S2tem Centers SC
Seasons
Winter, spring, summer, and fall—take the learning of the seasons beyond the elementary level to the middle school classroom. Curious learners begin by watching videos about the seasons and the rotation of planet Earth. Then,...
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Saturn
Looking for a good worksheet to help teach about the planet Saturn? This worksheet is for you! An excellent photograph of Saturn accompanies three paragraphs of text. Pupils answer five multiple choice questions based on what they've...
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Mercury
After reading a short excerpt about Mercury, your class will answer four comprehension questions. The worksheet challenges them to fold over the paper and answer the questions without referring back to the excerpt. An answer sheet is...
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Moon Journal
Fourth graders observe Moon and its features, and record results both in written form and in a drawing on the given template.
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Exploring the Night Sky: Summer
Learners explain how moon phases occur. They describe and explain at least two common misconceptions that people have about the moon. Students explain what a star is. They explain 3 ways that the night sky has been used throughout history.
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Lunar Lollipops
Students simulate the phases of the moon using a lamp and styrofoam balls. In this lunar phases lesson, students stand around a lamp and act as Earth. They hold styrofoam balls and rotate to show the phases of the moon.
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Out of this world! 2
In this solar system activity, students fill in the blank to sentences that refer to the solar system. Students fill in 15 blanks with planet names.
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Space Science
Eighth graders study the objects in our solar system. In this space lesson plan students identify and describe planets, then classify them as terrestrial or gaseous.
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Out of This World
Fifth graders animate their own planets. In this solar system lesson, 5th graders use smartphones and the software, GoKnow Sketchy, to create images for presentations on their created planets that appear to be animated when played...
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Scavenger Hunt: Who am I?
For this solar system worksheet, students use an on line source to find the names of the people who discovered the planets, comets, asteroids, black holes and the idea of the big bang theory.
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Daily and Seasonal Cycles
First graders identify the sun as a source of heat and light. They identify features of houses that help keep use sheltered and comfortable throughout daily and seasonal cycles. Students are told that summer is the best season to...
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Space Science: Journey Through the Solar System
Students explore the Solar System and examine the characteristics of al the planets. Through research and discussion, they create catalogs of the Solar System's components. Next, students use their findings to create Powerpoint...
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Our Place in Space
Third graders identify the different planets that make up the solar system. In this space science lesson, 3rd graders construct a scale model of the major planets. They explore their different unique features and dress up as planets.
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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...
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Solar System
In this space worksheet, students identify and locate vocabulary terms and names related to the Solar System. There are 23 words located in the puzzle.
Space Awareness
Know Your Planets
Does your class know their planets? Implement an activity that has them describing the solar system, identifying properties of the planets, and placing them in order from their distance from the sun.
American Museum of Natural History
Cosmic Cookies
Scholars read about each planet then bake a plate of cosmic cookies—no-bake cookies decorated to look like the planets; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Orbit Simulator
Researchers think they have evidence of a new planet deep in our solar system that is the size of Neptune and orbits the sun far beyond Pluto. The orbit simulator shows the orbits of our well-known planets, as well as Pluto and the comet...
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Moon WebQuest
Third graders research basic information about the moon and identify the phases and order of the phases of the moon. They conduct Internet research, complete a moon WebQuest, and write a magazine article about the moon using their...
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Day and Night
Fifth graders investigate the Earth's rotation and revolution and the moon's orbit around the Earth. They participate in a class discussion about how night and day occur, and take notes. Next, they watch a video about the solar system...
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The Path of the Sun: The Ecliptic
High schoolers investigate the celestial sphere and the paths it takes in the solar system.
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May Earth be Revolving around the Sun?
Ninth graders explore how Aristarchus used the position of the half-full Moon to estimate the distance to the Sun, and how he made a great error, but still figured out that the Sun is much larger than Earth.
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Take a Spin Through the Solar System
Second graders participate in a variety of activities to explore the Solar System in this unit.
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May The Earth Be Revolving Around The Sun?
Students trace the beginning of the heliocentric theory of the solar system--the idea that the solar system revolves around the Sun--to an observation by the Greek astronomer Aristarchus, which convinced him that the Sun was much bigger...