A two-part instructional activity focuses on the contributions to the fields of astronomy and astrophysics of two African Americans: Benjamin Banneker and Dr. George Carruthers. In part one, scholars learn about Benjamin Banneker by...

Chances are good that young scholars have heard of the Tuskegee Airmen but few would predict that these pilots had their own support in the form of the Tuskegee Weathermen. These Black meteorologists were recruited and trained to provide...

Beyond the phases of the moon, this comprehensive lesson plan covers geologic history and geology. Amateur astronauts examine photos of the lunar landscape, experiment with the creation of craters, and delve into information about the...

Students read "Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon," by Catherine Thimmesh. They watch portions of the movie "Apollo 13." Students use the internet and the attached study guide to discover specific information...

Fourth graders gather data and simulate a Mars spacecraft mission using multi-sensory observations.

A little engineering design is mixed into this instructional activity on precipitation measurement. Groups plan and construct a rain gauge, and use it to collect precipitation. As part of the PowerPoint presentation, learners view a...

This resource provides an explanation of NASA's GALEX mission and how the space-based telescope can view distant galaxies as they were billions of years ago. The resource also discusses the other aspects of galaxies that GALEX...

Students examine Apollo 16 and its significance.  In this Apollo 16 lesson students work in groups, answer questions and complete a worksheet. 

Learners play a role as a travel guide to Mars, they are broken up into groups or different roles.  For this exploratory lesson students play a role in helping travelers to Mars and create some kind of presentation, for example a...

In this space science worksheet, students complete each of the statements with the correct word or phrase about the moon. Then they identify four ways that scientists believe the moon was formed, selecting one and writing a paragraph...

Students explore U.S. geography by viewing a documentary in class. In this national parks lesson, students view video clips of individual national parks and locate them using Google Earth software. Students create a persuasive...

For this space exploration worksheet, students complete a 6 question multiple choice on-line interactive exercise about the exploration of Mars.

Students explore the concept of scale. In this scale instructional activity, students are given directions scaled in inches and students must convert them to feet. Students take a section of a map and create a bigger scaled model of...

In this planning activity, students indicate which arctic animal they would like to investigate and write 5 questions about the animal that they would like to find answers to.

Students investigate the characteristics of a clay ball.  In this particles lesson students examine what happens to a ball of clay when it is dropped from different heights. 

Students explore the vastness of the universe and identify terms used to describe solar systems. They take a tour of our sun and its neighbors and discover how spacecrafts can fly and then use their imaginations to draw and color a...

Seven percent of Americans believe the moon landing was staged. The presentation covers manned space exploration from the beginning of the space race through the Gemini missions. The lesson is the 23rd in a set of 26.

What does the atmosphere on Mars look like? This fourth lesson in the series of five is designed for high schoolers. Scholars apply previous knowledge to add atmosphere to Mars in an online simulation. This comprehensive lesson includes...

Students complete a unit on orbiting spacecraft designed to study astronomical objects. They conduct Internet research on NASA missions, use a satellite dish to downlink information, and construct and launch a rocket out of paper and tape.

Students begin this lesson by charting information about the relationship between the Spanish missionaries and Native Americans at a California mission. Then, students identify the dynamics of those relationships that would have made...

Fourth graders describe the social, political, cultural and economic life and interactions among the people of California from the pre-Columbian societies to the Spanish mission and Mexican rancho periods.

Students study the orbital space plane, NASA's proposed spacecraft of the future. They work in groups to plan missions to take place twenty years from now and design orbital space planes in which to carry out the missions.

Students read and interpret NATO's mission statement. After reading an article, they discover incidents in which NATO has deviated from their original purpose. In groups, they research the opinions of the countries of NATO. They write...

Students examine the Apollo lunar landings and past theories about the creation and structure of the Earth's Moon as a springboard for investigating missions and milestones in space exploration since the creation of NASA in 1958.