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Activity
NASA

Eclipse Activity Guide

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Ever made solar s'mores? Or recreated the solar system using peanuts? Astronomers young and old investigate all things solar using a variety of activities. Explore how the sun works, types of light it emits, and methods of charting the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Astro-Madness

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study the different telescopes and instruments used in the Observatory.  In this engineering and research lesson students explore telescopes using a website and build data tables about them.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Doin' The Moonwalk

For Teachers K - 2nd
If you are looking for an outstanding lesson plan on the Moon for your budding astronomers, look no further! This outstanding plan is full of wonderful, meaningful activities for your charges to engage in. Pupils will discover why there...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Big Is That Star?

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Aspiring astronomers study stars. They compare stars and explain the relationship between radius, mass, and diameter. By creating a star simulation, they discover how a binary star system's orbit can cause changes in the observed...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Taking the Measure of the Universe

For Teachers 6th - 9th
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An Introduction to the Night Sky and Movement Astronomy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Basically, this is an interactive exploration of educational astronomy software and an app. Young astronomers discover how the apparent motion of the sky relates to Earth's movements and the position of the observer. It is out of this...
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Lesson Plan
Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Getting Ready for the All American Eclipse!

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Give your pupils a front row seat at the biggest light show in the sky this year! In addition to admiring the total solar eclipse, young astronomers can explain the phenomenon with a little help from an inquiry-based lesson. The focus of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creative Writing - Research and Letters

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Here's a fresh approach that combines research, business and personal letter writing, and creative story telling. Student groups research different decades in the life of a famous Japanese astronomer. They then craft a decade fact sheet,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Are Stars Like People?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
A beautifully written lesson plan delves into a beautiful topic: stellar population. Engage aspiring astronomers with activities that examine human populations and then transition onto the stars of the universe. Data and photographs for...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Get the Picture!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Astronomers practice downloading data from a high-energy satellite and translate the data into colored or shaded pixels. As a hands-on activity, they use pennies to simulate high-energy satellite data and they convert their penny...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning from Light: The Big Bang

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers explore what astronomers are able to examine our galaxy and universe by examining light. They explore in this sub-unit the formation of the universe, commonly called "The Big Bang," and it follows studying from the Light:...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The 'Solar' System Past and Present

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students identify cardinal and intermediate directions, recognize that models changes due to new or improved observations and technology, identify the major characteristics of the planets including their positions in the solar system,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tools of Modern Astronomy

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students describe the electromagnetic spectrum and astronomy.  In this astronomy lesson plan students complete an activity, predict what will happen and complete a worksheet. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Distances to Stars

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students explore the idea of parallax. For this astronomy lesson, students study the distances of stars. They investigate how parallax can be used to determine these distances.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Categorizing Celestial Objects

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students work together to develop a classification system for planets. They take a class vote and read an article about an astronomer's classification system. They write an essay on how scientists make decisions for the general public.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biography of a Star: Our Sun's Birth, Life, and Death

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine how astronomers use parallax to determine the distances of stars in the Sun's neighborhood. They construct a pinhole protractor, and measure angles and calculate distances.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

When a Ruler is Too Short

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students measure distances using parallax. In this math lesson, students explain how this method helped astronomers with their studies of the solar system. They determine the length of their arm using parallax and compare it with other...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Do We Know...?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify and explain how various inventions and astronomers have improved our appreciation of the universe. Students identify at least two constellations in the sky and discuss how they were used in ancient times to tell time...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Herschel Infrared Experiment

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students perform a version of the experiment of 1800 by the famous astronomer Sir Frederick William Herschel.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

As the Sun Burns

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students test commercial sunscreens or sunglasses for accuracy of their Sun Protection Factor. They devise a method for testing UV beads with a visual clues which they publish as research. They investigate occupations such as...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discovering a Law of Space Physics

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students use data collected by an astronomer to determine the relationship between the time it takes the planet to orbit the sun and the average radius of the planet's orbit around the sun. Students use trial and error to find the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

SIZING UP SOL

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders produce a projected, pinhole image of the sun and from measurement of the image and projection distance, calculate the actual size of the sun. They estimate the sun's apparent brightness from different planet.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Technology for Studying Comets

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students design an Aerogel model to capture clay particles. In this space science lesson, students discover what happens to comets as they hit a surface. They explain how the Aerogel technology would help scientists study comets better.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

The Motion of the Moon, Sun, and Stars—Motivating Mathematics

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
What does math have to do with the behavior of the earth and sun? Learn how the movement of celestial bodies has influenced the development of trigonometry. Scholars connects the details in mathematics to their real-world meaning.

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