Curated OER
Be A Planet
Young scholars identify the name, order and attributes of the planets. They role play the position of planets, and draw pictures of the planets as well.
Curated OER
Planets Worksheet
In this planets worksheet, students use Internet research to complete 5 pages about solar system facts. Students answer 25 essay questions and label a diagram of the solar system.
Education World
Every Day Edit - Pluto, the Dwarf Planet
In this everyday editing activity, students correct grammatical mistakes in a short paragraph about the planet Pluto. The errors range from punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar.
Journey Through the Universe
Our Solar System
Take your class on a journey through our solar system. Learners explore each planet, from Mercury to Pluto, and discuss various features that differentiate one from another. They complete activities related to the topics and discuss the...
University of Colorado
Planetary Distances on the Playground
Earth is 149,600,000 km, or 92,957,130.4 miles, from the sun. Young astronauts create an interactive model to learn the distances between planets. Nine groups, each representing a different planet, are spread around at class-calculated...
Curated OER
Solar System
Explore the solar system in detail, from it's origins to its components. Visual data gathered by actual space missions has been used to create the images and animations on each page of this stellar electronic book about the solar...
Curated OER
The Planets in Our Solar System
Students gain knowledge about earth and space science by studying the nine planets in the solar system as well as their key characteristics. In this solar system lesson, students identify the nine planets. Students work in groups to...
Curated OER
The Outer Planets
In this outer planets worksheet, students determine if 15 statements about Neptune, Pluto, Saturn and Uranus are true or false. If they are false, students change the italicized words in the sentences to make the statements true.
Curated OER
Exploring the Planets
Students study robotic spacecrafts that have provided detailed information about the inner and outer planets. In this exploring the planets lesson plan, students use posters and diagrams to study the various robotic spacecraft sent to...
University of Colorado
Phases of Charon
Charon, the largest of Pluto's moons, was discovered in 1978. Lesson is a walk through of how to solve for the phases of Charon. It uses two different points on Pluto and takes into account the tilt of the pole, the rotational axis, and...
Star Date
Astronomy Day from McDonald Observatory Solar System Scale Activity
Add a visual aid to your solar system lessons. Enthusiastic astronomers create a model depicting the nine planets and their distance from the sun.
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Charting the Progress of New Horizons
In 2006, New Horizons began its mission to fly to Pluto. As it continues its journey, scholars track its progress with the help of an informative website, all the while reinforcing measurement concepts with the construction of a scaled...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Orbit Simulator
Researchers think they have evidence of a new planet deep in our solar system that is the size of Neptune and orbits the sun far beyond Pluto. The orbit simulator shows the orbits of our well-known planets, as well as Pluto and the comet...
Mr. Hill's Science Website
Solar System Fact Sheet
Here is a fantastic, educational handout packed with information and facts not only about the planets in our solar system, but also regarding major moons and their surface features, dwarf planets, comets, and asteroids.
101 Questions
Speed of Light
How quickly does light travel long distances? A short video simulates light going from the earth to the moon at two different paces. Scholars relate the distance to the rate to understand which simulation is correct.
Curated OER
Seeing a Dwarf Planet Clearly: Pluto
In this dwarf planet worksheet, students use images from the Hubble Space Telescope and they determine the scale of the image, they identify the largest features in the images, they calculate the volume of Pluto and they create a model...
Curated OER
Planet Pluto and Personification
In this writing prompt worksheet students are asked to use personification in discussing the redefinition of "planet Pluto" to "dwarf planet." Students are asked to communicate the feelings of the planet as it pertains to its...
Curated OER
Email From Another Planet
In this article about emails and plants worksheet, students read short descriptions about 8 planets in the solar system and then imagine they are visiting one of the planets and send an email to a family member describing their...
Curated OER
How Far Away Are the Planets?
Students name nine planets in order, describe some notable characteristics of the planets, explain how distance from the sun may affect these characteristics, and create solar system models.
Simply Worksheets
Solar System - Missing Words
For this space science worksheet, students complete nine sentence fill-in's about the planets in the solar system. There is no word bank.
Mrs. Sol's Class
Solar System Project
Finish or launch your unit on the solar system with a jigsaw project covering major celestial concepts such as the Milky Way Galaxy, asteroids, meteors, comets, Earth's moon, and, of course, all the planets. Learners start by...
Curated OER
Is There a Tenth Planet?
In this planets learning exercise, students read about how our solar system's planets were discovered and how scientist believe there might be a tenth planet. After reading, students complete 4 short answer questions.
Curated OER
The Solar System and Beyond
Survey the solar system by viewing this PowerPoint. Amateur astronomers discover that gravity is responsible for Earth's orbit around the sun and the moon's orbit around Earth. They explore the moon's phases and Earth's seasons. This...
Voyage Solar System
Round and Round We Go — Exploring Orbits in the Solar System
Math and science come together in this cross-curricular astronomy lesson plan on planetary motion. Starting off with a hands-on activity that engages the class in exploring the geometry of circles and ellipses, this lesson...