Curated OER
Let's Build a City In the Solar System
Sixth graders explore the solar system. Using the Internet, 6th graders gather information about planets in our solar system. Students participate in an activity to determine where they should build the first city in space. They create a...
Curated OER
Space Science: Phases of the Moon
Looking for a terrific lesson on the phases of the moon that has lots of good worksheets? With two excellent websites are embedded in the plan, the activity is sure to spark some interest in your astronomy unit. Some common...
Curated OER
Facts and Myths about our Solar System
Sixth graders explore popular ideas about the Sun and Moon. In this space science lesson, 6th graders separate commonly accepted details about our solar system into facts and myths. Students research a particular idea and create comic...
Curated OER
World In Motion Curriculum
Middle schoolers explore the night sky and its solar system. Using a Digitarium planetarium system, students observe four constellations. They discover the phases of the moon and eclipses. Middle schoolers recognize the difference...
Curated OER
Our Place in Space
Third graders identify the different planets that make up the solar system. In this space science lesson, 3rd graders construct a scale model of the major planets. They explore their different unique features and dress up as planets.
Curated OER
A Whole New World
Students work in small groups to investigate statistics regarding the solar system and participate in a 'scientific conference'. They explore available information about the extrasolar planet and assess the importance of this...
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Taking a Voyage away from Home
Students experience and participate in a journey through a "Voyage" exhibition of the Solar System and the frontier it covers. They build a dynamic model of the Earth and Sun. Descriptions are given on the relative sizes of the Sun and...
Curated OER
All the Universe is a Stage
Students research the solar system and design a storyboard for a video game about the solar system. Then they create an actual video game using Stagecast Creator software.
Curated OER
Not Your Average Planet
Fourth graders explore median, mode, mean, and range using information about the planets and our solar system.
Curated OER
The Planet Mars
Fifth graders gain knowledge about Mars and Earth. In this compare and contrast lesson, 5th graders use visual representations of the solar system to observe the characteristics of the planets. Students read fiction and nonfiction...
Curated OER
Asteroids Between Mars and the Sun
In this asteroids of the solar system worksheet, learners observe a diagram showing all the minor planets found in the orbit of Mars. Students answer 4 questions about the minor planets inside the orbit of other planets, they find the...
NOAA
The Great, Glowing Orb What You Will Do: Make a Solar Heat Engine
How is solar energy able to move wind and water to control the climate? Scholars explore the concept of solar energy in the first of 10 activities in the Discover Your Changing World series. They follow instructions to build homemade...
Teach Engineering
Manned Mission to Mars
To go or to not to go — the question for a mission to Mars. This resource provides details for a possible manned mission to Mars. Details include a launch schedule, what life would be like on the surface, and how the astronauts would...
Curated OER
How Much Would You Weigh On Distant Planets?
Students study the effects of gravity on the planets of the Solar System. They view movies from the lunar Apollo missions, calculate their own weight on other planets, and propose what they might weigh on newly discovered planets around...
Curated OER
Destination Outer Space
Students investigate space travel. In this space travel lesson students examine space exploration history, engineers and scientists involved in space exploration, and Newton's third law of motion. Students make rockets.
Baylor College
Using Heat from the Sun
Let's heat things up! This simple experiment demonstrates for students the important role the sun plays in providing the earth with energy. Place one cup of water in direct sunlight and one in shade, then take measurements in order to...
Curated OER
Solar System: The Four Inner Planets and Earth's Moon and Astronauts
Second graders read THe Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System. In this language arts and science lesson, 2nd graders explore the four inner planets. Students view the inner planets using Google Earth.
Messenger Education
Look But Don’t Touch—Exploration with Remote Sensing
Mars is home to the tallest mountain in our solar system, Olympus Mons. For this set of two activities, learners review geologic land formations through the analysis of aerial maps. They then apply this knowledge to aerial maps of...
Journey Through the Universe
Comets: Bringers of Life?
Young scientists investigate the elements found in our solar system and then construct a model of a comet. They apply their new knowledge to the formation of the solar system.
Scholastic
Lesson Three: The Earth, Movement in Space
If you feel like you're standing still, you're wrong! The Earth is constantly rotating and orbiting under our feet. Demonstrate the Earth's movement within the solar system with a collaborative activity. With a candle or lamp in the...
PBS
Exploring Earthquakes: Earth Foldable
Geology junkies will make a foldable that covers a lot of ground regarding Earth's internal structure, its position in the solar system, and an explanation for its seasons. Templates and a printable page of instructions are included....
It's About Time
Impact Events and the Earth System
What would happen to Earth if an asteroid struck it? Assist young scientists as they explore the mechanics of an impact event and effects caused by it; calculate the energy released once an asteroid strikes Earth's surface; and compare...