Handout
Cosmos 4 kids

Cosmos4 Kids: Solar System: Jupiter

For Students 3rd - 8th
Learn all the basic facts about the planet Jupiter. The brief, to the point text makes this site most suitable for younger researchers.
Handout
Cosmos 4 kids

Cosmos4 Kids: Solar System: Mars

For Students 3rd - 8th
Learn the basic facts about the planet Mars. The brief, to the point text makes this site most suitable for younger researchers.
Handout
Cosmos 4 kids

Cosmos4 Kids: Solar System: Earth

For Students 3rd - 8th
Learn the basic facts about planet Earth, and its unique position as the only known planet where life can survive. The brief, to the point text makes this site most suitable for younger researchers.
Handout
Cosmos 4 kids

Cosmos4 Kids: Solar System: Venus

For Students 3rd - 8th
Learn the basic facts about the planet Venus. The brief, to the point text makes this site most suitable for younger researchers.
Handout
Cosmos 4 kids

Cosmos4 Kids: Solar System: Mercury

For Students 3rd - 8th
Learn all the basic facts about the planet Mercury. The brief, to the point text makes this site most suitable for younger researchers.
Unit Plan
NASA

Nasa: Solar System Exploration: Planets

For Students 9th - 10th
This impressive compilation of ideas is a great source for space science. Loaded with extra links for further information on the solar system.
Handout
Cosmos 4 kids

Cosmos4 Kids: Everything Gathers

For Students 3rd - 8th
Understand that smaller parts make up the larger parts of our solar system. See that gas and dust come together to form a star, small rocks and asteroids come together to form planets, and so on. This page is a reference page that...
Primary
Library of Congress

Loc: Poetry 180: Forgotten Planet

For Students 9th - 10th
This poet reminisces about childhood as he listens to his daughter's lack of undertanding about the names of the all of the planets.
Website
California Institute of Technology

Spitzer Science Center: Historias Desde Espacio: Premiacion a Las Planetas

For Students 3rd - 8th
All the planets are competing to see who is the best planet in the Solar System. Read the story in Spanish to learn the results of the pageant. Excellent source of information presented in a fun manner.
Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: O Logy: What Do You Know? Astronomy

For Students 3rd - 8th
Take this ten-question self-scoring quiz to test your knowledge of astronomy facts: age of the universe, why stars and planets are spheres, where other life might exist in the outer space, the Milky Way, and more.
Activity
University of California

At Home Astronomy: Hands on Science Experiments for the Entire Family

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of ten hands-on science experiments for the entire family that will help you understand concepts in astronomy. Make an astrolabe, find the size of the sun and moon, build a lunar settlement, find out about meteoroids, shadow...
Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Ology: Cosmic Cookies

For Students 3rd - 5th
Roll your mouse over the planets in our solar system to read a vignette about each. Then, link to the recipe for directions to create miniature planet cookies that look like the real thing.
Website
Nine Planets

The Eight Planets: Just for Kids

For Students 9th - 10th
Here is a clear, simple picture of the solar system. Click on the names of the planets to learn more about each. Clicking on underlined terms takes you to more and more detailed scientific information.
Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Ology: Astronomy: In Pictures: Beyond Planet Earth

For Students 3rd - 5th
What would it be like to travel across the solar system and explore space? Take a look at some of the places that humans might go to someday, and the questions that scientists are asking.
Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: Planets Time Line

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A number line showing the average distance of the planets to the Sun.
Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: Distance From Earth Time Line

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A number line showing the distance from Earth to the eight planets and the Sun.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating Ordering Planets: Math Connections & Number Sense in Science

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In this Solar System Investigate, students will determine ways to order the planets. Teacher directed inquiry will suggest that they first order the planets according to their distance from the sun. Students will then work on their own...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Geo Logic: Terrestrial and Jovian Planets

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Through GEOLogic puzzles, students are given clues about properties about the terrestrial and Jovian planets respectively, and challenged to match the planet with the correct equatorial radius, mean orbital velocity, and period of rotation.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Activity: Is There Really Life on Mars?

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) activity explores the controversy over whether or not there is life on Mars. Part of the Mysteries of Deep Space Program that originally aired in April 1997, the activity includes instructional...
Lesson Plan
National Institute of Educational Technologies and Teacher Training (Spain)

Ministerio De Educacion: La Situacion De La Tierra en El Universo

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Throughout this unit you will make an imaginary journey that will transport you from the remotest infinity of the universe around us, to the surface of our planet. During this trip you will see the main features and components of our...
Article
Society for Science and the Public

Science News for Students: So Many 'Earths'

For Students 3rd - 8th
Article reports on the recent discovery that many suns in the universe host "Earth-like" planets. Includes a vocabularly list.
Graphic
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: The Sun and Planets

For Students 6th - 8th
Observe the sun and the rotation of the planets in this moving image from NASA. Observe the axial tilts and directional rotation of planets and how they differ for each planet. Be sure to read the background information on how planets...
PPT
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: The Planets of the Solar System

For Students 6th - 8th
As technology has advanced, so do our views and understanding of the solar system. No longer do we have to rely on our unaided eyes to observe planets. View these high-quality images of planets provided by NASA spacecraft.
Lesson Plan
NASA

Nasa: Kepler: A Search for Habitable Planets: Transit Tracks

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Classroom lesson for teaching astronomy uses PowerPoint presentations and illustrations of Kepler's light curves used to discover planets.