Curated OER
Observing Mars in the Night Sky
Young scholars compare and contrast the orbits of Earth and Mars, locate the planet Mars, and diagram its retrograde motion.
Curated OER
How Can a Spacecraft Always Face the Sun?
Young scholars determine the correct orbital path for a satellite that collects data about the sun so that its view of the sun never be obstructed by the Earth.
Curated OER
How Far Away is SOHO?
High schoolers create a scale model of the Earth and the sun that demonstrates where the SOHO satellite is in relation to the Earth.
Curated OER
Kepler's Third Law
Learners use Kepler's third law to derive the velocity in a circular orbit of any radius, and identify the Earth escape velocity.
Curated OER
The Planet Earth
Students explore the planet Earth, outer space, and Earth's axis. They demonstrate reading comprehension skills, including literal meaning, inference and critical analysis.
Curated OER
Precession
Students explain how Hipparchus, around 130 BC, used a shift in the predicted location of a lunar eclipse to detect a slight shift in the path of the Sun around the sky. They examine the elliptical orbit in which the Earth travels around...
Curated OER
Bouncing Sunlight
Third graders use flashlights and balls to demonstrate how the light bounces off of the sun and reflects onto the moon. They record their observations in a journal.