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Let's Think About Day and Night
Students explore day and night and the relationships between the Earth, the sun and the moon. They discuss the ways in which the sun and moon help us. They watch a short video that helps illustrate these concepts.
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Following in Galileo's Footsteps
Students explore the findings of Galileo and research the moons of Jupiter. They construct simple telescopes, and examine the moons for themselves at a star party. They record their findings in a journal.
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What's Up? Astronomy Curriculum
Learners study astronomy. In preparation for a field trip to a planetarium, students discuss the stars, planets, and light. They explore the importance of the north star and constellations. The Digitarium system is used to assist the...
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The Starry Night Time and Day Time
Second graders complete a unit of lessons on the solar system. They complete various art projects inspired by Van Gogh's 'Starry Night,' create a moon phases book, create a moon phase wind chime, develop a timeline of space exploration,...
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Our universe
In this quiz, students are asked 20 questions about the magnitude of planets and stars both in and out of our Solar System. An answer key is provided.
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Scale Model of the Solar System
Students work in groups of 4-6 for the experiment/activity part of this exercise. Students know that earth is the third planet from the sun in a system that includes the moon, the sun, eight other planets and their moons, and smaller...
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Day and Night
Third graders view a classroom simulation that demonstrates how the Earth's rotation creates day and night.
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The Night Sky
Third graders develop questions they have about the solar system. After being read a book, they view and discuss different constellations in the sky. In groups, they are given a piece of butcher paper and glow in the dark crayons in...
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Sculpt-a-Planet
Students study the moon and the planets. They create a painted, paper mache moon or planet sculpture.
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Eratosthenes
Students examine what Eratosthenes is and the history behind him. In this earth lesson students complete a hands on activity to repeat Eratosthenes' experiment.
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Universal Proportions: Earth and Moon
Students create scale models of Earth, the Moon, and the distances within the universe. Working in groups, they construct their models of Earth and the Moon on a scale of 50:1 and calculate how far apart to place their models. They...
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Let the North Star Tell You Where You Are
Young scholars participate in activities in which they find the Big Dipper and locate the North Star in the night sky, examine the relationship between the angle to Polaris and latitude, and determine latitude by using an astrolabe.
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Crossword: Midnight on the Moon
In this reading crossword worksheet, students solve 18 clues and place words into the puzzle. All pertain to the book Midnight on the Moon.
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Star Child Astronomy
Students gain understanding of the relationship of Earth within the Solar System. They increase knowlegde of the planets, sun, moon, meteoroids, asteroids and comets.
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Timekeeping by the Sun
Students measure shadows to learn about the Sun-Earth relationship. In this astronomy lesson, students create a shadow stick of a Pokemon character and record measurements of its shadow in a data chart. Follow-up discussions guide...
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Our Sky Clock
Young scholars explore space science by completing a worksheet in class. In this astronomy lesson, students discuss and identify star patterns in the night sky and relate these patterns to the approximate time they appear. Young scholars...
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Water on Planetary Surfaces
In this water on planetary surfaces worksheet, students read about the Galileo spacecraft and the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. They read about the energy needed to keep the water in a liquid state on Europa. Students solve 4...
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Sky Time: On the Astronomical Meaning of the Day, Year and Seasons
Young scholars simulate the movement of the Earth using their body motion. In this earth science lesson, students explain how this causes seasonal changes on Earth.
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 activity includes two activities to help scholars understand this concept. First, they analyze the temperature...
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Astronomy Merit Badge
Students explore astronomy through the Starry Night Constellation Adventure software. They print star charts and identify constellations. They sketch the Big Dipper and describe the Milky Way. They list the five most visible planets and...
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Finding Out About the Stars and Planets
Students complete a web-based activity to study the planets and solar system. Students complete a number of activities including a slide show that depict the true facts about planets.
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Scavenger Hunt: Who am I?
For this solar system worksheet, students use an on line source to find the names of the people who discovered the planets, comets, asteroids, black holes and the idea of the big bang theory.
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Eclipses
In this eclipses worksheet, students are given diagrams of a solar and lunar eclipse. They fill in each diagram with given terms and color the diagram to indicate the process for each type of eclipse.
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Voyage: A Journey through our Solar System
Students build the Voyage scale model of the Solar System on a playground and "travel" to each planet. They recognize that the Sun and planets are tiny worlds in a vast space, giving them a new perspective on the Solar System, and...