Curated OER
Star Wars Activity
Students investigate radiant energy by completing discrepant events and identify various temperature changes through absorption and how radiant energy can be used for solar panels. They experiment with different color fabrics in order...
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Applying Properties to Variables
Eighth graders combine like terms in this properties of variables lesson plan. Using named items (stars, moons and hearts), they combine like terms using variables. They use the distributive property to combine like terms. Finally, they...
Journey Through the Universe
Where to Look For Life?
Every year we discover new planets including more than 1,000 in 2016 alone. Will we ever find life on another planet? The lesson includes two activities to help scholars understand this concept. First, they analyze the temperature range...
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Exploring a Galaxy
For this galaxy worksheet, students use the Internet or other resources to answer 13 questions about the galaxy NGC-1232. They are given a photograph of the galaxy to help determine the width and diameter of certain regions of the galaxy.
NASA
Eclipse Activity Guide
Ever made solar s'mores? Or recreated the solar system using peanuts? Astronomers young and old investigate all things solar using a variety of activities. Explore how the sun works, types of light it emits, and methods of charting the...
Science Matters
Earth Shaking Events
The world's largest measured earthquake happened in 1960 in Chile, reaching a terrifying 9.5 magnitude on the Richter Scale. The second lesson in the 20-part series introduces earthquakes and fault lines. Scholars map where previous...
American Museum of Natural History
Find My Plankton Baby Picture
Get a better understanding of babies in the sea. The class learns about the two kinds of plankton. They then determine the baby pictures of eight marine animals given a picture of the adult and some hints about the larvae. When scholars...
Curated OER
Working With Scientific Notation
In this scientific notation worksheet, students read about the discovery of new planets. They use scientific notation to identify the number of miles from one planet to the next. Students determine how long it would take to travel, when...
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Small Angle Calculations
Young scholars work with circles, angles and estimating angles in the night sky. In this circles and angles lesson, students practice measuring a degree using the circumference of a circle and apply the degree to determine a way to use...
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The Undiscovered Planet
Students find a planetary object using star fields. In this investigative lesson students determine the distance to an object using trigonometric parallax.
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When a Ruler is Too Short
Students measure distances using parallax. In this math lesson, students explain how this method helped astronomers with their studies of the solar system. They determine the length of their arm using parallax and compare it with other...
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Chandra Explores Angular Size
In this angular size learning exercise, students read about how astronomers determine the size of objects in the sky by using their angular size. Students are given equations that allow scientists to convert the angular size into...
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Three D Constellations
Students address a major misconception in astronomy, the understanding of scale. The instructional activity is designed to introduce students to both celestial coordinates and to the first rung on the distance determination ladder,...
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Eagle Nebula - Close-up
In this Eagle nebula worksheet, students solve 4 problems including finding the size of the nebula field, determining the scale of the image, determining how large the nebula is in millimeters and determining the size of the smallest...
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How Hot is that Planet?
In this planet learning exercise, students read about finding the temperature of a planet using the distance to its star, its reflectivity and the luminosity of the star. Students use a given equation to determine the surface temperature...
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Falling into a Black Hole
In this black hole worksheet, students solve 3 problems given the equation used to determine the speed of a falling body using its mass, the constant of gravitation and the distance it will travel.
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The Solar System
In this solar system learning exercise, students determine the correct unit of measurement to use when measuring a list of items. Students list the five outer planets and four inner planets. This learning exercise has 20 fill in the...
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Hubble Sees a Distant Planet
For this Hubble telescope worksheet, students solve 4 problems about the image of the distant planet the Hubble telescope discovered. Students determine the distance the planet was from its star in 2006, they determine the planet's...
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Black Holes....II
In this black hole worksheet, students use the equation for time dilation to solve 8 problems including determining the time it takes to receive a GPS signal from space, the time delay for the GPS-Earth system, the distance a radio...
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Spotting an Approaching Asteroid or Comet
In this asteroid and comet activity, students read about the formula used to determine the brightness of asteroid. They apply this formula to solve 2 problems about asteroids and their brightness.
Curated OER
How Big was that Quake?
In this earthquake worksheet, students determine the magnitude of an earthquake based on the seismogram reading. This worksheet has 5 problems to solve.
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Black Holes...V
In this black hole worksheet, students read about the black hole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy called Sagittarius A and observe a Chandra image of the area where the black hole exists. Students solve two problems which include...
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Number Sentences Puzzles
In this number sentence puzzle worksheet, students are given 2 number sentences and they determine which stories match the sentences. They are also given a story and they determine which number sentence matches the given story.
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Modeling a Planetary Nebula
For this modeling a planetary nebula worksheet, students use a diagram to calculate the intensity at different radii from the center of the nebula. Students use the Pythagorean Theorem to determine the distance between two points on the...