Students discuss the terms exploration and technology. They read about the MESSENGER, Mission to Mercury, and answer questions. Next, they design and plan the technology for a space mission using an online interactive activity.

Students are introduced to the nine planets and countless moons of the solar system. Using the internet, they research one of the planets to determine if a manned mission to the planet would be possible. They share their information...

Students view a video to gather information about our solar system. They create models of the planets to scale and place them in scale relative to their distances from the sun. They also visit a planetarium or use the internet to gather...

Young scholars study inventions and the impact they have had on people.  In this investigative instructional activity students learn how inventions are created and take part in a design project that will allow them to solve...

Students examine how water changes state, from a liquid to a solid.  In this water instructional activity students study the water cycle and how temperature and pressure effect it. 

Students tour Jupiter. For this scenario based lesson, students examine the size of Jupiter and make models of the other planets in the solar system to show how large Jupiter is compared to the other planets.

Students participate in several activities that allow them to better understand magnetism.  In this exploratory lesson students take part in different activities to help them to better understand magnetic fields, circuits and...

Learners explore our universe. In this solar system lesson, students gain knowledge about the solar system, galaxy, the universe and the Big Bang Theory. Learners watch videos and view a slideshow.

Students construct a periodic table based on the physical and chemical properties of elements. In this chemistry lesson, students share their work with the class and explain why they classified the elements that way.

Students discuss what heat is and how it travels. They discover that one way to cool an object in the presence of a heat source is to increase the distance from it or change the angle at which it is faced.

Students observe, measure and sort leaves.  In this leaf activity students divide into groups and observe the different kinds of leaves. 

Students explain how our knowledge of the sky has been enhanced by telescopes. They make their own night-sky observations, diagram and describe what they see, and examine pictures taken by telescopes.

The great red spot on Jupiter is 12,400 miles long and 7,500 miles wide. In this sixth part of a 22-part series, individuals model the rotation of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. To round out the activity, they discuss their findings as a...

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.

Fourth graders use effective writing skills, their imagination, and their knowledge of the nine planets as they create travel pamphlets of the solar system.

Students examine telescopes and understand how they have helped us better understand the sky.  In this astronomy lesson students complete a worksheet and a lab activity.

Students understand that people believe there may be life in other solar systems. In this communication with other solar systems lesson, students analyze our planet and write things they want to communicate to other solar systems.

In this science and environment worksheet, students answer short answer questions about different science and environment topics on these role cards. Students complete 16 questions.

Learners develop a scaled down model of the solar system. In small groups, they calculate the scaled-down diameters of the planets and the sun, the scaled-down distance of the planets from the sun, complete two charts, and create a...

Students study the stars and their positions.  In this astronomy lesson students see how scientists can predict the positions of the stars and can tell how they would have appeared in the past. 

Students explore geometry by conducting a science experiment. In this circumference measurement activity, students review the Greek geographer Eratosthenes who first discovered the circumference of our planet. Students utilize...

Young scholars play the parts of robots and their controllers. In this robot lesson plan, students learn about robots, and use verbal commands to simulate how a robot would command to it's controller.

Students observe the melting of ice. For this phase change lesson, students observe ice as it melts. They discuss the process and create a Venn diagram comparing water and ice.

Students collect data and describe how and why the high and low tides change from day to day.  In exploring tides lesson plan students study tides by taking notes, recording data and analyzing their findings.