What kind of animals live on an ice planet like Hoth? How would the habitat on Tatooine allow different organisms to thrive? Connect social studies, science, and Star Wars in one engaging activity that focuses on the ecosystems...

Space explorers take a virtual trip around the sun right within your classroom! They stand in a circle facing away from the "sun" (a lamp) in the center of the room. As they move according to your instructions, they view different...

A tasty treat lends its curious substance to space exploration. Mimicking the discoveries of Albert Einstein, young astronomers beginning by making a batch of Jello-O, then four hours later, scholars place edible objects that act like...

Dramatize the stars and planets as they become a visual representation of the solar system in this activity. Young astronomers track and simulate various constellations as they orbit the Earth to learn the position and motion of...

Get kids interested in stargazing with a step-by-step guide. The guide begins with the do's and don'ts, what the defines a star, and introduces a journal. The page is linked to see stars if light pollution keeps stars away in your area.

Might as well learn about how space bends around massive objects while making dessert. A remote learning resource provides an opportunity for scholars to model how stars and planets bend space. They use Jell-O to represent space and...

Explore outer space and decorate your classroom with an astronomy project. Learners create a visual model with the creation of a scaled solar system using different sized balls.

How do you put something as large as the universe in perspective? Use a series of scale experiments. Classmates collaborate around four experiments to examine the scale of the earth-moon system, our solar system, the Milky Way galaxy,...

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,...

Take a trip through time. A lesson resource provides instruction on the origin of current measurements for time. The text explains the different tools humans used throughout history to measure time as well as provides examples such as...

How do scientists know the difference between a meteorite from space and a regular rock from the earth? Scholars read a passage and answer comprehension questions about the creation of the solar system. They extrapolate the main ideas to...

Finish or launch your unit on the solar system with a jigsaw project covering major celestial concepts such as the Milky Way Galaxy, asteroids, meteors, comets, Earth's moon, and, of course, all the planets. Learners start by...

Trying to understand the vastness of outer space can be quite a challenge for young scientists. Help put things in perspective with this cross-curricular activity as students work in pairs creating scaled models of...

Your class will watch as one child orbits the sun as Earth, while another orbits as Mars. If the timing is right, they will see the repetitive dance between the two planets and discover how often they are opposite from each other. For...

A 15-page package thoroughly teaches your physics or astronomy learners about Kepler's three laws of planetary motion. Each one is stated and explained. Class members answer questions, solve problems, and participate in the classic...

Break down light into spectra. Scholars learn how atoms emit and absorb photons and come to understand how this process allows scientists to identify different atoms based on either absorption lines or emission lines. Learners then...

The earth, our home planet, and the star of Earth Day celebrations everywhere! Celebrate Earth Day or examine Earth's place in the solar system, with a fun and easy craft, perfect for children nine and up. Paper mache ornaments, paint,...

After completing the activity, "Kinesthetic Astronomy: The Meaning of a Year," zoom in on Earth's rotation using the same simulation setup and this outline. Each class member dons a map of the Western Hemisphere and plays the part of...

An activity promotes reading comprehension. Readers analyze a text of their choice while activating prior knowledge and asking and answering questions. Scholars enforce multiple strategies to improve comprehension.

In this Drake Equation activity, students read about how scientists can estimate the number of intelligent civilizations that may exist in our galaxy. Students answer 7 questions about the Drake Equation and they use the internet to find...

If you live in a big city or urban area it is hard to see many stars at night. In most urban areas only the most brilliant stars, planets and the moon can be seen. This is because of something called light pollution which is the...

When you are in the city, only a few of the brightest stars are visible. But when you are in the country, you can see many more stars than you can count. Sometimes you can even see the bright belt of our galaxy, the Milky Way. In this...

Activity in which students create a planet based on distance from a star, age, size, and star type. The created planet is evaluated to determine if it can support life.

Celestial navigation is the art and science of finding one's geographic position by means of astronomical observations, particularly by measuring altitudes of celestial objects - sun, moon, planets or stars. This activity starts with a...