+
Website
NASA

Nasa Star Child: A Song for All Seasons

For Students 9th - 10th
After listening to excerpts from four of the violin concertos from "The Four Seasons" by Italian composer and violinist, Antonio Vivaldi, decide which excerpt was meant to go with which season, and also decide where the earth would be in...
+
Website
NASA

Nasa: Heliophysics: New Science of the Sun Solar System Connection

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from NASA lists common and uncommon misconceptions about Sun-Earth Science. Site also provides links to activities and lesson plans as well as background reading.
+
Unknown Type
McREL International

Mc Rel: Earth's Axis [Pdf]

For Students 6th - 8th
A worksheet regarding the path of the Sun around the Earth and the Earth's tilt on its axis.
+
Activity
Harvard University

Harvard University: The Solar System

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
These hands-on activities are a great way for students to gain perspective on the relative sizes and distances of each planet, the relationship between the sun and Earth, and much more.
+
Interactive
Harvard University

Harvard Smithsonian: Everyday Classroom Tools

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
The focus of this series of lessons is to engage students in an exploration of the world around them. The emphasis is on inquiry as students learn about the earth, sun, light, shapes and more.
+
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: All Planet Sizes

For Students 9th - 10th
This illustration from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory shows the approximate sizes of the planets relative to each other. Note that the planets are not shown at appropriate distances from the Sun.
+
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: A Roundabout Way to Mars

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore orbit transfers and, specifically, Hohmann transfers. They investigate the orbits of Earth and Mars by using cardboard and string. Students learn about the planets' orbits around the sun, and about a transfer orbit from...
+
Website
Rice University

Galileo Project: The Copernican System

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from The Galileo Project of Rice University contains information relating to Copernicus's sun-centered solar system theory. Pictures are provided throughout this article along with links to additional information.
+
Website
National Earth Science Teachers Association

Windows to the Universe: Our Solar System

For Students 9th - 10th
Our solar system is filled with a wide assortment of celestial bodies - the Sun itself, our eight planets, dwarf planets, and asteroids - and on Earth, life itself! The inner solar system is occasionally visited by comets that loop in...
+
Website
NOAA

Noaa: Paleoclimatology Program: Astronomical Theory of Climate Change

For Students 9th - 10th
Use this site to learn how the Earth's not-so-circular orbit around the sun has affected our climate over thousands of years, and continues to affect our climate now.
+
Website
Nine Planets

The Eight Planets: Just for Kids

For Students 9th - 10th
Here is a clear, simple picture of the solar system. Click on the names of the planets to learn more about each. Clicking on underlined terms takes you to more and more detailed scientific information.
+
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Learning About the Solar System [Pdf]

For Teachers 7th
"Learning about the Solar System" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the Milky Way gallaxy and how scientists learn about it over time. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story;...
+
Handout
NASA

Nasa: Imagine the Universe: Welcome to the World of X Ray Astronomy

For Students 9th - 10th
Site recounts how X-rays were discovered as well as who discovered them. Offers graphics, links to facts on this topic, a quiz, and teacher resources.
+
Website
Enchanted Learning

Enchanted Learning: Zoom Astronomy

For Students 3rd - 5th
Where is our Solar System? How far away is the sun? What makes up the sun? Find out all you want to know about our solar system. This is a comprehensive on-line site about space and astronomy. Check out all of the excitement!
+
Website
Cornell University

Cornell University: Astronomy: Eclipses

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the Astronomy Department of Cornell University provides brief introduction to both solar and lunar eclipses. Links are provided for pictures and charts of the eclipses, and this is a good site to check out on the subject.
+
Unit Plan
Wonderville Media

Wonderville: Planets

For Students K - 1st
There are eight planets in orbit around our Sun. These planets form our solar system. The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. There are also rocks, moons, comets, and other objects going...
+
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Solar System!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
An introduction to our solar system: the planets, our Sun and our Moon. Students begin by learning the history and engineering of space travel. They make simple rockets to acquire a basic understanding Newton's third law of motion. They...
+
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: What's Up in Space?

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about outer space. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.