Discovery Education
Motion in the Ocean
How do temperature changes affect ocean currents? Scholars explore convection currents by demonstrating the flow of water in a baking dish. They use ice, heat, and food coloring to see currents. Then, they draw conclusions about their...
Curated OER
What's Happening With the Moon?
Students review the process of scientific inquiry. Using this information, they identify the patterns and cycles of the moon as it revolves around the Earth. In groups, they model the phases of the moon from the Earth and Sun's...
Curated OER
Solar Cell Simulation
Students study photovoltaic technology. In this photovoltaic technology lesson plan, students simulate a photovoltaic system. Students discuss how to simulate a cloudy day.
Curated OER
Please Ex-Planet!
What is most useful about this lesson plan is the "Student Explanet Worksheet," a set of instructions for collaborative groups to use to collect information about an assigned planet. After students have researched and organized their...
Curated OER
Exploring the Celestial Neighborhood
Ninth graders study the origin and organization of the solar system. They investigate the Earth's place in the system and how planetary motions explain natural phenomena observable from Earth.
Curated OER
NIGHT AND DAY: DAILY CYCLES IN SOLAR RADIATION
High schoolers examine how Earth's rotation causes daily cycles in solar energy using a microset of satellite data to investigate the Earth's daily radiation budget and locating map locations using latitude and longitude coordinates.
Curated OER
Warming the Earth
First graders investigate how the sun warms the Earth and examine the rotation of the Earth and the sun. They create an illustration of the sun, examine a solar system model, and listen to the book "The Sun: Our Nearest Star." They also...
Curated OER
Space Science: Constellations and the Sun
Students review the zodiac signs and illustrate their movement using constellations on the wall and themselves to represent earth. Individually or in groups, they stand in the center of the room while a shadeless lamp is placed between...
Curated OER
Phases of the Moon
Students use a simple physical model of the Earth, sun, and moon to understand why the moon changes phases from the perspective of Earthly observers. They hold up balls representing the moon in a room with a single light source to see...
Curated OER
Meteor, Meteoroid, Meteorite: What's the Difference?
Students explore the difference between a meteor, meteorite and meteoroid. In this space science lesson, students first read information about these space bodies. Students make Comet Cookies and use them to model a meteor shower with a...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Strange New Planet
Students simulate different spacecraft missions using materials provided. In this space science lesson, students observe and record a planetary model's features from a distance. They relate this activity to scientists' space exploration...
Journey Through the Universe
Going through a Phase
Ignore the full moon, it's just a phase. Young scholars observe and record the moon during a full cycle before learning to predict future phases. Then the instructor leads a discussion on the other solar system objects that...
NASA
Astronomy Mission Module
Yes, scientists say, there is other life in our solar system! And the best place to look is on Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Here, learners mimic the techniques scientists use to gather information about objects in our solar system, write...
Curated OER
Modeling Patterns and Cycles in Our Lives
Students explore how building a model can help them better understand the natural world. They identify common cycles or patterns in nature as well as examples of models in the classroom. After discussion, they choose a pattern or cycle...
Curated OER
The Ellipse
This is a practical sheet with the instructions to draw a set of ellipses. After following the diagrams, there are ten questions to complete, with calculations expected for alternate orbits and comparisons related to actual planets in...
Curated OER
Earth, Sun and Moon
Students explore, experiment and study how the Earth orbits the Sun once a year and how the moon takes approximately 29 days to orbit the Earth. They access an online activity to examine the process of how the Sun is at the center of the...
Curated OER
Astronomy
Students complete a unit of lessons on our solar system, its stars, and astronomers. They record information in a space journal, design constellations, define key vocabulary, observe the phases of the moon, and create a group planet...
Curated OER
Space Exploration
High schoolers explore different planets of our solar system. Students gather specific information on each of the planets. High schoolers choose suitable planet for colonization.
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PLANETS IN PROPORTION
Students discover scales for both the solar bodies' relative sizes and their distances from the sun. They find equatorial circumference and volumes of their solar bodies. Students apply estimation strategies and proportioanl reasoning to...
Curated OER
Sun Path: Interactive On-line Mac or PC
Students use SunPath in the yearly mode to investigate seasonal changes in sunrise, sunset, length of day and sun altitude at their own latitude. Sun Path JAVA applet uses equations for a spherical Earth to calculate the sunrise and...
Curated OER
Toilet Paper Solar System
Students create a model of the distances of the planets in the solar system using sheets of toilet paper and markers. Generally accepted orbital parameters are applied.
Curated OER
Solar System Planet Research
In this space science instructional activity, students collect data that includes information in a chart or graph to display in a group. They identify and describe various planet features of a specific planet of choice. Students write...
Columbus City Schools
Force Field Physics
Attracted class members to an activity-packed journey through the science behind the invisible forces at work all around us. From jump rope generators to junkyard wars, there's never a dull moment when eighth grade physics scholars...