Curated OER
How To Build a Planet From The Inside Out!
High schoolers read about the Spitzer Space Telescope and the technology used to learn about planet composition. They calculate the radius of a planet, the size of a planet, the average density of a planet and the likely core composition...
Curated OER
Space: Our Star, the Sun, and Its Friends, the Planets
Students examine the solar system. In this space lesson, students identify the order of the planets and their relative size to the sun. Students create a scale model of our solar system using a variety of household objects.
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Kepler Spies Five New Planets
In this discovering new planets worksheet, students read about how the Kepler spacecraft detects new planets by observing the dimming of light emitted by stars as the planets pass in front of them. Students solve 2 problems using a...
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Stars Planets Space Workheet
In this visual discrimination worksheet, students examine 8 space-related pictures and determine the number of different types of shapes pictured.
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Organic Molecules Detected on Distant Planet!
Here is a planet worksheet in which learners read about organic molecules detected through spectral lines of the planet Osiris. They calculate the mass, the volume and the densities of common ingredients for planets including Osiris and...
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Finding Extra-Solar Planets
Students plot and analyze NASA data to determine the period of an invisible planet orbiting a wobbling star. They explore the motion of a two-body system around a center of mass to better explain how extra-solar planets are discovered.
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Working With Scientific Notation
In this scientific notation worksheet, students read about the discovery of new planets. They use scientific notation to identify the number of miles from one planet to the next. Students determine how long it would take to travel, when...
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Planetary Conjunctions
In this planetary conjunctions worksheet, students read about planetary alignments and they solve 2 problems. They determine the location of 3 planets given their orbit time after 1, 2 , 3 and 4 years and they determine when three given...
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And a Star to Steer Her By: A Field Trip Guide for the Planetarium Show
In this field trip study guide for the planetarium show instructional activity, students construct a model of the Earth and describe the relative positions of the continents using latitude and longitude. Students construct a star chart...
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The Drake Equation
Students use the Drake Equation to calculate the probability of sustaining life on various planets. Through the use of the equation, they determine whether intelligent and advanced civilizations can be developed on planets other than...
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Meet the Neighbors: Planets Around Nearby Stars
Students explain why a transiting planet causes a periodic dimming in the light from its parent star. They determine the radius of a planet, and its orbital distance, by analyzing data and manipulating equations. Students compare the...
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Exploring the Sky: Reading Maria's Comet
Discover the science behind astronomy. After reading the book Maria's Comet, which is about a young woman who breaks new ground by becoming a female astronomer, young learners practice reading comprehension with worksheet questions about...
NASA
Exploring Exoplanets with Kepler
Calculate the movement and properties of planets like professional astronomers! Scholars use Kepler's third law to find Mercury and Venus's distance from the sun. Using changes in brightness of distant stars and Kepler's third law,...
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Moons
Students practice rote counting to 20. After a lecture about the planets and the moons that surround them, they identify the number of moons surrounding various planets. Students compare and contrast the quantity of moons surrounding...
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Astronomical Scales
Students describe the different units of measurement. In this space science lesson, students calculate astronomical distances using a scale. They explain the significance of using scientific notation in expressing very small or very...
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Space Trader And Economics
Students' play a game applying different economic and game terms. In the game, the students' are to travel to 4 planets which provide the best resources for increasing their money to purchase a moon in the end. The students' keep track...
Voyage Solar System
Round and Round We Go — Exploring Orbits in the Solar System
Math and science come together in this cross-curricular astronomy lesson plan on planetary motion. Starting off with a hands-on activity that engages the class in exploring the geometry of circles and ellipses, this lesson plan then...
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Black Holes....II
In this black hole worksheet, learners use the equation for time dilation to solve 8 problems including determining the time it takes to receive a GPS signal from space, the time delay for the GPS-Earth system, the distance a radio...
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Mathematics at the Frontier of Astronomy
Students explore the different types of measurements used in astronomy. In this space science lesson plan, students explain the relationship between planets' orbits and distance from the sun using Kepler's Laws. They discuss how math...
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Can an Astronaut on Mars Distinguish Earth from its Moon?
Young scholars explore the possibility of being on Mars and being able to identify the Earth. In this space lesson students complete a set of calculations to see if this is possible.
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Coronal Mass Ejections
For this coronal mass ejections worksheet, students observe a time line of events that took place during a solar storm. Students use the time line to answer 3 questions about the solar storm and the time it took to reach Earth. Students...
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Searching For Protoplanetary Disks
Young scholars download NASA Hubble Space Telescope views of star-forming regions in nebulae and look for evidence of planetary systems forming beyond our own solar system. They hypothesize about mysterious objects in NASA HST images.
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The Solar Cycle
Learners research the solar cycle. In this Science lesson, students use the internet to investigate the solar cycle. Learners produce a spreadsheet and graph from the information collected.
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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...