Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Traveling the Planets!

For Teachers 4th
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....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Explore the Characteristics of Stars with Microsoft WorldWide Telescope

For Teachers 2nd - 9th
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.
Worksheet
Curated OER

IBEX Creates an Unusual Image of the Sky!

For Students 9th - 11th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Impact Craters: Holes in the Ground!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating Craters

For Teachers 4th - 6th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let the North Star Tell You Where You Are

For Teachers 5th - 8th
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigating the Earth-Moon-Sun System

For Teachers 8th
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

History of the Universe

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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.
Lesson Plan
PHET

CME Plotting

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
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.
Website
American Museum of Natural History

If Rocks Could Talk

For Students 6th - 12th
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...
App
Q Continuum

Planets

For Students K - 12th
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?...
Lesson Plan
Messenger Education

Give Me a Boost—How Gravity Assists Aid Space Exploration

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Walk a Mile in your Orbit

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students create an awareness of the distance between the planets and the complexity of the solar system through a model of an active solar system. they incorporate physical education and math with the ability to convert distances of each...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Far Away Is Saturn?

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Star Words

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners identify and categorize apostrophes. They create maps of the solar system and write simple sentences using apostrophes that describe each planet's characteristics.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In a Galaxy Far, Far, Far Away

For Teachers 6th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Glowing Glimpses of Our Universe

For Teachers 4th - 6th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy From Space: The Next Frontier

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers investigate ideas for getting energy from space. In this space-based power lesson, students read articles about ideas for alternatives to fossil fuels. Middle schoolers define and give examples of vocabulary words....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Layering the Soil

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students study and classify soil. For this soil science lesson, students classify soil by texture and size and study soil horizons. Students label the soil types with their specific soil horizon and learn about permafrost. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plotting Temperature and Altitude

For Teachers 10th - 12th
students convert the temperature readings from degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit. they predict and create a graph of what the graph of altitude (x-axis) versus temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (y-axis) might look like.
Worksheet
Curated OER

The Webb Space Telescope: Detecting Dwarf Planets

For Students 9th - 12th
In this detecting dwarf planets worksheet, students read about the Webb Space Telescope that will be launched in 2014 to detect dwarf planets using an infrared telescope. Students solve 3 problems and create a graph for each using given...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring the Web of Life

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students develop a classroom definition of and explore ideas related to ecosystems. They create a food web using pictures and yarn.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shining the Light on Skin

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students investigate the relationships between certain environmental factors and levels of exposure to sunlight. The variables of location, time of year, and day, and the weather which affect the intensity of the sun are explored in this...
Worksheet
Curated OER

The Earth-Moon System

For Students 3rd - 8th
In this Earth and moon worksheet, students will review the different phases of the moon, how eclipses are created, and how the moon influences tidal patterns. This worksheet has 13 fill in the blank, 8 true or false, and 2 short answer...