American Association of Physics Teachers
Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Earth Orbit Model
Nicolaus Copernicus developed the theory of Earth's orbit around the sun demonstrated in this science simulation.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Reasons for the Seasons
Why do some regions experience full-time heat while others are reckoning with frigid temperatures and snow? And why are the seasons reversed in the two hemispheres? Rebecca Kaplan explains how the shape of the Earth's orbit around the...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: The Sun and Moon: Lesson 3
This lesson will analyze the role of the sun and moon relative to the earth's orbit. It is 3 of 4 in the series titled "The Sun and Moon."
Sophia Learning
Sophia: The Sun and Moon: Lesson 4
This lesson will analyze the role of the sun and moon relative to the earth's orbit. It is 4 of 4 in the series titled "The Sun and Moon."
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physical Science: Orbital Motion
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Orbital motion and why it occurs, and the orbits of the Earth around the sun and the moon around the Earth.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Gravity and Orbits
Move the sun, earth, moon, and space station to see how it affects their gravitational forces and orbital paths. Visualize the sizes and distances between different heavenly bodies, and turn off gravity to see what would happen without it.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Open Course Ware: Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences: Solar System
A university-level course that looks at the structure of the solar system, the sun, the planets, and other bodies in space. Includes course readings, assignments, and study notes.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Our Solar System: A Day on Earth
A video and a short multiple-choice quiz on how the Earth's tilt on its axis, its rotation, and its orbit around the Sun give us a 24-hour day, a 365-day year, and our seasons.
BBC
Bbc Schools: Ks2 Bitesize: Science: Physical Processes: Earth, Sun, and Moon
Help Sarah Jane and her team put the solar system's planets back in order. Following the activity, read more about the sun, the Earth, and its moon, and then take a quick quiz to check for understanding.
BBC
Bb Ci Space: Earth
The BBC provides a general overview of the planet Earth. Content includes statistical information, a focus on the four seasons, moon information, and more.
![De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf] Unit Plan](https://static.lp.lexp.cloud/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf] Unit Plan")
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the Milky Way gallaxy and how scientists learn about it over time. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story;...
American Association of Physics Teachers
Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Equinox Precession Model
Experience a science simulation illustrating the Copernican theory of Earth's orbit around the sun.
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Astronomy
Eight hands-on lessons module in which students explore the characteristics of planet Earth, its moons, the sun, the solar system, planets, and the difference between science fact and science fiction.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Revolutions of Earth
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How objects in the solar system orbit around each other.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Revolutions of Earth
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How objects in the solar system orbit around each other.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Earth and Sun
A slideshow exploring Earth's rotation and revolution around the sun. Learn that because of Earth's axis tilt we experience the seasons!
Oklahoma Mesonet
Oklahoma Climatological Survey: The Seasons
Find out what the seasons are and how they change. Through the use of excellent graphics, content explores the Earth's orbit around the sun and how sunlight reaches the earth at equinox and the winter solstice.
National Earth Science Teachers Association
Windows to the Universe: Our Solar System
Our solar system is filled with a wide assortment of celestial bodies - the Sun itself, our eight planets, dwarf planets, and asteroids - and on Earth, life itself! The inner solar system is occasionally visited by comets that loop in...
Nine Planets
The Eight Planets: Just for Kids
Here is a clear, simple picture of the solar system. Click on the names of the planets to learn more about each. Clicking on underlined terms takes you to more and more detailed scientific information.
Curated OER
Earth Orbits the Sun
This site from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration provides a fun project on rockets. "Nothing in space stands still. Everything either orbits around something else, or moves toward or away from something else. So how do...
McREL International
Mc Rel: Earth's Axis [Pdf]
A worksheet regarding the path of the Sun around the Earth and the Earth's tilt on its axis.
MadSci Network
Mad Scientist: Why High Tide Away From the Moon or Sun?
An excellent and thorough answer to the often asked question about high tide "bulges" on the side of Earth facing away from the Moon or Sun.
Curated OER
Harvard University: The Earths Orbit
Students perform many inquiry activities related to Earth's orbit. Included are recording daily temperatures, observing the sun's path over several weeks, tracking sunrise and sunset times, and angle of sunlight. Diagrams make lessons...
Curated OER
Harvard University: The Earths Orbit
Students perform many inquiry activities related to Earth's orbit. Included are recording daily temperatures, observing the sun's path over several weeks, tracking sunrise and sunset times, and angle of sunlight. Diagrams make lessons...