+
Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Using a Fancy Spectrograph

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Put the spectrograph to good use. Using a spectrograph individuals built themselves, young scientists examine and record the emission spectra of different light sources. They use the spectra to compare and contrast the compositions of...
+
Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Building a Fancy Spectrograph

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A spectacular spectrograph awaits. A fun lesson has scholars build a spectrograph from an oatmeal container. They then use their devices to investigate the spectra of different light sources. They record their observations on a worksheet...
+
Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Graphing the Rainbow

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Here's a colorful resource about spectra. An intriguing activity teaches pupils about diffraction grating and about absorption and emission spectra. They see how to represent spectra using line plots and try out this skill in a matching...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Astro-Chronology

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Class members play a version of the game Chronology to determine when certain scientific events occurred in history. Teams play until someone has 5-10 events in the correct order.
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Can Photosynthesis Occur at Saturn?

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
In the 19th activity of 22, learners determine if distance from a light source affects photosynthesis. Participants capture oxygen in straws and find that the amount of water the gas displaces is proportional to the rate of photosynthesis.
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

The Jovian Basketball Hoop

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A radio receives radio signals, converts them to an electrical signal, then converts this signal to a sound signal, and amplifies the sound so people can hear it. Class members use this information to create a short-wave radio antenna...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Spacecraft Speed

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Space shuttles traveled around Earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour, way faster than trains, planes, or automobiles travel! In the 13th installment of 22, groups graph different speeds to show how quickly spacecraft move through...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Phases of Charon

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Pluto, although no longer considered a planet, has five moons. Pluto's moon, Charon, is the focus of a resource that describes how the moon is viewed from the surface of Pluto. Photos help individuals see how Charon would look at...
+
Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Did you know scientists can tell the age of an asteroid by looking closely at its craters? This final activity of a six-part series focuses on two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida, in order to demonstrate the concept of dating asteroids....
+
Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

The Jovian Basketball Hoop

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Can you listen to Jupiter on a simple radio? Turns out the answer is yes! The resource instructs scholars to build a simple radio to pick up the radio waves created when the charged particles from the sun hit Jupiter's magnetic...
+
Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

The Moons of Jupiter

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Can you name the three planets with rings in our solar system? Everyone knows Saturn, many know Uranus, but most people are surprised to learn that Jupiter also has a ring. The third in a series of six teaches pupils what is around...
+
Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Terra Bagga

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
One way to identify possible volcanic activity on other planets is by testing the planet for magnetism. A science lesson plan begins with pupils constructing their own planet from a dead battery, magnets, paper, and tape before labeling...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Using Spectral Data to Explore Saturn and Titan

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Saturn's rings are made of dust, ice, and solid chunks of material. Individuals use spectrographs in this final installment of 22 lessons to determine the atmospheric elements. They analyze spectrums from Titan's atmosphere and Saturn's...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
There are more than 600,000 asteroids in our solar system. Pupils analyze images of two asteroids in order to determine if they are the same age. They count craters for each asteroid and compare numbers. 
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Planetary Distances on the Playground

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Earth is 149,600,000 km, or 92,957,130.4 miles, from the sun. Young astronauts create an interactive model to learn the distances between planets. Nine groups, each representing a different planet, are spread around at class-calculated...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Strange New Planet

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
The first remote sensors were people in hot air balloons taking photographs of Earth to make maps. Expose middle school learners to space exploration with the use of remote sensing. Groups explore and make observations of a new planet by...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Happy Landings: A Splash or a Splat?

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Huygens spacecraft landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005, making it the farthest landing from Earth ever made by a spacecraft. In this hands-on activity, the 12th installment of 22, groups explore how density affects speed. To do this,...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

The Moons of Jupiter

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Middle schoolers analyze given data on density and diameter of objects in space by graphing the data and then discussing their findings. This ninth installment of a 22-part series emphasizes the Galilean moons as compared to other objects. 
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

The Jovian System: A Scale Model

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Jupiter has 67 moons! As the seventh in a series of 22, the exercise shows learners the size and scale of Jupiter and its Galilean moons through a model. They then arrange the model to show how probes orbited and gathered data.
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Great Red Spot Pinwheel

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
The great red spot on Jupiter is 12,400 miles long and 7,500 miles wide. In this sixth part of a 22-part series, individuals model the rotation of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. To round out the activity, they discuss their findings as a...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Terra Bagga

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Earth's magnetic poles switch positions about every 200,000—300,000 years. In the activity, groups create a planet with a magnetic field. Once made, they use a magnetometer to determine the orientation of the planet's magnetic field....
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Looking Inside Planets

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
All of the gas giant's atmospheres consist of hydrogen and helium, the same gases that make up all stars. The third in a series of 22, the activity challenges pupils to make scale models of the interiors of planets in order to...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Colorado

Clay Planets

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Why do scientists use models? In the first installment of 22, groups create scale models of our solar system. They then share and discuss their models.
+
Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Looking Inside Planets

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Researchers use scientific data to understand what is inside each of the planets. The first in a series of six, this lesson builds off of that concept by having pupils use a data table to create their own scale models of the interiors of...