Interactive
PHET

Gravity And Orbits

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Have you ever wanted to turn off gravity? This simulation allows learners to do just that in addition to altering other variables. Scholars can move the sun, Earth, moon, and space station to see how distance affects gravitational pull....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Day and Night

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders investigate the Earth's rotation and revolution and the moon's orbit around the Earth. They participate in a class discussion about how night and day occur, and take notes. Next, they watch a video about the solar system...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth and Beyond!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate one or more of the following topics and develop a plan for the future regarding it: global warming, lunar exploration, space travel, Mars exploration, or terraforming. They disucss the audio files and the video that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moon Shadows

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students study the moon and its shadows.  In this moon lesson students complete a lab activity that shows the different shadows and answer questions.
Worksheet
Curated OER

A Lunar Transit of the Sun from Space

For Students Higher Ed
In this moon worksheet, students determine the angular size of the moon and draw a scaled model of the Earth, moon, and sun and given distances and positions. This worksheet has 4 problems to solve.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Distant Is The Moon?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discover how Aristarchus, a Greek astronomer around 230 BC, used a simple observation of the eclipse of the Moon, plus clever reasoning, to deduce the distance of the Moon. They practice the same calculation technique.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

May Earth be Revolving around the Sun?

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders explore how Aristarchus used the position of the half-full Moon to estimate the distance to the Sun, and how he made a great error, but still figured out that the Sun is much larger than Earth.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Phases of the Moon

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders observe the changes in the moon's appearance over a two week period of time from their homes. They record and illustrate their observations and also complete daytime moon viewings as a class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sun too close? We'll just change Earth's orbit

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students study an article and discuss what would happen if the Earth's orbit changed.  In this Earth's orbit lesson plan students answer a list of questions and complete an activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moon WebQuest

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders research basic information about the moon and identify the phases and order of the phases of the moon. They conduct Internet research, complete a moon WebQuest, and write a magazine article about the moon using their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moon Watch

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders read books about the moon and discuss its perceived changes as it moves across the sky. They observe the moon over the course of a month and chart their observations. They discuss their observations and conduct further...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring the Sun's Diameter

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students project and measure the suns image using a refracting telescope.  In this sun's diameter lesson students calculate the magnification of the telescope and determine the diameter if the Sun. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Once In a Blue Moon

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students review the characteristics of the planets and their moons. Using the internet, they research the relationship between the Earth and its moons. They take a template of the moon and draw craters of different colors to present to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moon Journal

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students review the planets and major moons in the Solar System. In groups, they research and describe the various phases of the moon. They record their observations of the moon phases over a specific period of time and use the...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Exploration of the Moon

For Students 9th - 12th
For this moon worksheet, students review the Clementine exploration of the Earth's moon. This worksheet has 8 matching and 14 true or false questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Charting the Moon

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders observe changes in the moon's appearance over a month and keep records of their observations. They write a plan for recording what they see, and a paragraph reflecting on what they have learned over the course of the month.
PPT
Curated OER

Who Wants to be a Millionaire: Solar System

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Fourth and fifth graders will love showing what they know about the planets and our solar system. This game is fashioned after "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and has the class work through fifteen different solar system related...
App
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Vosonos

Interactive Minds: Solar System

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Travel through space as you learn about the galaxy, solar system, planets, and much more. An extensive resource for studying astronomy in upper-elementary and middle school classrooms.
Activity
NASA

When Do Lunar Eclipses Happen?

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Who needs the daylight to simulate a lunar eclipse? Astronomers model the positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon to explain the necessary conditions for a lunar eclipse. Investigators cut and label a paper plate to represent the Earth and...
Lesson Plan
Journey Through the Universe

Our Solar System

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Take your class on a journey through our solar system. Learners explore each planet, from Mercury to Pluto, and discuss various features that differentiate one from another. They complete activities related to the topics and discuss the...
Activity
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Teach Engineering

An Inflated Impression of Mars

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Help your class understand the magnitude of the distance between Earth and Mars with an activity that asks small groups to use balloons to create scale models of the Earth, Moon, and Mars. Class members figure out the distances...
eBook
Utah Education Network (UEN)

Utah Open Textbook: 3rd Grade Science

For Students 3rd Standards
How do we interact with Earth? Scholars learn about the sun, Earth, moon, forces, gravity, and heat sources by reading a text and performing hands-on demonstrations. They also differentiate between living and non-living things using...
eBook
Utah Education Network (UEN)

Utah Open Textbook: 6th Grade Science

For Students 6th Standards
There are many interactions among living things and their surroundings. By completing a reading, scholars learn about the Earth, the moon, and the sun and how they relate to the solar system. They also investigate the basics of physical...
Activity
NASA

Evaluating a Lunar Eclipse

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Do all lunar eclipses look the same? Find out in an activity where astronomers use the Danjon Scale of Lunar Eclipse Brightness to describe the color and brightness of the moon during an eclipse. Explorers make three observations using...

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