[Free Registration/Login Required] Learn all about the components of the solar system with this downloadable lesson plan. Includes several student handouts and a research activity.

Use water balloons to show the effect gravity will have on different sizes of objects in our solar system. Activity also shows how inertia works.

In this lesson plan site, middle schoolers 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...

Students will access prior knowledge of the solar system by completing a graphic organizer. After participating in a teacher lecture and whole group discussion, the students will work in collaborative groups to create a...

This resource contains a lesson plan in which students study the effects of gravity on the planets of the Solar System. They will view movies from the lunar Apollo missions, calculate their own weight on other planets, and propose what...

This is a project which would be appropriate to use at the end of a lesson about the solar system. Young scholars will decorate an empty cereal box with information and games showing their comprehension of factual information about an...

Students will work in cooperative groups to research characteristics of each of the planets in our solar system. Students will design a travel brochure outlining the characteristics of each planet. Each group will make an oral...

This activity combines the concept of Earth's rock cycle with the characteristics of other planets in the solar system.

Create a classroom model of the solar system while teaching about relative size of all the planets, and each planet's distance from the sun.

Learn about the rotation of the earth, the movement of the moon, and the position of the sun.

Demonstrate the ability to apply the use of decimals, fractions, ratios and proportions to situations based upon given information about planets in the solar system.

Explore the possibility of life on planets outside our solar system. Create an extrasolar planet, then make the necessary adaptations for it to be capable of supporting human life.

This lesson will familiarize middle schoolers with the phases of the moon. It can be taught in a unit dealing with the solar system. It involves all learning types-kinesthetic, auditory, tactile, and visual.

This Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) activity explores the controversy over whether or not there is life on Mars. Part of the Mysteries of Deep Space Program that originally aired in April 1997, the activity includes instructional...

Students use descriptive words to create imagery of the many varieties of objects found in our universe.

During this lesson, students have the opportunity to explore comets. By navigating the Internet, viewing a slideshow, and participating in a videoconference with NASA, students will discover what comets are all about.

This kinesthetic activity demonstrates to students that the Earth's tilt is what is responsible for shifting light patterns and the change in seasons.

In this lesson plan investigation students learn about the shapes of the planetary orbits by experimenting with ellipses of different proportions.