Curated OER
Earth and Space Science
Students investigate space travel. In this science lesson, students discuss the space station and its representation in orbit. They talk about food, travel and survival in space with the correct equipment.
Curated OER
Specializing in Space
In this literature book review activity, pupils read a nonfiction book about space or space exploration before choosing a topic to explore further. They choose from 7 activities such as designing a model, writing a letter, write about...
Curated OER
Space Exploration to Find Habitable Planets
Students explore space science by reviewing scientific vocabulary terms. In this planet identification lesson, students identify the nine planets in our solar system and discuss which ones could potentially harbor life at some point....
Curated OER
Stellar Resorts
Students explore the future of "orbital vacations" and create fanciful tours of the Milky Way Galaxy. Students respond to the following prompt in their journals "Entrepreneurs are currently designing concepts for accommodating tourists...
Curated OER
Getting to Know Saturn: Moons, Rings, and Relationships
Young scholars identify the different objects that orbit Saturn. In this space science lesson, students plot the graph of orbital speed and distance. They explain why planets and asteroids remain in orbit around the sun.
Curated OER
A Matter of Timing
In this orbital period worksheet, students solve 2 problems about satellites and their orbits. They determine how many days it takes for two satellites to be in "opposition", they find the least common factor between their orbit periods...
Curated OER
Could the Solar System have Ten Planets?
Students react to statements about the solar system, then read a news article about a recently discovered object that could be another planet. For this space science and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the lesson with a...
Curated OER
Ethics of Exploration
Students examine space exploration and its domination by governments as well as the fact that some private businesses want to explore space too. They investigate the ethical questions surrounding a space exploration through research and...
Curated OER
The Making of a Star
Learners create schematic diagrams of the new Russian space station module. They compose an imaginary yet realistic series of diary entries from the point of view of an astronaut living on board the completed space station.
Curated OER
Astronomy and Me: Moons Over New Haven
Third graders study the features of different moons orbiting the planets. In this astronomy lesson plan, 3rd graders explore the different phases of the moon using an interactive online website. They compare and contrast the features of...
Curated OER
Strange New Planet
Students simulate different spacecraft missions using materials provided. In this space science lesson, students observe and record a planetary model's features from a distance. They relate this activity to scientists' space exploration...
Curated OER
Meteorites
Young scholars model how meteors fall to the surface of planets. In this space science lesson, students identify different types of meteorites using an interactive online website. They investigate the relationship between a meteorite's...
Curated OER
Probing Below the Surface of Mars
Students simulate the search for water in Mars using simple apparatus. In this space science lesson, students explain how soil temperature affects the cooling of probes. They graph the data collected from the simulation.
Curated OER
The Universe
In this space science worksheet, students use the clues given at the bottom of the sheet to complete the crossword puzzle relating to the universe. There are 16 clues to solve in the puzzle.
Curated OER
Our Moon
In this space science worksheet, students use the clues given at the bottom of the sheet to solve the crossword puzzle on our moon. They name another name for the moon and the moon's gravity compared to that of the earth.
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Looking to the Future
New Horizons set forth on a mission to Pluto in 2006. Ten years later, the spacecraft is still on its way. Here, enthusiastic scholars predict what they will be like—likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc.—when New Horizons arrives at its...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Where Are We Going?
Come take a ride on the space bus! Scholars go on an imaginary trip to pick up their peers from the inner and outer planets while reinforcing math skills. First, learners round decimals to identify each planets' distance from Earth....
Messenger Education
Dangers of Radiation Exposure
Gamma radiation, which is harmful, is useful in treating cancers. In the second lesson plan in a series of four, young scientists take surveys and calculate their yearly exposure to ionizing radiation. Then they read about how harmful...
Workforce Solutions
A Colony for Lunar Living
Two lessons explore the possibility of living on the moon. First, scholars read various scenarios to identify which careers would best transfer to life in space. Finally, pupils examine a website to locate items made for outer space,...
American Museum of Natural History
Beyond Planet Earth
Scholars take a journey through space with 16 eye-catching images. Along the way, learners read captions starting with the moon, then move onto asteroids, Mars, and Jupiter.
University of Colorado
The Jovian System: A Scale Model
Jupiter has 67 moons! As the seventh in a series of 22, the exercise shows learners the size and scale of Jupiter and its Galilean moons through a model. They then arrange the model to show how probes orbited and gathered data.
Center for Math and Science Education
Pocket Solar System
How in the world can something as big as the solar system possibly fit in your pocket? Complete this simple modeling activity and find out, as young scientists gain an appreciation for the incredible scale of outer space.
Curated OER
Fractions in Space
In this fractions in space worksheet, students solve 4 problems where they find ratios of orbit periods of satellites, they find the ratio of Neptune's and Pluto's periods, they determine the location of the planets after 5 opposition...
Curated OER
Navigation and Trajectory
Students prepare a creative demonstration of how Earth and Mars revolve around the Sun. In this astronomy lesson plan, students determine the different challenges engineers face when building spacecrafts. They draw possible paths for a...