Unit Plan
NASA

Dawn Mission: Dawn Classrooms: Dwarf Planets

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn about dwarf planet classification through a researched-based instructional strategy called direct vocabulary instruction. Teacher guide and student activity sheet are included.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Earth Science: Dwarf Planets

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Describes the characteristics of dwarf planets.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Earth Science: Dwarf Planets

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Describes the characteristics of dwarf planets.
Handout
Views of the Solar System

Views of the Solar System: Dwarf Planet Pluto

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover interesting information about the planet Pluto through a vast archive of photographs and scientific facts.
Website
California Institute of Technology

The Discovery of Eris, the Largest Known Dwarf Planet

For Students 9th - 10th
Until the discovery of Eris, Pluto was known as the largest Keiper belt object. This dwarf planet has replaced Pluto in size and is accompanied by a satellite that has been given the name Dysnomia. Learn about this distant world here...
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Kids Science: Learn About the Dwarf Planet Pluto

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids astronomy. What is Pluto like? How do we know about this dwarf planet?
Article
Famous Scientists

Famous Scientists: Michael E. Brown

For Students 9th - 10th
This article discusses the life and scientific discoveries of Michael E. Brown. Learn how he is credited with downgrading Pluto from a planet to dwarf planet.
Handout
University of California

Ucla: What Makes a Planet

For Students 9th - 10th
This detailed essay defines planets and compares the characteristics to those of Pluto. Orbital graphs and background information clarify the change in Pluto's categorization. A copy of IAU's Resolution 5 is also contained in this essay.
Handout
Nine Planets

The Nine Planets: Pluto

For Students 9th - 10th
This site contains copious information about Pluto. The site contains descriptive and statistical information, as well as a detailed article about the search for trans-Plutonian planets and the "Nemesis" hypothesis.
Handout
Other

University of Leicester: The Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
Resource explores the solar system, with an in depth discussion of each of the planets and their properties.
Handout
European Space Agency

European Space Agency: Esa Kids: Our Universe: Pluto

For Students 3rd - 8th
A basic overview of the dwarf planet Pluto. Links to information about the other planets and objects in our solar system are included.
Website
BBC

Bbc: Astronomers Name 'World of Chaos'

For Students 9th - 10th
In mythology, it was Eris that sparked the quarrel ultimately resulting in the Trojan War. It was fitting then that Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology should name this highly debated object Eris. Learn more about...
Article
Famous Scientists

Famous Scientists: Clyde Tombaugh

For Students 9th - 10th
Find out about Clyde Tombaugh, the scientist who discovered the dwarf planet Pluto in 1930, and also discovered a number of asteroids.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Way Out World

For Teachers 5th - 7th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This informational text passage describes the solar system's dwarf planet named Haumea. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and...
Website
California Institute of Technology

Spitzer Science Center: Crystals Around Brown Dwarfs

For Students 9th - 10th
This image, titled "Planet Clumps and Crystals around Brown Dwarfs" features a chart representing four brown dwarf stars. The text under the image details various specifics about the picture.
Handout
Science4Fun

Science4 Fun: Pluto

For Students K - 1st
Learn fun facts and details about the atmosphere, geography, composition, and discovery of Pluto, a dwarf planet.
Website
National Earth Science Teachers Association

Windows to the Universe: Our Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
Our solar system is filled with a wide assortment of celestial bodies - the Sun itself, our eight planets, dwarf planets, and asteroids - and on Earth, life itself! The inner solar system is occasionally visited by comets that loop in...
Handout
Cosmos 4 kids

Cosmos4 Kids: Solar System: Pluto

For Students 3rd - 8th
Learn all about Pluto ..its discovery, basic facts, recognition as a planet, and most recently, its 'demotion' from a planet to a dwarf planet. The brief, to the point text makes this site most suitable for younger researchers.
Unit Plan
E-learning for Kids

E Learning for Kids: Science: Seychelles: What Is the Solar System?

For Students 2nd - 4th
In this lesson, students learn about the planets, their moons, asteroids, comets, and dwarf planets in our solar system.
Handout
NASA

Nasa: The Space Place: Hail King of the Ice Dwarfs

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides a nice overview of Pluto. Get information on Pluto's size, tilt, orbit and surface features. There is also a brief explanation of the "New Horizons" space probe.
Interactive
A&E Television

History.com: The Space Race: Interactive Universe

For Students 9th - 10th
A virtual journey through space offers photos and facts about Earth and its neighboring planets, comets, other celestial bodies of the Solar System, and the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies.
Handout
NASA

Nasa's the Space Place: King of the Ice Dwarfs

For Students 9th - 10th
An information page all about Pluto! Learn about Pluto's size, path around the sun, temperature, location, and traveling partner Charon.
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Nasa & Trappist 1: A Treasure Trove of Planets Found

For Students 9th - 10th
Seven Earth-sized planets have been observed by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope around a tiny, nearby, ultra-cool dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1. Three of these planets are firmly in the habitable zone. In this video, NASA Scientists...
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Our Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
This interactive tutorial will take students on a tour of our solar system. Students begin near the Sun with the really hot planets of Mercury and Venus. They will learn about Mars, probably the first planet that humans will visit. Next...