Finish or launch your unit on the solar system with a jigsaw project covering major celestial concepts such as the Milky Way Galaxy, asteroids, meteors, comets, Earth's moon, and, of course, all the planets. Learners start by...

Charon, the largest of Pluto's moons, was discovered in 1978. Lesson is a walk through of how to solve for the phases of Charon. It uses two different points on Pluto and takes into account the tilt of the pole, the rotational axis, and...

In this moon craters worksheet, students use a high resolution image of the lunar surface and calculate the image scale in meters per millimeter. They use the image scale to find the largest crater in the image, the smallest crater, the...

For this moon snails worksheet, students read a 2 page article on moon snails, define 8 vocabulary words relating to moon snails and answer 7 short answer questions relating to the article.

Extremely large or extremely small numbers are difficult to comprehend. To help understand the massive scale of the solar system, learners complete two activities. First, they create a model to compares the size of the bodies in the...

These full-color handouts feature two activities. The first is a reading on comets, meteors, and meteoroids. Your space science learners will examine ten phrases and determine which of the three each characterizes. The second activity...

Students practice rote counting to 20. After a lecture about the planets and the moons that surround them, they identify the number of moons surrounding various planets. Students compare and contrast the quantity of moons surrounding...

Good Night, Moon is a classic little ones absolutely love. It's a sweet book that can be used, as in this lesson, to start a conversation about the difference between night and day. After reading the story, the class brainstorms...

Students walk marked paths as they simulate the orbit of the planets.  In this solar system lesson, students recognize the relationship between the sun and the planets.  Students visualize how the phases of the moon are seen.

Fifth graders describe the lunar cycle. develop an understanding of the order and phases of the moon. Each student in a team contributes orally in order to make a line up of the moon phases in order.

In this moon worksheet, students review the Clementine exploration of the Earth's moon. This worksheet has 8 matching and 14 true or false questions.

How many planets can you name? Did you get all 13 in our solar system, including the dwarf planets, or were you surprised when you read there are 13 planets? The lesson helps scholars understand the scale of the universe including the...

Students analyze data to make hypotheses and conclusions regarding the predator/prey relationship between moon snail and surf clams.

Pupils explore and explain how moon snails eat and where the holes in clamshells come from and then draw conclusion from the data collected. They incorporate math and graphing skills to determine if there is a relationship to a clam's...

In this eclipses worksheet, learners read about solar and lunar eclipses to complete 8 short answer questions comparing the two types of eclipses.

Take your class on an out-of-this-world adventure with this fun engineering design lesson. Working in small groups, young scientists design, build, and test crew exploration vehicles using some creativity, teamwork, and...

Seven percent of Americans believe the moon landing was staged. The presentation covers manned space exploration from the beginning of the space race through the Gemini missions. The lesson is the 23rd in a set of 26.

Students explore space science by creating a planetary model in class. In this solar system lesson, students identify the many planets and moons that make up the solar system and decide on one entity in which to research. Students create...

First graders investigate the five outer planets. In this space science instructional activity, 1st graders read the book Our Solar System and identify the five outer planets. Students create a booklet and write about outer planets.

Students explore predator/prey relationships. They research information on moon snails and claims. Students draw conclusions from the data collected. They use math and graphing to determine if there is a relationship to the clam's size...

Students are introduced to remote sensing equipment used to gather information about the moon. They learn basic facts about the moon such as size, landforms, temperature and gravitational influence on the earth's tides.

Let there be light—or maybe not. Pupils learn about light pollution with an investigation of constellations. They create constellation boxes and experiment with different levels of light. Observations are then made about the lighting in...

Young scholars examine the rotation of the Earth as it occurs in the 24 hour cycle. They use models of planets and the globe to make observations of movements made. Students brainstorm prior knowledge and then participate in a...

Students examine the solar space program and research what options are the most viable.  In this solar system activity students view a video on the solar system, research the Internet and make recommendations.