Curated OER
Introduction to the Planets
Students become familiar with the members of the solar system and planetary order. They identify differences and characteristics of individual planets. Finally students visualize the great size of the solar system and make the image more...
Curated OER
99.86% - Measuring Our Sun's Mass
Middle schoolers determine just how large the sun is. In this solar system lesson plan, students follow the prescribed steps to draw a box that represents the size of the sun and its mass compared to the entire solar system.
Curated OER
Is There a Tenth Planet?
For this planets worksheet, students read about how our solar system's planets were discovered and how scientist believe there might be a tenth planet. After reading, students complete 4 short answer questions.
Illustrative Mathematics
Eratosthenes and the Circumference of the Earth
The class gets to practice being a mathematician in ancient Greece, performing geometric application problems in the way of Eratosthenes. After following the steps of the great mathematicians, they then compare the (surprisingly...
Curated OER
Sun and Weather
How is the Earth's weather created? Middle schoolers will explain how the Sun's energy is transformed into different forms. They will perform mathematical calculations of volume, mass, and temperature. They they will explain the...
Curated OER
Earth System Science
Students investigate the age of the earth by using accepted scientific methods. They conduct research about the use of radioactive dating and there is a simulation activity of the process. Finally, students measure the radioactive decay...
Mascil Project
Closed Greenhouses
Controlling the efficiency of a greenhouse is a mathematical task. A collaborative project challenges learners to create an efficiency plan for a closed greenhouse. Using algebraic equations, they consider a set of constraints, design...
Curated OER
Water Cycle Reading and Writing
Here is a great way to get pupils to express a scientific concept in a fun way. After hearing the story of Walter the Water drop and learning facts about the water cycle, the class will write a creative expository piece describing what...
McGraw Hill
Orbital Velocity Interactive
Why does it take Pluto 90,000 days to orbit the sun, but it only takes Mercury 88 days? An interactive lesson helps pupils find a connection between the speed of orbit and distance a planet is from the sun. The simulation allows for...
Curated OER
Using Mathematic Models to Investigate Planitary Habitablity
Students examine how the sun's intensity affects the temperature on various planets. They determine whether or not these planets could be habitable. Finally, they factor in the average albedo of the planets to determine whether or not...
Curated OER
Transpiration
Learners interactively explore the term transpiration. In this science/ecology lesson plan, students discuss what they would do if they were thirsty while conducting research in Brazil. Additionally, learners write descriptive words to...
Curated OER
Discover Magazine: Size and Scale
High schoolers research measurements of the moon and Earth as well as the distance between the two in order to create scale models of the Earth-moon system. With a marble to be used as the moon, they must determine how large to make...
Curated OER
How Do Atmospheres Affet Planetary Temperatures?
Students perform a literature search and use reputable research resources in order to find the surface temperature of different planets in our solar system. They speculate about the observed and unobserved factors. Then brainstorming is...
PHET
CME Plotting
Young scientists build on their previous knowledge and apply it to coronal mass ejections. By plotting the path of two different coronal mass ejections, they develop an understanding of why most don't collide with Earth.
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...
National Wildlife Federation
Conceptualizing Module II - Putting It All Together
"Creativity is just connecting things." - Steve Jobs. After weeks of researching climate change, the ninth lesson in a series of 21 combines the data and analysis to address essential questions. It covers natural phenomenon, human...
Curated OER
Satellites and Solar Cells
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...
Curated OER
Magnetic Energy
In this magnetic energy worksheet, learners are given the formula to calculate the magnetic energy of an object. They use the formula to solve for the magnetic energy of the Earth, a geotail, the Sun, and a solar prominence given their...
Curated OER
Weather Report Chart
Students complete a weather report chart after studying weather patterns for a period of time. In this weather report instructional activity, students measure temperature, precipitation, cloud cover, wind speed, and wind direction for a...
Curated OER
Plotting Temperature and Altitude
young scholars convert the temperature readings from degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit. they predict and create a graph of what the graph of altitude (x-axis) versus temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (y-axis) might look like.
Curated OER
Triangles
Students identify triangles in the real world and construct their own triangle using drinking straws. They explore abstract triangles and find additional geometric shapes such as trapezoids. Students discuss similar shapes and examine...
Journey Through the Universe
Where to Look For Life?
Every year we discover new planets including more than 1,000 in 2016 alone. Will we ever find life on another planet? The lesson includes two activities to help scholars understand this concept. First, they analyze the temperature range...
NASA
Food For Thought
Science can be quite tasty. A delectable unit from NASA shows learners why it's important to consider food, nutrition, and health in space. Four lessons explore the idea in great depth, including testing cookie recipes. Along the way,...
Curated OER
Central Tendency
Fifth graders compare and contrast different sets of data on the basis of measures of central tendency.