Curated OER
Astronomy
Students complete a unit of lessons on our solar system, its stars, and astronomers. They record information in a space journal, design constellations, define key vocabulary, observe the phases of the moon, and create a group planet...
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I'm Being Followed By a Moonshadow
Students explore solar and lunar eclipses and how the sun, Earth, and moon cause them.
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Paper Mache Solar System
Students make a model of the solar system. In this solar system instructional activity, students make paper mache models of the planets to hand in the classroom, measure the distance to each planet scaled with footsteps, and model the...
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Is It Lunar or Lunacy?
Sixth graders are introduced to the moon and its phases. Individually, they draw a sketch of each phase of the moon and read a short article about Galileo. To end the instructional activity, they examine the difference between...
Space Awareness
Navigation in the Ancient Mediterranean and Beyond
Ancient texts, like Homer's Odyssey, mentions navigating ships by observing constellations. Pupils learn about the link between history and astronomy as they relate to navigation in the Bronze Age. Scholars complete two hands-on...
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Cycles and Starting Mealworms
Here is a fascinating lesson about the life cycles of plants and animals, and other cycles found in nature. Learners explore the cycle of the moon, the tides, and other sequences of events in every day life. The big activity is the...
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Gravity: A Relatively Heavy Subject
Students examine planetary movement and its relation to the tide.In this gravity lesson students describe how and why the high and low tides change every day.
NASA
Earth, Can You Hear Me Now?
How long did you say? Class groups plot the distances between Earth and Mars and determine the trigonometric function that models the data. Using a calculator, they graph the function to determine when the distance and communication...
NASA
Eclipse Activity Guide
Ever made solar s'mores? Or recreated the solar system using peanuts? Astronomers young and old investigate all things solar using a variety of activities. Explore how the sun works, types of light it emits, and methods of charting the...
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Your Day as a Cycle
Fourth graders investigate several cycles such as life cycles, and the moon cycle. They examine the sequences and patterns that are associated with daily life by keeping a daily journal for three days, and comparing it with others....
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Your Day as a Cycle
Fourth graders examine a variety of cycles. They take a look at life cycles of plants and animals, the cycle of the moon and tides, and other sequences of events in their daily lives. An interesting part of the lesson is how kids keep...
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Cosmic Wheels
Students build a scale model of the Solar System and determine the time other planets take to travel around the Sun in comparison to the time of the Earth's revolution. The velocity of the planets are also determined in this lesson.
S2tem Centers SC
Seasons
Winter, spring, summer, and fall—take the learning of the seasons beyond the elementary level to the middle school classroom. Curious learners begin by watching videos about the seasons and the rotation of planet Earth. Then, they...
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The Earth in Space
Students use computer images to explain why the Earth has seasons and examine the phases of the moon. They create 3-D images and present them to the class. They answer a series of questions at the end of the lesson.
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Stellar Lunar Curriculum
Students engage in a lesson plan that covers the concept of different phases of the moon. They name the cycles of the phases of the moon while using flashlights to simulate the light of the sun. They research information about several...
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Earth's Revolution and Rotation
Eighth graders investigate the regular motions of the sun, Earth and the moon and explain how these are related to days, years, seasons, eclipses, tides and moon cycles. They participate in an exercise where they explore the...
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Reasons for Seasons
Students investigate a model of the tilt of the Earth in its relationship to the Sun during the different seasons of the year. They study the solstices and equinoxes, while determining how sunlight hits the Earth with different angles in...
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Retrograde Motion
Students study the motions of the heavenly bodies. In this space activity students use models to show a variety of schemes explaining the motions.
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The Nine Planets
A solid lesson on teaching the nine planets in our solar system is here for you. In it, young scientists learn the correct order of the planets, and they choose one of the planets to do a research report on. They must come up with five...
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Space, the Final Frontier...
Students study a common theory on how the solar system was formed and examine the relative scale of the size and distances among the bodies of the Solar System.
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Extensions - Astronomy Review Unit
Middle schoolers participate in a review unit in Astronomy using the Layered Curriculum. This allows them to take charge of the type of assessment that is given. The method also allows better differentiation of instruction to occur.
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Plant Life Cycle
Fourth graders explore the plant life cycle. They discuss the sequence of events in the life cycle of the plant and illustrate how the life cycle never ends. Students explore the importance of water, sunlight, and nutrients during the...
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Life Cycles
Fourth graders explore life cycles. They examine pictures of the various stages of life cycles and put them in the correct order. Students match pictures of eggs to the correct parents. They discuss the importance of knowing the life...