Curated OER
Try This On For Size!
Students view a video to gather information about our solar system. They create models of the planets to scale and place them in scale relative to their distances from the sun. They also visit a planetarium or use the internet to gather...
Curated OER
Solar System Cloze Activity
In this solar system worksheet, students fill in 21 blanks with words from a word bank at the top of the page. They include information about the solar system, terrestrial planets, gaseous planets, and planetoids.
Curated OER
Flying Through the Solar System
Students create a model of the solar system out of candy. They write a book about their travels through the Solar System, beginning at age ten and reaching Pluto at age seventy.
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The Discovery of the Solar System
Learners study the ideas behind the heliocentric theory of Copernicus. They examine about retrograde motion of the planets as they move around the sun. They study astronomers who include Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Galileo.
Curated OER
Kepler and his Laws
Young scholars examine Kepler's Laws. They confirm Kepler's 3rd law by comparing orbital periods and mean distances for all major planets and study conic sections, qualitatively.
Curated OER
Volcanoes:How Safe Are They?
Students explore volcanoes, locate them on maps, record general information about volcanoes, and organize information on a fact sheet.
Curated OER
Mission Planning: Geography
Students investigate the use of latitude and longitude to locate specific locations on Earth and evaluate that location as a potential landing site for researchers, terrestrial or alien space missions.
Curated OER
Is It Living?
Middle schoolers investigate the definition of life and alive in the context of a unit that is involved with building their own planet. They participate in a class discussion about defining life, and in small groups analyze artifacts to...
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The Path of the Sun, the Ecliptic
Students are introduced to the ecliptic, the zodiac and the apparent motions of the Sun, Moon and planets across the sky.
Curated OER
Project SETI.
Tenth graders study how to search for life in outer space and make use of the 40-foot radio telescope at Greenbank, West Virginia. Request that the telescope be pointed at a particular location and time and receive data back from it...
Curated OER
Impact Craters: Holes in the Ground!
Middle schoolers simulate crater formation through a lab activity. In this space science lesson, students calculate how much energy is transferred during meteorite impact. They identify different factors affecting the size and depth of...
Curated OER
Look at those Leaves!
Students observe and measure tree leaves. In this leaf lesson students do on a "leaf walk" then use the leaves they find to complete a few activities.
Curated OER
The Impact
Students study inventions and the impact they have had on people. In this investigative lesson students learn how inventions are created and take part in a design project that will allow them to solve problems.
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Ellipses and Kepler's First Law
The class examines graphs in the form r = F(¿¿) in polar coordinates (r, ¿¿), in particular with the circle, ellipse and other conic sections. They determine the nature of an ellipse by studying the role of the semimajor axis and...
Curated OER
Are we alone? Do aliens exist?
Pupils discuss the existence of aliens in the universe. In this alien instructional activity, students discuss the answers to the questions: What are the chances that aliens exist in the universe? and What are the chances that aliens...
Curated OER
The Path of the Sun: The Ecliptic
Students investigate the celestial sphere and the paths it takes in the solar system.
Curated OER
The Chinese Zodiac And The Western Zodiac
Learners create individual horoscopes that contrast and compare Western and
Chinese views of their futures using poster boards and magic markers. In-class discussion is used to evaluate the use of the Zodiac in different cultures.
Curated OER
Life's Big Questions: Where Did Life Come From?
Students explore the life forms that live in the hot springs of Yellowstone. They examine how microscopic creatures can survive in these extreme conditions. Students perform experiments to observe growth samples and demonstrate how a...
Nine Planets
The Eight Planets: Earth
Excellent Eight Planets site that provides a vast amount of information about planet Earth. Very comprehensive and complete site.
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas Mc Donald Observatory: Earth
Learn interesting information about the Earth, the largest of the "terrestrial" planets.
Nine Planets
The Nine Planets: Asteroids
A plethora of information about Asteroids. This site provides lots of in-text links to information, pictures of asteroids, a table full of information about asteroids, as well as links to more information about asteroids.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Geo Logic: Terrestrial and Jovian Planets
Through GEOLogic puzzles, students are given clues about properties about the terrestrial and Jovian planets respectively, and challenged to match the planet with the correct equatorial radius, mean orbital velocity, and period of rotation.
Science4Fun
Science4 Fun: Earth
Learn fun facts and details about the geography and composition of Earth, the third closest planet to the sun and the only planet that contains life.
Science4Fun
Science4 Fun: Mars
Learn fun facts and details about the weather, geography, composition, and discovery of Mars, the fourth closest planet to the Sun.