NASA
Space Station Research Explorer
Take a trip into outer space from the safety of your classroom. A great addition to the digital library of any science teacher, this reference offers a behind-the-scenes look at the research going at the International Space Station.
Curriculum Corner
Bugs and Flowers Math and Literacy Centers
The sun shines, flowers bloom, and bugs fly—it must be Spring! Add a cheerful theme of bugs and flowers to math and literacy centers. Scholars take part in an assortment of activities designed to reinforce concepts such as identifying...
NASA
Creating a Space Exploration Infrastructure
What will it take to explore space? Teams of pupils determine the needs of a lunar outpost and research the required systems. The pupils then learn about the past space exploration vehicles. The third and final lesson challenges project...
BioEd Online
Center of Gravity
Between the pull of gravity and the push of air pressure, it's a wonder animals can balance or move at all. With a hands-on lesson about the center of gravity, learners discuss their own experiences with the topic, then work with...
American Museum of Natural History
Field Trip: Space Flight
Take a virtual trip to infinity and beyond. Pupils watch a space visualization that leaves Earth and heads to the ISS and then follows the Apollo missions to the moon. Scholars view detailed images of the space station and its different...
Curated OER
Learning Centers for the Middle School Classroom
How to structure and implement learning centers in the middle school classroom.
Curriculum Corner
Back to School Math and Literacy Centers
From filling in the missing number to filling in the missing letter; to writing fluency sentences to skip counting and matching, a complete set of back to school math a literacy centers will not disappoint. Use these activities during...
K-5 Math Teaching Resources
Math Center Reflection Sheets
Take time for young mathematicians to reflect on their learning with this series of simple writing prompts. With three different variations to choose from, the worksheets provide children with sentence frames that support them...
Curated OER
Canada's Role in Astronomy and Space Science
Ninth graders, in groups, research a Canadian astronaut, developing a profile of their astronaut for presentation in a learning center. They visit the other groups' centers to explore more astronauts.
Messenger Education
Give Me a Boost—How Gravity Assists Aid Space Exploration
The propellant needed for space explorations runs in the thousands, while paying to get the craft into orbit costs millions! In the second installment of three, two activities explore laws of conservation of energy and momentum. Using...
Messenger Education
Can You Hear Me Now?—Communicating with Spacecraft
Radio signals transmitted to Pluto take five hours to reach their destination! In these two activities, young scientists explore data communication in space. In activity one, pupils learn how data is gathered and sent back to Earth....
NASA
Space-Based Astronomy on the Internet
Young scientists compile everything they have learned into a report in the fifth and final lesson in a unit on the visible light spectrum. Access to photos from observatories, telescopes, and satellites allows learners to compare and...
K20 LEARN
This Is How the World Ends: Coronal Mass Ejections/Space Storms
Is this the end of the world as we know it? Pupils prepare for a coronal mass ejection during a lesson from the K20 Center. The activity combines video and Internet research in a collaborative assignment that focuses on public safety...
Curated OER
Sacred Space
Young scholars consider the two finalists in the contest for architectural designs for the site of the World Trade Center. They create their own designs for a meaningful public space, then critique each other's designs.
Growing Classroom
Space Travelers
Groups of three scientists from the rocky planet Zog investigate the composition of soil so that they can take the information back to their home, create soil there, and begin to grow food.
Curated OER
From the Mouths of Space Scientists: An Introduction to Space and Weather
After researching the Greenland Space Science Symposium, curious thinkers create a PowerPoint or video presentation. They use the information they gathered to construct their presentation.
Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX)
Robots in Space
Learners investigate the history of robotics in space exploration. They design and create a robot using various online resources, develop a list of questions about robots in space, and participate in a video conference with the Johnson...
Curated OER
World Trade Center Design Proposals
Learners explore architectural design. In this critical thinking and architecture instructional activity, students view a number of websites providing proposals for design plans of a new World Trade Center. Learners choose and evaluate...
Curated OER
Cultural Spaces
As a way to help your learners understand tolerance, personal space, and cultural diversity, this lesson has them give up personal space for three minutes. There is no discussion prior to this activity and seemingly very little after....
Curated OER
Elements of Art: Student Assessment
What a neat test! The class is asked to draw and color to create examples of eight elements of art. They focus on each element (line, value, shape, form, space, texture, primary and secondary color) by creating an original piece in each...
Curated OER
The Earth, Sun, Moon, And Stars
Fifth graders explore the solar system. In this solar system unit, 5th graders investigate numerous projects while rotating through learning centers. Students write about space and construct a space shuttle model. Students practice map...
Curated OER
Communication Delay
Construct a maze in your classroom and have a blindfolded scientist act as a space rover, maneuvering unfamiliar terrain while another scientist plays commander. Classmates record the number of occurrences of the commander having to...
Curated OER
Storytelling: Writers' Workshop Learning Center
Evaluating a variety of narrative texts can help build strong writers. Pupils identify plot elements and their relation to personal experience, then apply what they gleaned from the class discussion to create their own narratives.
Curated OER
Top 10 Facts About Space
Young scholars create their own Top 10 Facts about any topic related to space. In this space lesson, students work in groups to produce a Top Ten List of facts about space and share with their classmates. Groups choose a fact to...