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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Celestial Sphere

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers are introduced to the celestial sphere, describing its apparent rotation and the special role of the pole star.
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Lesson Plan
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The Sundial

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students receive an introduction to the sundial, its design and use.
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Lesson Plan
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Seasons of the Year

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine how the link between the tilt of the Earth's axis to the ecliptic and seasons of the year--length of day, effectiveness of sunlight, polar day and night, and seasons south and north of the equator, as well as near it.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton's 3rd Law

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners examine how the formal definition of Newton's 3rd law: forces always originate in pairs, equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. They also examine how the informal, qualitative version: Each action has an equal and...
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Lesson Plan
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Motion in a Circle

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore uniform circular motion, and the relation of its frequency of N revolutions/sec with the peripheral velocity v and with the rotation period T. They examine how uniform circular motion is a type of accelerated motion.
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Lesson Plan
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Frames of Reference: The Basics

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners learn the concept of frames of reference in physics. They examine how two frames of reference, each moving with respect to the other with a constant velocity v (constant speed, constant direction).
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Lesson Plan
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Airplane flight

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers learn the basic concepts about airplane flight. They learn the reason jetliner wings are swept back and why jet engines have replaced propellers in high-speed flight.
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Lesson Plan
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Kepler's Second Law

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore orbital velocities and how they vary along each orbit, according to Kepler's Second Law.
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Lesson Plan
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Best of the Solar System

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students visit a site which provides images to be analyzed. Notes are taken and planets are named based on observed features and observations. Using peer review, they try to determine the identity of the planets. They are free to browse...
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Lesson Plan
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Day and Night

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students using experiments try to demonstrate how observations can be affected by the cycles of night and day.
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Lesson Plan
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Paint By The Numbers

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students, in groups, explore how astronomical spacecraft and computers create images of objects in space.
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Lesson Plan
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Tanabata: The Japanese "Wish Upon a Star"Festival

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers research the legend of Tanabata in order to explain some of the astronomical findings in the night sky. The Japanese tell the story in order to explain the origin of celestial bodies.
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Lesson Plan
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The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

For Teachers 7th - 8th
In this astronomy worksheet, students use a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram to examine the relationship between the average temperatures of stars and their absolute magnitude. After viewing the diagram, they complete 10 short answer questions.
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Lesson Plan
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Your Galactic Address

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discover their place in the universe.  In this astronomy lesson, students identify their location on various maps that have increasingly larger scales.  In the end, the students write their address in terms of their location in...
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Lesson Plan
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Timekeeping by the Sun

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students measure shadows to learn about the Sun-Earth relationship. In this astronomy lesson, students create a shadow stick of a Pokemon character and record measurements of its shadow in a data chart. Follow-up discussions guide...
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Lesson Plan
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Seeing Stars

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students discover constellations. In this astronomy lesson, students discuss stars in the sky and that a group of stars is called a constellation. Students then create their own constellations by dropping stars onto a black paper, and...
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Lesson Plan
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Reading Satellite Images

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students analyze satellite images.  In this astronomy lesson, students examine 3 satellite images in order to understand how satellite images are taken and what they can teach scientists.
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Lesson Plan
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Exploring Meteorite Mysteries: Building Blocks of Planets

For Teachers 7th - 8th
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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Lesson Plan
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Food for Spaceflight

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
When astronauts get hungry in outer space, they can't just call and have a pizza delivered. In order to gain an appreciation for the challenges associated with space travel, young learners are given the task of selecting, testing, and...
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Lesson Plan
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Astronomy: A Star Party

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explain the functions of a telescope. They name the parts of the telescope. After previously learning the planets and constellations, students identify and view them during a star party.
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Lesson Plan
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Lunar Cycles

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders conduct internet research on a specific website to collect information about Lunar Cycles.
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Lesson Plan
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Celebrating 100 Years of Flight

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students explore the history, science, and journey through flight. They use the Internet to access information in order to participate in active writing assignments. They conduct other activities and build their own virtual plane.
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Lesson Plan
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Finding Jupiter's Moons

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Students explore Jupiter's Moons. They calculate and predict the location of Jupiter's 4 large moons. In addition, they draw Jupiter with its moons correctly shown for the time of the observation.
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Lesson Plan
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Measuring Elevation

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students practice measuring elevation, one of the key coordinates used by astronomers. They describe how the elevation of an object is measured. and combine compass directions and elevation to find celestial objects.

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