Students close their eyes and picture the sky. They are asked to brainstorm things they may see in the course of a night and day, such as the movement of the sun, moon, and stars. Students work in groups to coduct their research. They...

In this sun's diameter activity, students use a photograph taken by the SOHO satellite of the sun showing a change in diameter from one month to another. Students find the average diameter of the sun, they determine the percent change in...

In this Saturn's rings activity, students read about the Spitzer telescope that detected a new ring around Saturn. Students solve 6 problems including determining the formula for the area of a circle, finding the volume of the new ring...

Fourth graders participate in reading comprehension activities associated from a teacher's guide. In this reading comprehension lesson, 4th graders read Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message by Chief Jake Swamp and...

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...

Students examine the use of a sundial to tell apparent time. In this sundial lesson, students watch a teacher demonstration using a flashlight to create shadows. They discuss what happens to shadows of different objects as the position...

A student-produced PowerPoint provides basic facts about the planet of Jupiter. Illustrated slides highlight its physical attributes and satellites. A lot of interesting information about Jupiter is included, such as the fact that twenty...

For this space science activity, students complete an eight question quiz about the solar system. The quiz has multiple choice, short answer and true or false questions.

Why do you weigh more in space? Each individual in your class explores this question and others as they determine the mass and weight of different objects using two types of scales. They perform conversions and discuss their...

Why do scientists use models? In the first installment of 22, groups create scale models of our solar system. They then share and discuss their models.

The sun isn't just a ball of yellow! Young scientists learn about the features of the sun using a hands-on modeling activity. They build models of the sun using common household items to represent sunspots, solar prominence, and the...

How many planets can you name? Did you get all 13 in our solar system, including the dwarf planets, or were you surprised when you read there are 13 planets? The instructional activity helps scholars understand the scale of the universe...

There are more than 600,000 asteroids in our solar system. Pupils analyze images of two asteroids in order to determine if they are the same age. They count craters for each asteroid and compare numbers. 

Getting a ship into orbit isn't rocket science. Oh, wait...that's exactly what it is! Learn the basics of the concepts of thrust, launch angle, and gravitational pull in this fun and progressively challenging game.

Did you know light can decrease visibility? Light pollution absolutely makes it more difficult to see stars. Scholars build a simple magnitude reader to determine the magnitude of stars. They use these data to estimate the impact of...

Sundials are more than just primitive clocks. Learners build their own sundials to study the location of the sun across the sky throughout the day. They use shadow evidence related to their sundials to make conclusions about solar movement.

Ready, aim ... learn! Increase scholars' understanding of force, mass, distance, and angle using an engaging interactive. Pupils participate in a series of rescue missions where they launch supplies at a target with an adjustable cannon....

Students examine how gravity affects launching rockets into space. In this physical science lesson, students review the concept of gravity and use an interactive online site, "Gravity Launch," to simulate a rocket launch.

For this satellites worksheet, students match the list of facts given with the artificial satellite or space probe that it describes. This worksheet has 12 matching questions.

Students study the motions of the heavenly bodies.  In this space lesson plan students use models to show a variety of schemes explaining the motions. 

Second graders participate in a variety of activities to explore the Solar System in this unit.

Students discuss why day and night occur after visualizing a teacher-led demonstration.

For this space worksheet, learners identify and locate vocabulary terms and names related to the Solar System. There are 23 words located in the puzzle.

In this solar system, students review information about the planets found in our solar system. Students complete 15 fill in the blank questions and then find the 9 planets in a word search.