Curated OER
Planet Paths: Studying Planetary Orbital Paths
Students define and identify planetary orbit, ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola, and simulate Kepler's Second Law. They explore interactive websites demonstrating orbital motion and complete modeling activities.
Curated OER
The Solar System
Students examine effects of the sun on the planets in our solar system.
Curated OER
KNOW YOUR PLACE IN SPACE
Students examine the positions of the nine planets in respect to our solar system and explain the unique characteristics of each planet.
Curated OER
Jupiter
A student-produced PowerPoint provides basic facts about the planet of Jupiter. Illustrated slides highlight its physical attributes and satellites. A lot of interesting information about Jupiter is included, such as the fact that twenty...
Curated OER
Third from the Sun
Students examine images from space. In this third from the Sun lesson, students examine images from, Landsat, the satellite launched by NASA in 1972.
Curated OER
Connect the Spheres: Earth Systems Interactions
Is everything really connected? Take your class on a walk outside, where they will make observations and write them down on a worksheet. Once they are back in the classroom, learners will work to determine if and how things like birds,...
Curated OER
A Model of the Sun's interior
Students create a three-dimensional model of the sun. In this solar system lesson, students design a scale model of the sun using plasticine.
Curated OER
Our Changing View of the Solar System
Students identify and name the eight planets and the five dwarf planets in our solar system. In this space science instructional activity, students view a slideshow of the planets and label them on an included Solar System chart.
University of Washington
Kepler’s Laws
Introduce your physics or astronomy class to Kepler's laws of planetary motion with this straightforward instructional activity. It covers the basic concepts of each and has learners answer questions to demonstrate their grasp on them....
International Technology Education Association
Pixel This!
Did the image I drew match the image you saw? By simulating a satellite and a ground station, teams of two transmit data in the form of pixels in order to recreate an image. They use four different levels of brightness, creating slightly...
Space Awareness
Global Warming of the Atmosphere
Scientists know the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today is higher than at any point in the last 800,000 years. Scholars learn about the amount of thermic radiation absorbed by air and what happens to the rest of the...
Curated OER
The Solar System
Learners explore planets of the solar system, write reports, and create dioramas.
Curated OER
Mars Worksheet
For this planet Mars worksheet, students color a detailed picture of Mars and answer 5 questions about its size, rotation, distance from the sun and other interesting facts. Students will need to do their own research to answer these...
Curated OER
The Solar System
Fourth graders name the planets of the solar system in order from the Sun to Pluto and recognize the planets by pictures shown in class.
Curated OER
Charting The Planets
Students conduct different activities in order to unlock the secrets of the universe. They answer different questions that are written to assess knowledge of the planets. Information can be found on the internet to help.
Curated OER
Planetary Problem Solving
Students create their own planet. They determine its diameter, density, composition, mass and orbit. Students create a list of elements necessary to sustain human life. They present their model to the class.
Curated OER
My! What a Sky!
First graders read "Goodnight Moon" or "Day And Night" and discuss what they see in day and night skies. They read and sing lyrics to the "Day and Night" song. They identify objects in the sky as day or night objects. They illustrate day...
Curated OER
Changing Faces: A Study of Solar and Planetary Rotation Rates
Students determine rotation rates of a variety of solar system objects using images and the Internet.
Curated OER
Sensing the Invisible
Students study visible light and explain why we want to use infrared radiation to study Mercury. In this sunlight lesson students construct a device to measure the presence of infrared radiation in sunlight.
Curated OER
Windows to the Universe Scavenger Hunt
Students access the Internet to go on a scavenger hunt to investigate the solar system. In this space mission lessons students fill out a worksheet and explain how technology and scientific inquiry have helped us learn about...
Curated OER
Planetary Alignments
In this planetary alignments activity, students use 2 different methods to find out when planet alignments will occur. They use a three number series and they use least common multiples to find out when Mercury and Venus will align.
Curated OER
View of a Comet from Earth
Students investigate comets. For this space science lesson, students study overhead transparencies of the orbits of Earth and a comet. Students identify various locations and times where comets would be visible from Earth.
Curated OER
Reduce Reuse Recycle
Students discover methods that can save the planet by recycling. In this sustainable planet instructional activity, students read The Berenstein Bears Don't Pollute Anymore, and practice memorizing the 3 R's. Students...
Curated OER
Sunspots and Climate
Students make a graph that shows how the number of sunspots has changed over the past 30 years and discover how there is a pattern in sunspot number. They find a disruption in this pattern due to the Little Ice Age.