Feel like a rocket scientist for the day. Using only paper and tape, scholars create a framework for a spaceship to Mars. Each sheet of paper costs $10 million and each piece of tape costs $100,000. Make sure you stay within budget!

Here is a terrific science lesson for your elementary schoolers. In it, learners analyze different materials to simulate space radiation shielding on spacecraft, then select the best material to use to build one. This is a classic...

What will it take to explore space? Teams of pupils determine the needs of a lunar outpost and research the required systems. The pupils then learn about the past space exploration vehicles. The third and final lesson challenges project...

What does it take to get stuff to the Moon? Design teams create subsystems for a space transportation system to go to the Moon. The teams study Earth transportation components along with historical space transportation systems to...

Florida's state quarter has an image of a space shuttle and a Spanish Galleon on its reverse side. Pupils will examine the state quarter and think about how the Spanish explorers and Space explorers are the same and different. The class...

Future engineers test different alloys to determine the specific strength of each one. Based on the results, they make a recommendation to NASA on which alloy to use on engines for spacecraft.

When astronauts get hungry in outer space, they can't just call and have a pizza delivered. In order to gain an appreciation for the challenges associated with space travel, young learners are given the task of selecting,...

Take your class on an out-of-this-world adventure with this fun engineering design lesson. Working in small groups, young scientists design, build, and test crew exploration vehicles using some creativity, teamwork, and...

A fabulous lesson which combines mathematics with space science. Middle schoolers work in cooperative groups in order to research early astronauts and their accomplishments. They look at a variety of rocket and space shuttle designs, and...

The spacecraft is drifting too far off course! Two games help explain how a spacecraft can use its thrusters to maintain its position. The games have pupils be the components of vectors in order to create and counteract the...

Protect the marshmallows! Groups create contraptions that will keep marshmallows in a cup, even after dropping them from a certain height. This is a fun way to model the shock-absorbing capabilities of spacecraft.

From their sweat to the water vapor in their breath, astronauts recycle every possible drop of water while in space. After watching a short video describing the different ways materials are recycled and reused in space...

The classic egg-drop experiment gets a new bounce with an activity that asks pairs to design a lander similar to one used to land a rover on Mars within a fixed budget. The activity provides a great introduction to the idea of...

What will happen in the future? No one knows, but everyone can guess with the future tense! Young grammarians practice future time markers with a helpful presentation that focuses on air travel to space.

Pack just enough to fit. Crews determine what personal items to take with them on a trip to Mars. Each team must decide what to take with them on a two-and-a-half year trip to Mars and whether their items will fit within the allotted...

Groups simulate an orbit using a piece of string and a water balloon. Individuals spin in a circular path and calculate the balloon's velocity when the clothes pin can no longer hold onto the balloon.

An activity promotes reading comprehension. Readers analyze a text of their choice while activating prior knowledge and asking and answering questions. Scholars enforce multiple strategies to improve comprehension.

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't. The lesson includes four activities in which students learn binary, convert binary to images, understand CCD arrays, and interpret...

Class + room = classroom! And your class + this compound word game = fun and learning! Kids match cards that include words and sometimes images to create compound words. 

Waxed paper, newspaper, or aluminum foil? Keeping an ice cube from melting may require one or more of these materials. Learners design a box that will provide insulation so an ice cube stays intact for at least 90 minutes.

What a bright idea! Young scientists conduct an experiment on flowers to finish the last of a six-lesson unit on Cells. Putting the stems into dye-injected water and leaving it overnight results in flowers that glow. This is to simulate...

Elementary schoolers identify the three methods of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. The lesson is mostly lecture-based. When the teacher has finished the presentation, groups of pupils get into teams and they must...

NASA's LCROSS mission is dropping a probe into a lunar crater. Groups design a system to travel down a zip line and drop a marble onto a target in the classroom. The groups then modify their designs based upon testing. 

Make solutions to projectile motion problems magically appear using equations. Pupils watch a clip from a Harry Potter movie and find the length of time it takes for a remembrall to fall into Harry's hands. They use a projectile motion...