Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Astronomy Teamwork

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students work together in groups to complete an astronomy project. In the classroom, they find real objects to represent various objects in the solar system. After going outside, they practice using a distance scale and use their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wow, Saturn Is Much Bigger Than Earth!

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students compare and contrast the sizes of Earth and Saturn. They create scale illustrations of each planet and label them. They share their models with the class.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Satellites and Solar Cells

For Students 8th - 10th
In this satellite and solar cells worksheet, students determine the electrical power generated by the solar cells on the IMAGE satellite. Students solve 3 problems including finding the usable area of the satellite, determining the power...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Vegetation, Precipitation, and Surface Temperature to Study Climate Zones

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars begin their examination of the climate zones found around the world. Using a software program, they identify the relationship between the vegetation, climate and temperatures of the different zones. They also plot...
Worksheet
Texas State Energy Conservation Office

Investigation: Waves and Whistles

For Students 6th - 9th
Wave goodbye to the same old demonstrations for alternative energy sources, and wave hello to this one investigating ocean waves! Using a water bottle to create an oscillating water column, learners see and possibly hear how the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth, Moon, Mars Balloons

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students demonstrate size and orbits of Earth, Moon, and Mars. In this space science lesson plan, students will use balloons to show how the size and distance between the planets and satellite compare.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Extensions - Astronomy Review Unit

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students 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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Relatively Far Out Idea: Estimating

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students investigate methods of estimating through cooperative group activities, hands-on activities, the use of tables and graphs and an interactive video.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Climate Comparison

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore climate regions. For this climate lesson, students examine the climate regions of Alaska as well as the state of Hawaii. Students research selected Internet sources to gather information regarding the climates present in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lenses and Telescopes

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine telescope construction. In this telescope lesson, students examine the lenses used in telescopes by exploring with convex and concave lenses.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ecological Relationships

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify ecological elements and their factors on species, populations and food webs. They analyze ecosystems for these elements and research how these factors influence species survival rate. Predictions on conditions over time...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Solar System Scale Model

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Teach the concept of scale models and the size of the solar system through this extensive lesson plan. Students will learn about scale models, estimate which objects to use to create a scale model of Earth and Sun, and figure out how far...
Lesson Plan
Other

Making a Scale Model of the Solar System

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this lesson plan site, students are asked to construct a scale model of the planets to help visualize the relative size of planets and their relative distance from the Sun. Links are provided to the Sun and the planets which contain...
PPT
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Scaled Images of the Solar System

For Students 6th - 8th
Use the following lithographs to envision the scale of our solar system. View different models of planets at different scales, an infographic about the relative sizes of the planets and distance from the sun, and images of the largest...
Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Build a Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
Make a scale model of the Solar System and learn the REAL definition of "space." You tell it how large to make the sun (in inches or millimeters) and the page will do all of the calculations for your scale model solar system and provide...
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...
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...
Activity
Science Struck

Science Struck: Simple Ideas for Your Kid's Solar System Project

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Provides detailed instructions for how to help a student make a solar system model, and additional suggestions for making a constellation poster, making a model showing phases of the moon, and creating a solar system model to scale.
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.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: An Inflated Impression of Mars

For Teachers 6th - 8th
The purpose of this activity is to use scaling in order to give students an idea of the size of Mars in relation to the Earth and the Moon as well as the distance between them. The students will have to calculate dimensions of the scaled...
Activity
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: O Logy: Stuff to Do: Scavenger Hunt

For Students 3rd - 8th
Illustrated instructions for creating a scale model of the solar system.
Interactive
Concord Consortium

The Concord Consortium: Molecular Workbench Zoom It

For Students 9th - 10th
See examples of scales based on a range from ten to the twelfth meters to ten to the negative twelth meters. Examples range from parts of our solar system to the nucleus of an atom.