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Charting The Progress of New Horizons
Students explore the long distances and timescales involved in space travel. They track the progress of the New Horizons spacecraft and access the New Horizons website to discover the distance of the spacecraft from the Sun, and then...
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Planet Picking
Pupils arrange the planets according to their distances from the sun. In this astronomy lesson, students list interesting properties about each planet. They identify an unknown planet photo.
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Human Factors
Students design a space settlement for colonizing a planet in our solar system. In small groups, they play a space colony game and read an article about human needs in space to prepare for the design stage. They discuss their design...
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Probes to Other Planets
Sixth graders use a list of robot components and common household items to design and construct a robot spacecraft model suitable for exploring the Saturn System. They present the robots to the class.
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Air: You Can't See It, But It's There!
First graders investigate that air occupies space by performing experiments that show this principle. Students are provided with a lunch bag. Students open the lunch bag and look inside. Students determine if there is anything in their...
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Fine Motor Skills
Fourth graders discuss what they know about the planets, space, and the solar system including the colors of the planets. They also talk about why the planets are the color that they are. Next, they color cut-outs of the planets using...
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Discover the Planets
Third graders research the planets. In this science lesson, 3rd graders create PowerPoint presentations over a planet. Students present their findings.
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Riparian Zones Grades 4-8
Students examine and analyze the Riparian Zones found on the edges of streams and lakes. They assess why those are such valuable ecosystems and then conduct actual field research on riparian zones and conclude by drawing conclusions from...
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To Go Where No Student Has Gone Before
Eighth graders participate in interactive video teleconference with employees of NASA Johnson Space Center. Students visit inside of space station module, take video tour of Russian-built Service Module by Astronaut Bill Shepherd, visit...
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Air and Its Characteristics
Students explore air through guided discovery. In this air lesson, students will observe three demonstrations about air. They will answer leading questions as they observe how air displaces and takes up space, how air has weight, and how...
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"Oh Deer!"
Students play a game where half of them are deer and the others are components of habitat: food, water, shelter and space. They signify their needs by hand gestures and take what they need to their side of the game. They discuss real...
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Classifying Matter
Second graders conduct investigations to explore matter. In this states of matter instructional activity, 2nd graders complete four activities to analyze the three states of matter. Students analyze the properties of solids, liquids, and...
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Is It There?
Students participate in a lesson designed to illustrate these concepts using simple materials. They use Science process skills to observe, measure, predict, make inferences, and communicate while completing the activity. Proper safety...
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Pumpkins
Third graders create a pumpkin lantern. They work in groups to illustrate the growth of a pumpkin seed. Students are asked what they think of when they see the color orange. They choice one person from the group to get a piece of...
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Solids, Liquids, and Gases
Students explore the three main forms of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. They examine concrete examples of each, using their five senses and "experimenting" to find differences in them. They find pictures of each, cut them out and past...
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Make A Plan
In this science worksheet, learners create a plan on what product they will test. They describe what they want to discover about this product and write questions that address the goal of their experiment. Finally, students determine what...
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Air: It's a Gas!
Students investigate the properties of air through hands-on activities in conjunction with the demonstrations in a 3-2-1 Contact Video.
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Making Clouds: Aerosol-Cloud Interactions in a Beaker
Students observe a teacher demo on how clouds form. In this earth science lesson, students discover how cloudiness affects relative humidity. They explain the scattering of light by clouds.
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The Salamander Room
Students examine how each animal's habitat provides what that animal needs for survival. They discuss what an animal needs to survive-food, shelter, water, and space.
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Gross Motor Development
Fourth graders participate in a game reflecting the solar system, stars, and rockets. They simulate how space invaders move and hit stars and rockets. They discuss how scientists study the stars and planets.
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Astonishing Planetary Discovery
Students access the Internet, research one of the planets, copy and paste necessary information, and design a creature that would survive for a year on their planet. They present their creature and its qualities to the rest of the class.
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Why Are Thinning Trees Important?
Students investigate thinning trees and why they are important to the forest. In this sustainable environment lesson, students role-play as if they are trees in the forest and simulate the overcrowding and inability to move spaces,...
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Nature Art Exploration
Students draw a nature landscape using watercolors. In this life science lesson, students share their personal experience on the beauty of nature. They create clay models of different native animals.
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What's "In" There: A Study of the Inner Planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
First graders identify and explore the four inner planets. In this planet science lesson, 1st graders watch a PowerPoint about the planets. Students read the book Our Solar System and discuss the inner planets. Students create a book...