Curated OER
Determining distance between planets and the Sun
Students use a model to determine the distance between the sun and plants in our solar system. They determine a scale to use that represents the distance between the Earth and sun. Students calculate the scale distance that each planet...
Curated OER
Identifying Characteristics of Planets And Their Moon(s) Using an Internet Scavenger Hunt.
Students perform an internet scavenger hunt. They describe characteristics of each planet and their moon(s) and draw a diagram of the solar system and label the planets.
Curated OER
The Best of the Solar System - Planetary Research
Students increase their ability to recognize the planets and their surface features. In this exploratory activity students focus on details by studying uncaptioned images.
Curated OER
Solar System
Students create and present PowerPoint presentations on certain aspects of our Solar System. The Nettrekker search engine is used for researching the information. Students can then add music and graphics to enhance their presentations.
Curated OER
Jeopardy - Earth Sciences
Questions about water, weather, geology, astronomy, and the scientific process make up this Jeopardy game. It is a pretty well-rounded set of slides, although you may want to be aware that a few of the questions are specific to the state...
Curated OER
Celestial Motions
Ninth graders complete a unit of lessons on the history of our knowledge of celestial objects. They conduct Internet research, plot the motion of a planet, construct a model of the sun's apparent motions, and create diagrams of the solar...
Journey Through the Universe
Is There Anyone Out There?
What is an alien's favorite game? All-star baseball! Scholars start defining living and non-living. Then, they conduct experiments to research if life exists, keeping in mind that life could be in many forms, not just human.
Core Knowledge Foundation
Third Grade Skills Unit 7: What’s in Our Universe?
Over four weeks, third graders participate in lessons that boost spelling, grammar, reading, and writing skills. Scholars explore spelling patterns, suffixes, singular and plural possessive nouns, quotations, and conjunctions....
Star Date
Modeling the Night Sky
Dramatize the stars and planets as they become a visual representation of the solar system in this activity. Young astronomers track and simulate various constellations as they orbit the Earth to learn the position and motion of...
Curated OER
Discovering Our Planets
Fifth graders use a website to research the planets. They complete an activity sheet and discuss their planet facts. They demonstrate revolution and rotation.
Curated OER
PLANETS IN PROPORTION
Students discover scales for both the solar bodies' relative sizes and their distances from the sun. They find equatorial circumference and volumes of their solar bodies. Students apply estimation strategies and proportioanl reasoning to...
Curated OER
Planets an Introduction
Fourth graders investigate one planet, enter information into a database, and print the database sorting for each of the attributes.
Curated OER
Planetary Problem Solving
Students create their own planet. They determine its diameter, density, composition, mass and orbit. Students create a list of elements necessary to sustain human life. They present their model to the class.
Curated OER
Our Solar System to Scale
Young scholars calculate the diameter of planets and their relative distances. In this space science lesson, students discover how small or big the planets are in comparison to each other. Young scholars use cross multiplying...
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....
American Museum of Natural History
Cosmic Cookies
Scholars read about each planet then bake a plate of cosmic cookies—no-bake cookies decorated to look like the planets; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
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.
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Jupiter’s Relative Size
How do you properly illustrate the extreme size difference between two planets—Earth and Jupiter? With the help of jellybeans, of course! Create a scale model of Jupiter's mass compared to Earth using a fishbowl, 1,400 beans, and a...
American Museum of Natural History
What is Astronomy?
Go study the universe. Pupils learn seven aspects about astronomy and astronomers. They begin to learn about constellations; distance and motion between objects; gravity; the electromagnetic spectrum; dark matter and energy; and teams of...
McGraw Hill
Gravity Variations Interactive
What would a baseball game look like on the moon? Probably a lot of home runs! A creative activity explores the motion of a projectile on the surface of different bodies in the solar system. Participants adjust the angle and...
Space Awareness
History of the Universe
Your pupils may believe that you and their parents are the oldest things in the universe, but surprise! There are elements of the universe that are even older. Elementary scientists create a class timeline to demonstrate the...
PBS
Earth’s Energy Budget
Is Earth's energy flow a little off balance? Explore our energy budget using a click-through interactive. Scholars discover the many factors that move solar energy around the planet and why the system is no longer in equilibrium.
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...
Science 4 Inquiry
The Impact of the Sun and Moon on Tides
In 150 BC, Seleucus of Seleucia theorized that the moon causes the tides. Scholars learn about what causes tides by studying the interactions of gravity between the sun, moon, and Earth. They use technology to formalize otherwise...