Planet Paths: Studying Planetary Orbital Paths

Math and science come together in this cross-curricular astronomy lesson plan on planetary motion. Starting off with a hands-on activity that engages the class in exploring the geometry of circles and ellipses, this lesson...

Discover the transition from circular orbit theories to elliptical orbits. An episode of a video series on astronomy models the different elliptical shapes of the orbits of the planets in the solar systems. Using string, the presenter...

Kepler and Newton make a great team! Derive Kepler's Third Law of Motion using Newton's work with gravitational forces. An installment of the Socratica "Astronomy" playlist explores the applications of Kepler's Third Law of Motion...

Orbital velocity of planets change. Kepler's Second Law of Motion attempts to explain and predict the change in velocity. Scholars learn how to apply this law as they watch the video lesson.

Your class may be able to recite Newton's Third Law of Motion ... but do they actually believe it? See a simple, yet impactful explanation of inertia in a short video that discloses the facts on how much gravitational force Earth exerts...

Calculate the movement and properties of planets like professional astronomers! Scholars use Kepler's third law to find Mercury and Venus's distance from the sun. Using changes in brightness of distant stars and Kepler's third law,...

In this Kepler's Law worksheet, students answer questions given a diagram of the orbits of two planets about the sun. They use Kepler's Three Laws of Planetary Motion to answer the questions.

For this Kepler's Laws worksheet, students answer questions about Kepler's three specific laws. They identify what the Elliptical Orbit Law, the Equal Area Law and the Harmonic Law mean.

Why do planets orbit the sun in ellipses when moons orbit their planet in circles? Pupils control the semi-major axis, eccentricity of the orbit, and position angle. The resulting orbital appears with the related force vectors as...

Your class will watch as one child orbits the sun as Earth, while another orbits as Mars. If the timing is right, they will see the repetitive dance between the two planets and discover how often they are opposite from each other. For...