Curated OER
Star Quest
Students engage in a lesson plan of using maps in order to find constellations in the night sky. They also conduct research using three constellations. The research is used to create a project to inform others. The teacher also leads the...
Curated OER
Sky Stories Curriculum
Students investigate the stories told by ancient cultures about the constellations. They listen to stories told by the Greeks and Romans. The classroom should have posters of constellations for the lesson and the teacher performs...
Curated OER
Spacd Day:Probing For Knowledge
Students investigate the uses and purpose of the Hubble telescope. They create a model of the telescope and conduct research about the history behind the invention of it. Students use the information in order to create a context for the...
Curated OER
Internet Activity: More Space About Space
Students analyze the exploration of space. In this space lesson, 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.
Curated OER
Out of This World and Into Our Classroom
Learners complete a background survey on technology to determine where they need to focus on to complete this project. Using the Internet, they research a topic in Astronomy they are interested in and determine what math concepts are...
Curated OER
Hubble Space Telescope
Students investigate the universe through the eyes of the Hubble space telescope. They conduct research from looking at the universe that is simulated with a digital projector. The images are projected onto the wall in a simulation of...
Curated OER
Your Address in the Galaxy
Students create a business card after researching their location in space and determining their Galactic Address.
Curated OER
Sundials: Keeping Time Like Native Americans
Students explore the use of sundials. They observe the shadows cast by the sun and record the times at various points throughout the day. They create sundials and record the location of the shadows and the time of day. They view a...
Curated OER
IBEX Uses Fast-Moving Atoms to Map the Sky!
In this energetic neutral atoms learning exercise, students solve 3 problems including determining the formula for particle speed, writing the equation to show the relationship between mass, energy and speed and determining the speed of...
Curated OER
Traveling the Planets!
Fourth graders research the planets and create brochures to share their information. In this planets lesson, 4th graders navigate the Internet to gather information for a brochure about an imaginary trip to their planet....
Curated OER
Creating Craters
Young scholars explore parts of an impact crater and compare and contrast craters found in Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Crater formation is modelled and the relationship of mass, velocity, and size of the projectile to the crater formation...
Curated OER
Explore the Characteristics of Stars with Microsoft WorldWide Telescope
Students explore the characteristics of stars. For this space science activity, students use the Microsoft WorldWide Telescope program to identify the properties of stars and identify the stars in the galaxy.
Curated OER
IBEX Creates an Unusual Image of the Sky!
In this IBEX satellite learning exercise, students read about the Energetic Neutral Atoms that are detected by the IBEX satellite. Students use a given hypothetical data string to determine the number of particles detected and create an...
Curated OER
Impact Craters: Holes in the Ground!
Students simulate crater formation through a lab activity. In this space science instructional activity, students calculate how much energy is transferred during meteorite impact. They identify different factors affecting the size and...
Curated OER
Let the North Star Tell You Where You Are
Students create an astrolabe and locate the North Star in the night sky. They determine the latitude of the North Star, and calculate an average latitude based on class results.
Curated OER
Investigating the Earth-Moon-Sun System
Eighth graders research Native American legends involving the sun, moon, and stars and compare them to the origin of present day knowledge. They create a written report and make an oral presentation of their findings to the class.
Curated OER
History of the Universe
Students describe how the universe was formed. In this astronomy lesson, students listen and respond to questions in a PowerPoint lesson that includes various theories about how the universe was created.
PHET
CME Plotting
Young scientists build on their previous knowledge and apply it to coronal mass ejections. By plotting the path of two different coronal mass ejections, they develop an understanding of why most don't collide with Earth.
American Museum of Natural History
If Rocks Could Talk
Meet some interesting rocks. Learners discover information about the three types of rocks and different rocks that are within each group. They read imaginary interviews with six rocks as each rock tells the story of their formation and a...
Q Continuum
Planets
Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered what constellation you were seeing or whether that bright object was a star or a planet? Are you searching for the best tilt-to-view constellation and planet app that money can't buy?...
Messenger Education
Give Me a Boost—How Gravity Assists Aid Space Exploration
The propellant needed for space explorations runs in the thousands, while paying to get the craft into orbit costs millions! In the second installment of three, two activities explore laws of conservation of energy and momentum. Using...
Curated OER
How Far Away Is Saturn?
Students work together to create a scale model of the solar system. They write a descriptive paper and a paper comparing and contrasting the Earth to Saturn. They discuss their writings with the class.
Curated OER
In a Galaxy Far, Far, Far Away
Sixth graders compare distances between objects in the solar system. They investigate how light years are measured and when using them to measure how distances compare with one another. They write an essay exploring the possibility of...
Curated OER
Glowing Glimpses of Our Universe
Students will complete hands-on space activities. In this space science lesson, students will create a glow-in-the-dark model of the solar system, visit a planetarium, make star pictures, and paint constellations. Activities are meant to...