Curated OER
Teacher-Astronaut Offers New Lessons
Students read about teacher-in-space Barbara Morgan and life in space. In this space science and current event lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a vocabulary activity, then students read the news piece and participate in a...
Curated OER
Could the Solar System have Ten Planets?
Students react to statements about the solar system, then read a news article about a recently discovered object that could be another planet. In this space science and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the lesson with a...
Curated OER
Our Sky Clock
Young scholars explore space science by completing a worksheet in class. In this astronomy lesson, students discuss and identify star patterns in the night sky and relate these patterns to the approximate time they appear. Young scholars...
Curated OER
Space Science: Zodiac Track
Students create posters of the constellations using glow-in-the-dark glue and black paper. They hang their posters around the room starting with Aries and moving through all the signs. Students create a jingle or acronym to help them...
Curated OER
Day and Night
Expand your third graders' universe with a science activity about Earth's rotation. They read a short explanation about the direction of sunlight, then draw an arrow to indicate which way the sun is pointed at an illustration of the...
Space Awareness
Let's Map the Earth
Before maps went mobile, people actually had to learn how to read maps. Pupils look at map elements in order to understand how to read them and locate specific locations. Finally, young cartographers discover how to make aerial maps.
Messenger Education
Dangers of Radiation Exposure
Gamma radiation, which is harmful, is useful in treating cancers. In the second lesson in a series of four, young scientists take surveys and calculate their yearly exposure to ionizing radiation. Then they read about how harmful their...
Curated OER
Our Intriguing Star, the Sun!
Explore the sun in a lesson plan about space. The lesson spans ten weeks, with learners performing activities to answer weekly questions about the Sun and Earth.
NOAA
I Didn’t Do It…Did I?: Make Your Own Greenhouse Effect
How do greenhouse gases affect the climate on Earth? Pupils explore the concept by first building their own apparatuses to model the greenhouse effect. Then, they record data to measure temperature change and determine...
Curated OER
Communication Delay
Construct a maze in your classroom and have a blindfolded scientist act as a space rover, maneuvering unfamiliar terrain while another scientist plays commander. Classmates record the number of occurrences of the commander having to...
Curated OER
Storm Clouds-- Fly over a Late Winter Storm onboard a NASA Earth Observing Satellite
Students study cloud data and weather maps to explore cloud activity. In this cloud data lesson plan students locate latitude and longitude coordinates and determine cloud cover percentages.
Curated OER
The Building Blocks
This PowerPoint is a comprehensive review of all the facts related to an atom's basic structure and function. What makes this unique is that it is geared toward an audience of junior geologists. After introducing the periodic table of...
Columbus City Schools
Moon Phase Mania
Now you see it, now you don't. Our moon seems to pull a disappearing act from time to time—but why? Take your seventh grade scientists above and beyond to discover the truth about the moon and the role it plays in Earth's little...
Center for Math and Science Education
Pocket Solar System
How in the world can something as big as the solar system possibly fit in your pocket? Complete this simple modeling activity and find out, as young scientists gain an appreciation for the incredible scale of outer space.
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Looking to the Future
New Horizons set forth on a mission to Pluto in 2006. Ten years later, the spacecraft is still on its way. Here, enthusiastic scholars predict what they will be like—likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc.—when New Horizons arrives at its...
Curated OER
Observation and Inference
Assess your young scientists' understanding of the difference between observation and inference with this 20-question multiple choice quiz. It reviews a variety of physics and astronomy concepts, such as solar eclipses and sunspots, the...
Vosonos
Interactive Minds: Solar System
Travel through space as you learn about the galaxy, solar system, planets, and much more. An extensive resource for studying astronomy in upper-elementary and middle school classrooms.
American Museum of Natural History
What is the Greenhouse Effect?
Without the greenhouse effect, Earth would not be inhabitable. A thorough online resource describes the greenhouse effect and how it occurs. The source highlights the different types of gases that work together to absorb the sun's...
US Department of Energy
Building the Basic PVC Wind Turbine
Here is a comprehensive and well-written lesson plan that results in learners building a standard wind turbine. Once built, teens can design a variety of experiments to test different factors. This activity is a noble undertaking that...
Curated OER
THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT SPACE
Ninth graders set up a scale model of the solar system using the same scale for distance and diameter. They calculate scale distances and sizes for modeling the solar system and relate actual distances to difficulties in discovering and...
Curated OER
Single Event Upsets in Aircraft Avionics
In this aircraft avionics worksheet, science fans read about the first unmanned air vehicle that collects data about the Earth and is subject to damage by cosmic ray showers. Pupils analyze two graphs of data showing the neutron flux vs....
Freeology
Nature Observations Journal
A journal template makes observing nature a breeze. Super scientists identify an interesting object in nature, draw it, list its details, and compose a written descriptions of their artwork.
Curated OER
Papier-Mâché Globe
Paper mache projects are great for using up paper from the recycle bin. Give your class the chance to create a three-dimensional globe out of paper mache. They'll work to make their globes as accurate as possible, adding proper colors...
NASA
Science Fiction Story
A instructional activity allows you to go back in time and see the big bang actually happen. Bazinga! In reality, pupils research the Big Bang Theory and theorize what it would be like to go back in time and see it happen....