Curated OER
Planets in Our Solar System
Each member of a four-student group takes on a specific aspect of an assigned planet to research. After gathering information, the team works together to create a travel brochure and a presentation intended to convince other classmates...
Discovery Education
Solar System Scale
Extremely large or extremely small numbers are difficult to comprehend. To help understand the massive scale of the solar system, learners complete two activities. First, they create a model to compares the size of the bodies in the...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: The Warming of Our Large Lakes - Reasons for Concern
Another A+ lesson on the impact of climate change comes to you from the National Earth Science Teachers Association. In this installment, learners model the stratification of water in lakes due to temperature differences. The lab also...
Teach Engineering
Six Minutes of Terror
Help your class understand the design challenges when trying to land a remote spacecraft on a planet. Class members examine the provided information to understand how each component of a spacecraft is designed in order to safely land a...
Curated OER
Formation of The Solar System
In this science activity, students use basic scientific concepts to complete the series of puzzles that are intended to increase science literacy about the parts and formation of the solar system.
Curated OER
Survival of the Fittest -- Battling Beetles
Students experiment with traits. For this Science lesson, students test the strength of beetles using M&M candies in lieu of the insects. Students use the Hardy-Weinberg Equation to calculate possible offspring traits of further...
Curated OER
Who Wants to be a Millionaire: Solar System
Fourth and fifth graders will love showing what they know about the planets and our solar system. This game is fashioned after "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and has the class work through fifteen different solar system related...
Virginia Department of Education
Scientific Notation
Writing a number is all in the notation. The resource introduces the class to scientific notation. Pupils learn the process of taking a very large or small number in standard form and write it in scientific notation. To practice,...
University of Colorado
The Moons of Jupiter
Can you name the three planets with rings in our solar system? Everyone knows Saturn, many know Uranus, but most people are surprised to learn that Jupiter also has a ring. The third in a series of six teaches pupils what is around...
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Water from the Well
How much water does it take to brush your teeth? How about to wash your clothes? Perform an experiment that measures water usage in everyday tasks and compares them to the days before indoor plumbing, specifically the California...
Biology Junction
Birds
Birds adapted to almost every climate on the planet, from the Arctic to the rain forests. A presentation focused on birds covers their similarities and differences. It starts with their evolution from reptiles, their many physical...
American Museum of Natural History
What do You Know About Life on Earth?
Humans have only inhabited the earth for a fraction of the time that life has existed. Young scientists explore the facts about the emergence of life on Earth with an interactive resource. While highlighting different types of life, the...
Curated OER
Redesign the Rover: Mars Research Year-Round
Students discuss the solar system, the planets, periods of orbit and revolution. In this space lesson plan students discuss the importance of the study of Mars and brainstorm ideas on how NASA might solve its Rover design...
Curated OER
Predicting the Configuration of the Satellites of Jupiter
Students plot the positions of the planet Jupiter while predicting what the configuration system looks like from Earth. For this configuration of satellites lesson, students photograph Jupiter and its moons to record the motions of...
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.
Mrs. Sol's Class
Solar System Project
Finish or launch your unit on the solar system with a jigsaw project covering major celestial concepts such as the Milky Way Galaxy, asteroids, meteors, comets, Earth's moon, and, of course, all the planets. Learners start by...
University of Colorado
Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?
Did you know scientists can tell the age of an asteroid by looking closely at its craters? This final lesson of a six-part series focuses on two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida, in order to demonstrate the concept of dating asteroids. Scholars...
University of Colorado
Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?
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.
Curated OER
Solar Car Series: Angle/Energy Amount
Does the angle of a solar panel change the output? Emerging engineers find out! Demonstrate for your class how they can angle a straw to match the angle of light rays coming from a source. Then turn them loose to experiment with the...
Curated OER
Planets
Third graders discover facts about the planets. In this planets lesson, 3rd graders form groups, choose a plant, gather facts about that planet and create a poster with the information. Students learn "tricks" on how to remember the...
Alabama Learning Exchange
The Solar System
Learners explore the Solar System. In this cross-curriculum space instructional activity, students identify the planets, name them in order according to distance from the sun, and describe major characteristics of each planet. Learners...
Pacific Science Center
Worlds in Comparison
Young astronomers follow a step-by-step procedure for dividing a lump of dough into parts, resulting in a scaled volume set of puny planets. Along with the printable directions is a template chart of planet names on which learners can...
Curated OER
Meet the Neighbors: Planets Around Nearby Stars
Students explain why a transiting planet causes a periodic dimming in the light from its parent star. They determine the radius of a planet, and its orbital distance, by analyzing data and manipulating equations. Students compare the...
Curated OER
Birth of the Earth
Middle schoolers examine the major events that have taken place in the Earth's development. In this Earth lesson students view a video and put major events in chronological order.