Activity
American Museum of Natural History

Cosmic Cookies

For Students 6th - 12th
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Behind the Mission to Mercury

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read an E-Sheet about the Mission to Mercury. They follow a variety of worksheets and on-line activities that follow the E-Sheet. They discuss several different scenarios regarding space exploration. They analyze one of the...
Printables
Curated OER

Mercury

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
In this solar system worksheet, students color a detailed picture of the planet Mercury. Students answer 5 essay questions about the planet.
Instructional Video6:10
Coloring Castle

Planets

For Teachers K - 5th
From Mercury to Uranus, this printable coloring page includes images of all eight planets found in our solar system, making it a fun way to engage young scientists in learning about outer space. 
Printables
A to Z Teacher Stuff

Solar System Book

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd Standards
Young astronomers travel through the solar system in the pages of this printable book. With clear pictures and simple sentence structure, this is a perfect resource for exploring the planets in the early elementary grade levels.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Models of the Solar System

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Students make several models of the solar system to learn the positions of the planets in the solar system as well as relative distances and sizes. Creation of these models will help them identify the planets by size, shape, color,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Planets in Our Solar System

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students gain knowledge about earth and space science by studying the nine planets in the solar system as well as their key characteristics. In this solar system lesson, students identify the nine planets. Students work in groups to...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Kepler-The Hunt for Earth-like Planets

For Students 9th - 11th
In this hunt for planets worksheet, students read about the Kepler satellite used to detect exoplanets. Students solve 6 problems including drawing a sun disk and determining the scale in kilometers/millimeter, finding the area of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Be A Planet

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students identify the name, order and attributes of the planets. They role play the position of planets, and draw pictures of the planets as well.
Printables
Research Parent

Solar System Cards

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Find all things solar system in a set of reference cards. Even Pluto makes an appearance! Each of the 24 cards has a picture and accompanying informational text that gives brief background about the object.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Planets

For Students 6th - 10th
In this planets learning exercise, students read about Mercury, Venus, and Earth and then complete 21 multiple choice, 2 true or false, and 1 short answer question.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Space 1 - Which Planet is It?

For Students 3rd - 6th
In this ESL planets learning exercise, students respond to the question "Which planet is this?" using the 9 picture clues to assist them. Students answer using complete sentences.
Activity4:39
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SciShow Kids

Let's Make the Solar System

For Students Pre-K - 5th Standards
Get crafty with the help of pictures and a real-time demonstration from a video that details the step-by-step process in creating a paper solar system. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Our Changing View of the Solar System

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students identify and name the eight planets and the five dwarf planets in our solar system. In this space science lesson, students view a slideshow of the planets and label them on an included Solar System chart.
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Our Solar System

For Teachers 1st
Students study the Earth and Solar System through a variety of activities. They compile a coloring book show the characteristics of the Sun and nine planets.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Charting The Planets

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners conduct different activities in order to unlock the secrets of the universe. They answer different questions that are written to assess knowledge of the planets. Information can be found on the internet to help.
Activity
American Museum of Natural History

Solar System Scavenger Hunt

For Students 6th - 12th
Scholars go on a hunt to locate objects that best fit the measurements to create an eye-catching scale model of the solar system. 
Worksheet
Curated OER

Planetary Alignments

For Students 8th - 10th
In this planetary alignments worksheet, students use 2 different methods to find out when planet alignments will occur. They use a three number series and they use least common multiples to find out when Mercury and Venus will align.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Angle on Cooling

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore how the angle and distance of an object can change it's temperature. After reviewing how the position of the Earth affects the temperature of the planet, student groups design and perform an experiment to test how...
Activity
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Star Date

Modeling the Night Sky

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Dramatize the stars and planets as they become a visual representation of the solar system in this activity. Young astronomers track and simulate various constellations as they orbit the Earth to learn the position and motion of...
Lesson Plan
Messenger Education

Look But Don’t Touch—Exploration with Remote Sensing

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
Mars is home to the tallest mountain in our solar system, Olympus Mons. In this set of two activities, learners review geologic land formations through the analysis of aerial maps. They then apply this knowledge to aerial maps of objects...
Activity
Mrs. Sol's Class

Solar System Project

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
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...
Lesson Plan
Messenger Education

Star Power! Discovering the Power of Sunlight

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
It takes less than 10 minutes for energy from the sun to travel 90 million miles to Earth! In the first installment in a series of four, groups measure the amount of solar radiation that reaches Earth. They then discuss how this is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sensing the Invisible

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students study visible light and explain why we want to use infrared radiation to study Mercury.  In this sunlight instructional activity students construct a device to measure the presence of infrared radiation in sunlight.