Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about scientists and learning about our solar system and how it works. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide...
Unit Plan
Sophia Learning

Sophia: Solar System Formation

For Students 6th - 8th
An illustrated slide show highlighting the origin and make-up of our solar system.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Big Are the Planets in Our Solar System?

For Students 3rd - 5th
This activity explores the relative size of the eight planets that circle around the Sun.
Activity
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Activity: Scale of the Universe on a String

For Students 9th - 10th
This activity will help your students comprehend the huge scales of time and space by using familiar objects. You can explore the massive distances of our Solar System using scale models made out of string. Included is a scale model of...
Lesson Plan
The Wonder of Science

The Wonder of Science: Ms Ess1 3: Scale Properties in the Solar System

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Work samples, phenomena, assessment templates, and videos that directly address standard MS-ESS1-3: scale properties in the solar system.
Website
Fourmilab Switzerland

John Walker: Solar System Live

For Students 9th - 10th
This planetarium program allows you to create an accurate model of the solar system with icons or pictures of each planet. You can specify a date in the past or the future, change the viewpoint to any latitude/longitude, and even view in...
Activity
Harvard University

Harvard University: The Solar System

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
These hands-on activities are a great way for students to gain perspective on the relative sizes and distances of each planet, the relationship between the sun and Earth, and much more.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Earth Science: Planet Orbits in the Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Looks at the size and shape of planet orbits.
Website
National Earth Science Teachers Association

Windows to the Universe: Our Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
Our solar system is filled with a wide assortment of celestial bodies - the Sun itself, our eight planets, dwarf planets, and asteroids - and on Earth, life itself! The inner solar system is occasionally visited by comets that loop in...
PPT
Sophia Learning

Sophia: The Solar System: Lesson 1

For Students 9th - 10th
This lesson will develop a map of the solar system in proportion to the distance between the planets. It is 1 of 3 in the series titled "The Solar System."
Activity
NASA

Nasa: Our Solar System Overview

For Students 9th - 10th
This site has links to all the planets, providing an overview of the solar system. It also contains information about asteroids, meteors, comets and other features of our solar system.
Website
BBC

Bb Ci Space: Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
Take a journey through the solar system with this interactive guide. Includes planetary history, "travel information," "tourist highlights," and video clips. Games and quizzes include a Solar System jigsaw that prompts the student to...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Solar System!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
An introduction to our solar system: the planets, our Sun and our Moon. Students begin by learning the history and engineering of space travel. They make simple rockets to acquire a basic understanding Newton's third law of motion. They...
Activity
National Geographic

National Geographic: Extreme Weather on Other Planets

For Teachers 2nd - 7th
Examine the variety of weather found on all of the planets in the solar system with this classroom exercise. Students will see a video and observe differences and similarities among the planets.
Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Solar System O Logy Card

For Students 3rd - 8th
Here's an Ology Card about the Solar System, offering a small image, a definition, and information on how "far out" our Solar System is. Includes questions to quiz your knowledge and quick facts about the Solar System's size, rotation...
Activity
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Planets Made Real: Creating Size and Distance Scale of Planets

For Teachers 6th - 8th
An activity where students build a scale model of the solar system based on a marble they pick from a bowl. After choosing a marble that represents Earth, students must calculate the size of the other planets and the sun. Site includes...
Unit Plan
NASA

Nasa: Solar System Exploration: Planets

For Students 9th - 10th
This impressive compilation of ideas is a great source for space science. Loaded with extra links for further information on the solar system.
Unit Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Build Your Own Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
This Java applet creates a model of a solar system with user-defined data. Users can create a solar system with up to four planets, choosing the star type at the center of the solar system, planet name, size, eccentricity of orbit and...
Website
Space Telescope Science Institute

Hubble Site: Solar System Images

For Students 9th - 10th
A listing of clickable images of objects in the Solar System from the Hubble telescope that includes the following: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Jupiter's satellites, Saturn, Saturn's rings and satellites, Uranus, Uranus' rings and satellites,...
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Earth Science: Formation of the Sun and Planets

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How the Sun and planets formed.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Astronomy and the Solar System

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart presents the layers of the Sun and the components of the solar system.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Creating the Solar System

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This two-part lesson plan begins with a lecture which describes the complex process of creation from molecular cloud to planetesimals to planets to organized solar system. The lecture is followed up with a draw/write activity in which...
Interactive
NASA

Nasa: Space Place: Solar System Switch a Roo

For Students 3rd - 8th
Play this creative puzzle game where the player views a solar system object that is all mixed-up. Try and find the matching parts of the photograph, and learn about the solar system in the process.
Handout
Cosmos 4 kids

Cosmos4 kids.com: Solar System Details

For Students 9th - 10th
This comprehensive site delves into other aspects of our solar system besides the planets and the sun. Click on the topics on the right like solar winds, the heliosphere, the heliopause, asteroids, comets, and more.