Students investigate space travel. In this space travel lesson students examine space exploration history, engineers and scientists involved in space exploration, and Newton's third law of motion. Students make rockets.

To go or to not to go — the question for a mission to Mars. This resource provides details for a possible manned mission to Mars. Details include a launch schedule, what life would be like on the surface, and how the astronauts would...

Space science superstars examine two data tables: one detailing manned space missions and one with unmanned missions. Seven tasks compare the two types of space exploration. This fascinating information is a great introduction to any...

Modern animation presents an overview of the history of space exploration. Beginning with Sputnik in 1957, the international space race was on. Eventually, space exploration became, not a competition, but rather a collaboration. Also,...

Imagine 16 nations working together to build a six-bedroom house. In space. Welcome to the International Space Station and follow along as it is built room-by-room.

Students discuss the terms exploration and technology. They read about the MESSENGER, Mission to Mercury, and answer questions. Next, they design and plan the technology for a space mission using an online interactive activity.

It was a bittersweet event when the space shuttle Atlantis touched down for the last time on July 21, 2011. Space science learners read an article about this event in The New York Times and then write answers to who, what, where, when,...

It keeps going, and going, and going ... how does the Juno space probe have enough power to travel to Jupiter? Junior astronauts use a THNKR "Why with Nye!" video to discover solar-powered science with the one and only Bill Nye. Topics...

Rarely do you find resources that reach high school astronomy learners. Here is something at their level! The physics of flyby missions is explained via several examples. Landing, penetrating, and roving spacecraft are examined. Diagrams...

True or false: Earth is the only body in our solar system with water. If you said true, perhaps you didn't hear about the LCROSS mission in which NASA crashed a probe into Earth's moon looking for water. Learn about the mission and its...

Students engage in the study of flight with the help of a computer flight simulation. They take part in a variety of activities that imitate the Space Shuttle Endeavor. Students work as teams like the astronauts would to complete mission...

Students read a story called Astronauts Finish Building Space Station Addition and answer vocabulary and comprehension questions about it. In this space station lesson plan, students respond to literature by answering questions,...

Can we journey to outer space to learn more about inner Earth? Discover the method to NASA's madness with an enlightening short video. The narrator explains the composition of the asteroid the resource is studying, what scientists hope...

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...

Need an icebreaker for a unit on space travel? This is it! In addition to doing brave, amazing, science-y stuff every day in space, astronauts also do a lot of ordinary human stuff. Some of this stuff does not make the return trip to...

Taking somewhat of a humorous, paranoid viewpoint, this video explores the question of whether or not space objects are likely to take us out. From asteroids, to the sun dying out, to the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, the...

An astronaut's spacesuit weighs 280 pounds and takes 45 minutes to put on — that's a serious suit! The second activity of a three-part series allows pupils to see all that goes into space exploration. Through simulations, groups analyze...

It's time to go to Mars. Using the provided cards and mat, groups design a mission to Mars. The cards contain information about the different components of the launch and warn about a few mishaps that might occur along the way.

Young scientists race from Earth to Mars and back, trying to complete mission objectives while avoiding radiation in this game for 2-4 players. To identify the winner, players must graph their mission points and radiation points at the...

Lasers are so precise, they can detect a change the thickness of a human hair in the distance from here to the nearest star. To replicate NASA's LISA mission to measure gravitational waves in space class members build a model of a laser...

Can we use the stars to navigate if we're actually among them? Space-age scholars explore the precise planning that goes into long-distance exploratory missions using a video from THNKR's Why with Bill Nye! playlist. Bill Nye explains...