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The Planet Earth
Students explore the planet Earth, outer space, and Earth's axis. They demonstrate reading comprehension skills, including literal meaning, inference and critical analysis.
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Outer Space and Beyond
Students compare and contrast the size, characteristics, composition, and orbits of the planets in our Solar System. They view a PowerPoint presentation, and in small groups conduct Internet research on a selected planet. Each group...
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Impact Craters
Young scholars investigate the factors affecting the size of a crater. In this space science lesson, students collect data from the activity and graph them. They explain how velocity of impact relate to crater size.
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Voyage to Titan
Young scholars go to the linked web page "The Nine Planets" to find facts about Titan. They list elements of the solar system and the five planets of the outer solar system. Students find their weight on each planet. Titan is selected...
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Star Words
Learners identify and categorize apostrophes. They create maps of the solar system and write simple sentences using apostrophes that describe each planet's characteristics.
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SALLY RIDE
Students express what it would be like to launch off into outer space in a space shuttle. They include what it might feel like, look like, sound like, and any thoughts that go through their mind as they dart away from the Earth's...
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The Discovery of the Solar System
Students study the ideas behind the heliocentric theory of Copernicus. They examine about retrograde motion of the planets as they move around the sun. They study astronomers who include Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Galileo.
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Objects in the Solar System
Eighth graders define a planet by the orbit around the sun, have a large enough gravitational force to hold a sphere shape and needs to clear the neighboorhood of it own orbital zone. They describe comets, meteoroids, meteor, meteorites...
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Planet Structure & Interior
Students compare Jupiter and Earth. In this Earth and space studies instructional activity, students compare the composition of Earth and Jupiter and analyze how the composition affects the rate at which the planets spin.
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Tic-Tac-Toe for Layers of the Earth
Eighth graders identify the different layers of the earth. In this earth science lesson plan, 8th graders choose a project to do from a given list according to their learning style. They present their finished project in class.
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The Layered Earth
Young scholars role play plate tectonics by creating a "plate statue" made up of students. In this earth science lesson, young scholars describe how Earth's movement cause earthquakes and volcanoes. They draw and name the different...
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Planet of Plenty
Students examine a small piece of land to determine the diversity of life on Earth. They role play as visitors from outer space seeing life on Earth for the first time. They measure and observe their plots while working in small groups....
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The Weather Classroom: Atmosphere
Students explore the planets and their atmospheres online. They write the story of "Goldilocks and the Nine Planets" to explain how each planet's atmosphere differs from Earth's. They design a viable life form.
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Planet/Constellation Mobile
Pupils, through small group discussion, identify and share a rationale for shapes and patterns in the construction of a mobile that represents the solar system that makes them think of the creation of our solar system.
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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.
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Outer Space and Cyber Space
Fourth graders learn about the Solar System while they use mean, median and mode to explore the characteristics of the planets. Students web publish expository writing.
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Motion Through the Ages
Eighth graders conduct internet research to produce a timeline of man's growth in understanding of concepts of motion and planetary motion through history.
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Suited for Space
A fantastic lesson on survival in outer space should excite your learners! Pupils explore the challenges that living, working, and surviving in space elicit. They focus on the spacesuit itself; how it protects astronauts, and enables...
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Can Photosynthesis Occur at Saturn?
Students identify the different requirements for photosynthesis to take place. For this space science lesson, students simulate conditions in Saturn to investigate if photosynthesis is possible there. They use data and observations...
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Hello, Anybody Out There?
Students understand that people believe there may be life in other solar systems. In this communication with other solar systems lesson, students analyze our planet and write things they want to communicate to other solar systems.
Smithsonian Institution
Reflections of the Sea
Students, after listening to a selection of Gulliver's Travels, complete a worksheet about basic terms associated with boats, ships, and sailing. They create flag after researching semaphore flagging systems.
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Our Solar System to Scale
Young scholars calculate the diameter of planets and their relative distances. In this space science lesson, students discover how small or big the planets are in comparison to each other. Young scholars use cross multiplying...
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Try This On For Size!
Students view a video to gather information about our solar system. They create models of the planets to scale and place them in scale relative to their distances from the sun. They also visit a planetarium or use the internet to gather...
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Solar System Adventure
Young scholars study the solar system and our galaxy, then write a science fiction story based on what they discover. They utilize worksheets and access websites imbedded in this plan to gain ideas for their stories.