Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Strange New Planet

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students simulate different spacecraft missions using materials provided. In this space science lesson, students observe and record a planetary model's features from a distance. They relate this activity to scientists' space exploration...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar System (Lesson 2)

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders identify the objects that make up the solar system. They define new vocabulary and practice using them. They discover that the sun is a star.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Physical Science: Solar Energy

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students review and discuss how Solar energy and electricity produce light and heat. They create a photo/picture journal and include pictures taken during solar energy activities to a PowerPoint slide presentation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Earth-Sun-Moon System

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders construct a model of the earth-sun-moon system using students as the sun, moon, and earth. They discuss ways that time is related to the movement of the earth and moon.
Lesson Plan
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Exploring Space Fiction

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students visit web sites with information on space fiction and collect information for their stories.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Planetary Research (Grades 9-12)

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are introduced to planetary research and familiarize them with the planets and their features. They see that each planet has unique features. Planets have some common features and that images can be used to study the planets and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Life Cycle of a Star

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students investigate the life cycle of a star through research. Once research is complete, students prepare posters and present findings to class. Flash animation is included to help students visualize life cycle of star researching.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How do plant & animal cells make and use energy?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers show the relationship between the need for plants to undergo photosynthesis in order to generate oxygen. They see the flaws associated with this thinking because of the lack of CO2 and H2O and lack of sufficient gravity...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring the Diameter of Our Star

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students conduct an experiment to measure the diameter of the sun. In this astronomy lesson,  students construct a simple equipment to collect scientific data. They calculate the sun's diameter using a given formula.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

GROWING PLANTS UNIT

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students predict outcomes of scientific experiment,.conduct a scientific experiment with control groups, and plant seeds to observe, measure, and compare growth across groups. They gather, record, analyze, and share data with other...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Difference Between Comets, Meteors And Asteroids

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students use Venn diagrams to highlight the similarities and differences between comets, meteors, and asteroids.
Lesson Plan
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Using Vegetation, Precipitation, and Surface Temperature to Study Climate Zones

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students begin their examination of the climate zones found around the world. Using a software program, they identify the relationship between the vegetation, climate and temperatures of the different zones. They also plot coordinates...
Lesson Plan
NASA

Earth, Earth’s Moon, Mars Balloons

For Teachers K - 8th Standards
Very specific diameters are given for blowing up three different balloons to represent, in scale, the moon, Earth, and Mars. In groups of three, amateur astronomers explore scale measurements and distance in space.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Classification of Clouds

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners view progressive slides of cloud formations and identify which type of cloud is shown as it forms. They estimate the cloud's height while viewing each image.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Suited for Space

For Teachers 5th - 8th
A fantastic lesson on survival in outer space should excite your learners! Pupils explore the challenges that living, working, and surviving in space elicit. They focus on the spacesuit itself; how it protects astronauts, and enables...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Leap of Space

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Students explore how smaller systems exist within larger systems as they build a collage of their place in space! Invite the students to display their posters and talk about their systems and systems of systems.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocks, Minerals, and Erosion

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders describe the difference between minerals (composed of the same substance throughout) and rocks (composed of two or more minerals). They recognize that there are three classes of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Webbing the Food Chain

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Young scholars compose a visual representation of the food chain cycle using Inspiration educational software.
Lesson Plan
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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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Communications Lab

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners build and test a type of communication system called a parabolic-dish receiver. This type of system is exactly like radio telescopes, which are discussed in our song. They explain how signals are transmitted and captured with...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Space and Science Fiction

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Use the Franklin Institute's exhibition "An Inquirer's Guide to the Universe" to have students research ideas for a science fiction story. After completing their research, writers will compose science fiction stories that incorporate...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Your Weight on Other Planets

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Learners explore their weight on other planets. In this science lesson, students view a presentation about the other planets and complete a worksheet in which they make predictions about their weight on the moon and other planets.
Lesson Plan
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What Makes you Hot?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars manipulate different variables in a model and make inferences about the temperature on Earth.  In this heat lesson students calculate the blackbody radiation of an object at a certain temperature. 
Lesson Plan
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Protecting Treasures

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners explore electricity by creating an alarm. In this circuitry lesson, students analyze a diagram of a circuit based alarm which detects sunlight. Learners utilize electrical equipment to recreate the circuit and practice using its...