Curated OER
Meteorites
Students model how meteors fall to the surface of planets. In this space science lesson, students identify different types of meteorites using an interactive online website. They investigate the relationship between a meteorite's size...
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Classroom Planetarium
Students work in groups to create the planets of the solar system. In this planets lesson plan, students create a hanging solar system taking into account the size, shape and position of the planets. Students discuss the...
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Demonstrating the Distances of Stars
Students examine the distance from Earth to stars. They create a model to show the arrangement of constellations. They also identify the importance of the parallax effect.
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Voyage of Discovery
Students develop a sense of the scale of our solar system by creating a one to ten billion scale model. They calculate the relative sizes and distances for the planets and asteroid belt using a guiding worksheet. To create the model they...
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Light and shadow
Students experiment with light and shadow. For this light lesson, students look at the relationship between shadows and light. They experiment with light source, shadow size, transparent objects and reflective objects.
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The Magic School Bus Lost in Space
Students learn along with Ms. Frizzle's class. In this Magic School Bus lesson plan, students explore outer space as they visit the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars in order to learn about our solar system.
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Tidal Forces-Let'er Rip!
For this tidal forces worksheet, students read about the gravitational pull from the moon that causes the ocean tides. Students solve 3 problems including finding the Roche or the tidal radius for the Earth and Moon, comparing the Roche...
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The Magic School Bus Out of This World
Students learn along with Ms. Frizzle's class. In this Magic School Bus lesson plan, students explore craters that objects of different sizes and weights (marbles, Ping-Pong balls, and aluminum foil balls) create.
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Me And My Shadow
Students investigate the concept of a shadow. They design a tool to create shadows for an experiment. They make observations and record the size and shape of shadows. The lesson contains background information for the teacher to deliver...
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We Are Not Alone!!!
Eighth graders explore the area of astronomy. They explore Earth's neighboring planets. Students research a planet's characteristics. They develop a scale model of the solar system and a narrative about the planets.
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Scale Model of Our Nearest Stars
Sixth graders calculate a light day, light hour, and light minute from the standard of a light year. After establishing the distances, a one meter scale is created to demonstrate the distance between the sun and the planets of our solar...
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A Star Sheds a Comet Tail!
In this comet tails and stars worksheet, students read about the star Mira and the vast clouds of gases it emits. They use a photograph from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer satellite to solve 5 problems about the scale of the image, the...
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How Are Magnetic Fields Related To Sunspots?
Middle schoolers discover that sunspots are the result of intense magnetic forces on the photosphere of the sun by observing images from the SOHO satellite.
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Sunspot Classification
Students study classification schemes for identifying sunspots. They distinguish between sunspot unbrae and penunbrae, measure sunspots, and compare them to the size of the Earth. They complete a worksheet showing classification of...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
The Power of Ten: Building a Magnitude Model
Add visual representation to teaching place value with a magnitude model. Using adding machine tape, pupils build a linear place value strip from 1 to 100.
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
The Solar Wind Tunnel
The winds of change are blowing in our very own solar system! But what makes some heavenly bodies more affected by solar winds than others? Pupils discover the concept of magnetic forces at work in space in this...
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Planetary Mobile
Young scholars receive pre-cut templates of cardboard with appropriate diameters of each planet and the sun. They use multi-colored construction paper, scissors, yarn, and other art supplies to create their own models of planets. When...
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Hopping Across the Solar System
Students role-play and communicate that objects in space have describable properties, locations, and movements. Students identify and communicate effectively that Earth is the third planet from the Sun in the solar system, eight other...
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Exploring Meteorite Mysteries: Building Blocks of Planets
Students simulate the formation of chondrites and asteroids. In this astronomy lesson, students demonstrate accretion using balloons and static electricity. They compare and contrast their models to the actual process of chondrites and...
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3rd Rock from the Sun's Baby Rock
Seventh graders have a chance to actively see each phase of the moon and make connections to what they see in the sky when you show how the moon goes through each of the phases.
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Scale Model of the Solar System
Students explore the size of the planets. In this science lesson plan, students create a scale model of the solar system. Students determine a scaling factor and calculate the size of their planets. Students create a scale drawing of the...
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The Tides of Change Worksheet (Part 2)
In this tides worksheet, students visit specified websites to view information. They explore the mass of the sun and moon, the force of gravity between two objects, and the ratio of the distances from the earth to the sun. Students...
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How Far Away Is Saturn?
Students work together to create a scale model of the solar system. They write a descriptive paper and a paper comparing and contrasting the Earth to Saturn. They discuss their writings with the class.
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Space, the Final Frontier...
Students study a common theory on how the solar system was formed and examine the relative scale of the size and distances among the bodies of the Solar System.