Use a variety of whole fruits to represent the different planets in the solar system to introduce scale sizes to your math or space science class. They follow suit by creating a non-scaled model of the solar system using specific-colored...

Students gain an understanding of the methods used to explore the earth's surface. Students create a time line leading to the first satellite image of the Earth that includes the various methods utilized to observe the earth's surface.

Students design and construct a paper rocket that can be launched with a drinking straw. They participate in a lecture and read an article about rocketry and how Newton's Third Law applies to rocket launches. Each student constructs...

Four fabulous activities immerse amateur astronomers into measuring objects that we cannot handle. The experiences are applied to NASA's Space Interferometry Mission, which will take measurements of planets around stars other than our...

Earth science learners experiment with the water-holding properties of sand, pebbles, and clay. They apply their findings to the building of a well. This activity is engaging and tactile, and it demonstrates the importance of considering...

Students sample goodies from an unseen ocean floor and try to accurately describe their composition. This simulation helps students explain the limitations of sampling and the problem of obtaining representative samples of sea floor...

Research the necessary components of a planet that supports life after reading the article "All of a Sudden, The Neighborhood Looks a Lot Friendlier" from The New York Times. After finding their information, middle and high schoolers...

Thoroughly written, this plan walks you through every detail of having your high school astronomers design scale models of the solar system. Complete instructions on building to scale, lesson procedures, and associated worksheets are all...

There are so many things to discover about the sun! Pupils discuss their knowledge of the sun, explore its features, apply their knowledge by labeling photographs, and then reflect on their learning by working in groups to draw and label...

For this Earth Science worksheet, students read about the Greenhouse Effect and the difference between natural and amplified warming. Following, they answer ten short answer questions related to what they read about global climate issues.

The Mars Global Surveyor spent two years creating a mineral map of the planet Mars using thermal emission spectrometry. To help young astronomers understand this remote sensing instrument, have them simulate how data is collected and...

Determining whether or not something is living can be more difficult than it seems. Put your young scientists to work defining their own criteria to identify life, then work with three samples to see if they are alive or...

Students use data to determine if the climate in Portland has changed over the years.  In this weather lesson students complete line graphs and study long wave radiation. 

Students identify differences between living on earth vs. living in space.  In this simulated lesson students analyze data, record observations and design exercise equipment to be used while living in space. 

Young scholars explore how science and technology interact. They discuss important inventions, discoveries and technologies. They research a specific technological advance, or invention, and prepare a presentation that includes the...

Students monitor the weather, clouds, and sky. In this weather instructional activity, students create a sky and cloud window to focus their sky observations. They write observations in a notebook and include the date, time, cloud cover,...

Students analyze the exploration of space. In this space instructional activity, students discuss the space race of the 1950s and 1960s. Students identify important events in space exploration and analyze the reasons for a space station.

In this space science worksheet, learners use the clues given at the bottom of the sheet to solve the crossword puzzle on our moon. They name another name for the moon and the moon's gravity compared to that of the earth.

Students compare/contrast the environments of our moon and earth, and examine examples of how these differences would affect their daily activities on our moon. They develop lists of emergency supplies to bring if their spaceship crashed...

A little engineering design is mixed into this lesson on precipitation measurement. Groups plan and construct a rain gauge, and use it to collect precipitation. As part of the PowerPoint presentation, learners view a satellite map of...

Do solids, liquids, and gases even matter? The presentation focuses on changes in matter, including phases, Boyle's Law, Charles' Law, and physical changes. 

With a little light and a lot of time, you can create some amazing images. This NASA-related task instructs pupils to build a pinhole camera. The lesson provides suggestions for different pictures to try with the pinhole camera...

In this space science worksheet, students read an informative passage about radio waves and the possibility of sending messages in space. The passage describes a "Sounds of Earth" record on the Voyager satellite which contains messages...

There is a specific zone, or distance from a star, that a planet must be in order to have water in a liquid form. The activity demonstrates how flux density depends on its distance from the source. A photovoltaic cell gets power to...