Curated OER
Discovery Shuttle Ready for Liftoff
Students investigate and research what the space shuttle and ground crews must do to make sure all goes well from liftoff to landing each time the shuttle leaves earth.
Curated OER
Space Puzzle
In this space puzzle, students identify names of spacecraft, planets, and items placed in space. A list of 18 words are provided for students to identify.
Curated OER
Blast Off Into Space
Students explore the vastness of the universe and identify terms used to describe solar systems. They take a tour of our sun and its neighbors and discover how spacecrafts can fly and then use their imaginations to draw and color a...
Curated OER
Exploring the Planets
Students study robotic spacecrafts that have provided detailed information about the inner and outer planets. In this exploring the planets lesson plan, students use posters and diagrams to study the various robotic spacecraft sent to...
Curated OER
Mission Discovery
Students examine the changes to the space shuttle Discovery and its history by creating a classroom exhibition about NASA's space shuttle program. They create an informative and attractive invitation about the gallery for outside visitors.
Curated OER
Destination: Station
Young scholars examine the significance of the International Space Station. They view and discuss photos of rockets, space shuttles, and the International Space Station, develop a graph of objects in the sky, and create drawings.
Curated OER
Woman on a Mission
Young scholars explore the July 1999 space shuttle mission while learning how to cite Web sites in correct MLA bibliographical format. They discuss the mission's goals and historic importance as the first American space flight commanded...
Curated OER
Bigger, Faster, Stronger . . . Higher
Students analyze popular feelings and beliefs about two major disasters: the sinking of the Titanic (1912) and the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger (1986). They compile evidence, through research and interviews, about how much...
Curated OER
Milestones of Flight
Discover seven of the most historic aircraft and spacecraft in the collections of the National Air and Space Museum. By research into the major milestones of aviation history your students will recognize features that enable flight,...
Curated OER
Discovery, Ship to Shuttle
Students define the meaning of discovery, and view and discuss the images on the Florida Quarter. They read about Ponce de Leon and the space shuttle, and complete a chronological order activity.
Curated OER
Voyage to Outer Space
Students design and construct a spacecraft. In this space voyage instructional activity, students read Regards to the Man in the Moon by Ezra Jack Keats and gather materials before constructing their own spacecraft.
Curated OER
Spaced Out
Students are introduced to the space environment. This lesson plan covers the major differences between the environment on Earth and that of outer space and the engineering challenges that arise because of these discrepancies. In order...
Curated OER
Remembering the Challenger Tragedy
Use our nation's response to the Challenger disaster in order to teach character, as well as science and literary standards.
NASA
Rendezvous For Two
Imagine the challenge of getting the space shuttle to rendezvous with the International Space Station. Groups must determine the elliptical transfer orbit needed to get the space shuttle from its orbit to the orbit of the International...
NASA
Exercising in Space
Using the CEVIS space bike as a context, groups work together to calculate the settings required for astronauts to reach their necessary exercise. Pupils calculate the prescribed exercise settings and complete the last section, which can...
Curated OER
Space Shuttle Launch Trajectory-I
In this space shuttle launch worksheet, students are given 2 equations used to determine the space shuttle's trajectory in the first 5 minutes of a launch. Students use these equations to solve 3 problems including finding the shuttle's...
NASA
Next Generation Spacecraft - Orion
Emergine space engineers discover the area of complex geometric shapes. They find that, just as a spacecraft is composed of many smaller parts, so can polygons be broken into smaller shapes.
Curated OER
Aircraft vs. Spacecraft
Students investigate differences between aircraft and spacecraft, and the differences in propulsion systems. They build pinwheel airplanes and balloon rockets. An interactive activity quizzes students on thrust.
NASA
Space Vectors
How do you determine the position coordinates of objects in space? Using the provided worksheet, class members determine the location of the space shuttle based upon its spherical coordinates from the Dryden Flight Research Center.
Curated OER
Space Travel
Students study the International Space Station and space exploration. In this space travel instructional activity students describe the different types of engineers that contribute to space travel.
Curated OER
Lost in Space
Here is a case study for high school or college-level learners about space exploration equipment that has failed. The class reads about the Mars Climate Orbiter that was destroyed in 1999 and discusses the costs and benefits of space...
Curated OER
My Spacecraft Model
Students work together to develop their own model of a spacecraft. They complete illustrations and writings to document their work. They present their information to the class.
Curated OER
The Space Shuttle and the Future
In this space shuttle worksheet, students review the different facts associated with the space shuttle and the space station. This worksheet has 23 true or false questions.
Messenger Education
Cooling with Sunshades
Messenger's sun shade measures 8 ft x 6 ft and will have temperatures reaching 700 degree Fahrenheit on the outside while maintaining a cool 70 degrees underneath. In the third activity of four, groups discuss the basic properties of...