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 instructional activity includes two activities to help scholars understand this concept. First, they analyze the...
Journey Through the Universe
Is There Anyone Out There?
What is an alien's favorite game? All-star baseball! Scholars start defining living and non-living. Then, they conduct experiments to research if life exists, keeping in mind that life could be in many forms, not just human.
Curated OER
Lenses and Telescopes
Students examine telescope construction. In this telescope lesson, students examine the lenses used in telescopes by exploring with convex and concave lenses.
Curated OER
Earth, Moon, Mars Balloons
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.
Curated OER
Extensions - Astronomy Review Unit
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.
Curated OER
A Relatively Far Out Idea: Estimating
Students investigate methods of estimating through cooperative group activities, hands-on activities, the use of tables and graphs and an interactive video.
Curated OER
Climate Comparison
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...
Curated OER
Out of This World (Science)
Students participate in various hands-on activities to visually demonstrate the positions of the planets from the sun. Then they draw a pictorial representation of the order of planets from the sun.
Curated OER
Cloud Observations using GLOBE Protocols
Students observe which of ten types of clouds are visible and how much of the sky is cloud covered. They see that by observing clouds, we can get information about temperature, moisture, and wind conditions in different places in the...
Curated OER
Using Vegetation, Precipitation, and Surface Temperature to Study Climate Zones
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...
Curated OER
Ecological Relationships
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...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Solar System Scale Model
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...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Scaled Images of the Solar System
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...
Science Struck
Science Struck: Simple Ideas for Your Kid's Solar System Project
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.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Build a Solar System
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...
TOPS Learning Systems
Tops Learning Systems: Top Science: Scale Solar System [Pdf]
Practice drawing the solar system to scale.
Other
Making a Scale Model of the Solar System
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...
The Wonder of Science
The Wonder of Science: Ms Ess1 3: Scale Properties in the Solar System
Work samples, phenomena, assessment templates, and videos that directly address standard MS-ESS1-3: scale properties in the solar system.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Planets Made Real: Creating Size and Distance Scale of Planets
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...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Activity: Scale of the Universe on a String
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...
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: O Logy: Stuff to Do: Scavenger Hunt
Illustrated instructions for creating a scale model of the solar system.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: An Inflated Impression of Mars
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...
Concord Consortium
The Concord Consortium: Molecular Workbench Zoom It
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.