Curated OER
Seasons and Cloud Cover, Are They Related?
Students use NASA satellite data to correlate cloud cover over Africa to the solar declination.
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It's A Meteor
Students complete a webquest to find Earth's relationship to the sun. In this webquest lesson, students complete tasks to understand the effect of the sun on weather and time. Students create a multimedia presentation as an end product...
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Surface Air Temperature Trends of the Caribbean
Students use real satellite data to determine the changes in near-surface air temperature at different times of the year over the Caribbean Sea. They discover how Earth's tilt causes seasonal differences in incoming solar energy. They...
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Celebrating the Solstice and Equinox
Fourth graders graph the number of daylight hors throughout the year and examine why day length varies. They discover that seasonal changes and latitude on Earth affect the number of hours of daylight in each day. Students listen to...
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Precession
Students explain how Hipparchus, around 130 BC, used a shift in the predicted location of a lunar eclipse to detect a slight shift in the path of the Sun around the sky. They examine the elliptical orbit in which the Earth travels around...
Messenger Education
Give Me a Boost—How Gravity Assists Aid Space Exploration
The propellant needed for space explorations runs in the thousands, while paying to get the craft into orbit costs millions! In the second installment of three, two activities explore laws of conservation of energy and momentum. Using...
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Around the Sun We Go
Sixth graders complete a short survey on the relationship between the Earth and the Sun. In groups, they participate in an experiment in which they test the angle of the Earth and compare it to the sun. To end the lesson plan, they...
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Investigating the Dynamic Martian Polar Caps
Students download NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of the Martian polar ice caps in summer and winter, and measure and compare various images of the changing Martian and Earth polar ice caps.
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Surface Air Temperature Trends of the Caribbean
Students investigate the seasonal changes to sea surface and near-surface air temperatures near the equator. They use actual satellite data to track and graph the differences in air and sea temperatures during different seasons in the...
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Cloudy vs. Clear
Students analyze line plots. In this weather lesson plan using real NASA data, students discuss how weather affects the way the Earth is heated by comparing different line plots.
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Learning Lesson: The Shadow Knows I
Students examine the elevation of the sun to discover the changes in seasons. They observe and measure the length of their shadow. They compare this measurement to one taken four months later.
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Measuring the Diameter of the Sun
Ninth graders study the sun and its distance from Earth. For this Sun's diameter lesson students examine how measurement data permits accurate measurement of the sun's diameter.
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Our Universe: Always Moving, Always Changing
Students explore the main concepts of astronomy through the eleven lessons of this unit. The past, present, and future methods of studying the science are examined in this unit.
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Third from the Sun
Students examine images from space. In this third from the Sun lesson, students examine images from, Landsat, the satellite launched by NASA in 1972.
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The Solar System
Students describe the different bodies that make up our solar system, explain the place of our solar system within the Milky Way Galaxy and the universe, explain day and night and the Earth's movement, and describe the relationship...
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Our Solar System
Students analyze the theories of the formation of the universe and solar system. Students analyze planetary motion and the physical laws that explain that motion: Rotation, Revolution, Apparent diurnal motions of the stars, sun, and...
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Is it Really Winter in Australia? It is June!
The purpose of this activity is to determine how the location of a place on the Earth (hemisphere) determines what season that place is experiencing relative to the Sun's rays. Day one the learners will be introduced to the terms...
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Roaming Biomes
Students use the Internet to research the capabilities of earth-observation satellites. Using the information, they write a report on how remote-sensing technology is used to measure the impact of climate change. They identify the...
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Satellites
Eighth graders explore the history of space travel and satellites. Through a teacher demonstration, 8th graders observe how a satellite revolves another object. They identify natural and artificial satellites, explore how satellites...
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Mars Calendar Project
Students design a calendar that displays time on Mars. They explore the differences between time on Earth and time on Mars while making the calendar.
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Tracking Sunrise and Sunset
Students collect, record, and graph the sunrise and sunset times. They explain how the relationship between the tilt of Earth's axis and its yearly orbit around the sun produces the seasons.
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Water and Ice: Part 1
Students observe the state changes in water. In this matter lesson plan, students observe, measure, and describe water as it changes state. Students explore how water can change from a solid to a liquid then back again. They journal...
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NASA Robots
Students explore the world of robotics. In this robotics lesson, students discover what a robot is and work with partners to find out how hard it is to accurately guide robots through simple tasks.
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Program Your Partner
Students explore the world of robotics. In this robotics lesson, students study the history of robots and work with partners to find out how hard it is to accurately guide robots through simple tasks.