Curated OER
Plant Life
Students study plant parts and their functions. For this plant life lesson students participate in an activity of planting plants.
Other
Royal Museums Greenwich: Origin of the Solar System
This site explores current theories about how the Solar System was created.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Solar System Scale Model
Teach the concept of scale models and the size of the solar system through this extensive lesson plan. Students will learn about scale models, estimate which objects to use to create a scale model of Earth and Sun, and figure out how far...
NASA
Nasa: Eyes on the Solar System
Are you ready to ride the Curiosity to the surface of Gale crater? This 3-D environment created with NASA mission data allows students to experience space and time. With this website students can also hop on an asteroid, fly a Voyager...
ArtsNow
Arts Now Learning: Explore the Solar System With Theater [Pdf]
In this instructional activity, students build upon prior knowledge of the planets in the solar system by becoming aliens living on the planets. As aliens, they learn about their planets and create advertisements to persuade someone to...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Scaling Down the Solar System
In this lesson students will work collaboratively to gain a better understanding of the vastness of space by scaling down the solar system. This lesson plan was created as a result of the Girls Engaged in Math and Science University,...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Creating the Solar System
This two-part lesson begins with a lecture which describes the complex process of creation from molecular cloud to planetesimals to planets to organized solar system. The lecture is followed up with a draw/write activity in which the...
Science Struck
Science Struck: Simple Ideas for Your Kid's Solar System Project
Provides detailed instructions for how to help a student make a solar system model, and additional suggestions for making a constellation poster, making a model showing phases of the moon, and creating a solar system model to scale.
South Carolina Educational Television
Know It All: Solar System Simulation
Fourth graders will begin to understand the solar system by using and creating models to demonstrate the layout of the solar System.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Solar System!
An introduction to our solar system: the planets, our Sun and our Moon. Students begin by learning the history and engineering of space travel. They make simple rockets to acquire a basic understanding Newton's third law of motion. They...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Build Your Own Solar System
This Java applet creates a model of a solar system with user-defined data. Users can create a solar system with up to four planets, choosing the star type at the center of the solar system, planet name, size, eccentricity of orbit and...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Lost in Space a Solar System Study
During this technology based lesson, young scholars navigate the Internet to learn interesting information about the solar system. They use the information to complete a worksheet and to create a puzzle or challenge for their classmates.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Planets Made Real: Creating Size and Distance Scale of Planets
An activity where students build a scale model of the solar system based on a marble they pick from a bowl. After choosing a marble that represents Earth, students must calculate the size of the other planets and the sun. Site includes...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Inner and Outer Planets of the Solar System
In this science lesson students will work collaboratively to learn and introduce the eight planets, sizes, characteristics, and their order. They will use size comparisons, research a planet, design a poster and create a PowerPoint...
Fourmilab Switzerland
John Walker: Solar System Live
This planetarium program allows you to create an accurate model of the solar system with icons or pictures of each planet. You can specify a date in the past or the future, change the viewpoint to any latitude/longitude, and even view in...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Beyond the Earth Part I
Students will access prior knowledge of the solar system by completing a graphic organizer. After participating in a teacher lecture and whole group discussion, the students will work in collaborative groups to create a...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Beyond the Earth Part Ii
A continuation of Beyond the Earth Part I. As part of a unit on the solar system, students will choose a component of the solar system to research. Students may use a variety of resources such as the Internet, books, and reference...
ClassFlow
Class Flow: The Solar System
[Free Registration/Login Required] I created this flipchart to go along with our Harcourt Science textbook. It was created for second grade. It discusses, vocabulary and content that will be tested; and it Includes an Activote quiz.
Science Struck
Science Struck: How Was the Earth Created
This resource gives a detailed explanation of the stages that the Earth and the solar system went through beginning with their origins in the Big Bang up to the present time.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Space Sciences: Introduction to the Mars Science Laboratory
Created to teach students of the 21st century, SOPHIA is bringing Mars straight to your fingertips. Discover what scientific discoveries are occurring in the rest of the universe with this interactive tutorial.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: The Sun and the Moon Tutorial
Created to teach students of the 21st century, SOPHIA is bringing the sun and the moon straight to your fingertips. Become the commander of your own learning experiences as you take part in this interactive tutorial.
Encyclopedia of Earth
Encyclopedia of Earth: Solar Radiation
Almost all of the energy that drives the various systems (climate systems, ecosystems, hydrologic systems, etc.) found on the Earth originates from the sun. Solar energy is created at the core of the sun when hydrogen atoms are fused...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Why Aren't We Only Using Solar Power?
Solar power is cheaper and more sustainable than our current coal-fueled power plants, so why haven't we made the switch? The real culprits here are the clouds, which make solar power difficult to control. Alexandros George Charalambides...
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: O Logy: Stuff to Do: Scavenger Hunt
Illustrated instructions for creating a scale model of the solar system.