside our solar system. Its surprisingly large size and short orbit sent scientists back to their data and led them to discover similar planets. [3:06]
University of California
Univ. Of Cal Berkeley: The Comet's Tale
Site provides extensive information in the study of comets. Includes excellent graphics that depict what comets look like as they travel through the solar system. Also includes information on how comets may have effected the Earth's...
Harvard University
Harvard University: Eye on the Sky, Feet on the Ground
An ebook filled with information and classroom activities covering several astrological topics such as the Earth's rotation and the solar system. Many tips and teaching tools are available to aid in discovering what the sky has to offer.
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Astronomy
Eight hands-on lessons module in which students explore the characteristics of planet Earth, its moons, the sun, the solar system, planets, and the difference between science fact and science fiction.
BBC
Bbc Schools: Ks2 Bitesize: Science: Physical Processes: Earth, Sun, and Moon
Help Sarah Jane and her team put the solar system's planets back in order. Following the activity, read more about the sun, the Earth, and its moon, and then take a quick quiz to check for understanding.