Curated OER
Clay Planets
Have your class learn about the solar system using this hands on technique. Learners review what they know about the planets, and create a clay model of the solar system. There are a list of resource links to make this lesson a complete...
Curated OER
How Can the Little Moon Hide the Giant Sun? Exploring Size and Distance
Students compare two objects at different distances. They explore the concept that distance affects how we perceive the size of objects.
Curated OER
Parametric Functions and Substitutions
In this solar winds activity, students determine the strength of magnetic storms in terms of the size of the change they make in the Earth's magnetic field. This worksheet has 3 problems to solve.
Curated OER
Measuring the Sun's Diameter
Students project and measure the suns image using a refracting telescope. In this sun's diameter lesson students calculate the magnification of the telescope and determine the diameter if the Sun.
Curated OER
Investigating the Dynamic Martian Polar Caps
Students download NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of the Martian polar ice caps in summer and winter, and measure and compare various images of the changing Martian and Earth polar ice caps.
Curated OER
How Can a Spacecraft Always Face the Sun?
Students determine the correct orbital path for a satellite that collects data about the sun so that its view of the sun never be obstructed by the Earth.
Curated OER
Measuring the Diameter of the Sun
Young scholars calculate and measure the diameter of the sun. They construct a meter stick instrument, calculate the diameter using a formula, and compare the measurement with the accepted scientific measurement.
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Earth's Place in the Solar System
Young scholars study and discuss the planets. They create a visual representation of the layout of the solar system and color it. They also write an informative/narrative summary report on the cultural relevance of the Sun.
Curated OER
Dimming the Sun
Students collect, interpret and analyze weather variable data. They describe atmospheric variables that affect evaporation. Students create graphs and analyze the information collected.
K12 Reader
Phases of the Moon
Take one giant leap for mankind with a reading passage about the moon. Kids learn about the lunar cycle with context clues and reading comprehension questions, making it a good informational text for your language arts lesson.
Glynn County School System
Characterizing Stars
Are brighter stars actually brighter? Turns out they are probably just closer! A presentation compares features of stars to our favorite star, the sun. In addition, solar lovers learn to classify stars based on their masses,...
University of Colorado
The Jovian System: A Scale Model
Jupiter has 67 moons! As the seventh in a series of 22, the exercise shows learners the size and scale of Jupiter and its Galilean moons through a model. They then arrange the model to show how probes orbited and gathered data.
University of Colorado
Terra Bagga
Earth's magnetic poles switch positions about every 200,000—300,000 years. In the activity, groups create a planet with a magnetic field. Once made, they use a magnetometer to determine the orientation of the planet's magnetic field....
NASA
Speaking in Phases
Hear from deep space. Pupils learn how satellites transfer information back to Earth. They learn about three different ways to modulate radio waves and how a satellite sends information with only 0s and 1s. Using sound, class members...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
A Classroom Solar System
Create a scaled model of our solar system in your classroom! Scholars work collaboratively to build paper mache planets and hang them in their proper position to showcase each planet's location in the solar system.
University of Colorado
Looking Inside Planets
All of the gas giant's atmospheres consist of hydrogen and helium, the same gases that make up all stars. The third in a series of 22, the activity challenges pupils to make scale models of the interiors of planets in order to...
American Museum of Natural History
What Do You Know About the Universe?
The universe is full of a mystic matter people cannot see. Pupils respond to 10 questions about the stuff in the universe. Most of the questions involve the big bang theory and dark matter. Learners find out how astronomers have found...
Journey Through the Universe
A Scale Model Solar System
Between the time scientists discovered Pluto and reclassified it as a dwarf planet, it did not even make one full revolution around the sun. In two activities, scholars investigate scale models and their properties. Pupils find that it...
Curated OER
Lunar Learning
Students learn about the phases of the moon. In this moon phases lesson, students learn about what causes the moon to look different to us everyday and how the Earth and Sun's position determine what phase the moon is in.
Curated OER
Investigating Leaves Through Printmaking
Students create leaf rubbings as they study the parts of a leaf. They describe the leaves and chart their observations.
Curated OER
Cooler In The Shadows
Students investigate the concepts of shadows and how they are projected with objects different positions in relation to the sun. They conduct an experiment by observing objects in different positions. Then students record the observations.
Curated OER
Moving in Outer Space
Students participate in a lesson that demonstrates the concepts of rotation and revolution as they pertain to the Sun, the moon, and the Earth. They examine the relative sizes of each. They watch a computer based movie at a subscription...
Curated OER
Fermi Observatory Measures the Lumps in Space
In this gamma-ray activity, students read about the Fermi Gamma-ray Observatory and how it measures the invisible lumps in space. Students solve 3 problems using an equation to determine the time that gamma-rays travel in space and the...
Curated OER
Monster Sunspots!
In this sunspots worksheet, students read about the large sunspots observed for thousands of years and their indication of solar storms. Students use given images to find the scales and physical sizes of the 3 sunspots shown.