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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comparing Earth and Mars

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers work together to compare and contrast Mars and Earth. Using the internet, they answer questions given to them by their teacher and calculate answers showing their work. They graph their answers and discuss the results...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life on the Moon

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students study the physical properties of the Moon.  In this life on the moon lesson students describe the ways life on the Moon would be different than on Earth. 
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Lesson Plan
Minnesota Literacy Council

Scientific Method

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Here is a resource with a descriptive approach to explaining the scientific method. It's simple, but effective for both introduction and reinforcement of this concept. 
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Lesson Plan
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

The Moon: Earth’s Dependable Neighbor

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Scholars become experts on the moon, its phases, and craters with a series of lessons, activities, and extension opportunities. Learners' expert level of knowledge includes moon facts, how moon craters are created, the ability to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Not So Lost in Space

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers investigate how engineers navigate satellites in orbit around the Earth and on their way to other planets in the solar system. They study vocabulary words and participate in studying a satellite by learning about times...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth's Journey Through Space

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Young scholars arrange various pictures of the Earth to identify its journey through space. In this Earth's rotation lesson plan, students use models of the Earth and demonstrate its journey through space. Young scholars complete the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's Out There? Space Shuttle Exploration and Simulation

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students role-play the jobs of space shuttle astronauts, conduct experiments, and research space using the Internet and offline experiments. Student-astronauts hold a "press conference" to share their information with others in a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Space: Stars and Planets

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Learners observe and report that the moon can be seen sometimes at night and sometimes during the day. They describe how changes to a model can help predict how the real thing can be altered. Students explain the essential fact of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Design a Space Station

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders investigate living in space. In this science lesson, 6th graders discuss what it is like to live in space and create their own space station or space city of the future.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Great Explorations: To the End of the Earth and Beyond

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Young scholars analyze the factors that affect exploration such as religion, trade, territorial expansion, and science. In this Great Explorations lesson, students determine the names of famous explorers as well as their routes and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth Science: The Sun-Earth Relationship

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Students examine the sun's impact on the Earth. They read online articles, explore various websites, and answer questions using information found on the Internet.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth, Sun and Moon

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Young scholars investigate that the sun is at the center of the solar system through role play. One student is the sun and one student is the Earth. The students then show how the Earth orbits around the sun. Young scholars view a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar System: The Four Inner Planets and Earth's Moon and Astronauts

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders read THe Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System. In this language arts and science instructional activity, 2nd graders explore the four inner planets. Students view the inner planets using Google Earth.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth and Sun's Distance

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students consider the shape of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. They view the first segment of Science Court video and use Timeliner software to construct a scale of the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Harvesting Oil from the Earth

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders research sources of fossil fuels especially oil while determining how scientists take core samples from an Earth model. They look at oil consumption and production in the US and throughout the world.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Space Fiction

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students visit web sites with information on space fiction and collect information for their stories.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hubble Space Telescope

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners investigate the history and use of the Hubble Space Telescope. They take a quiz in order to establish in any prior knowledge. Students conduct research to find information in conjunction with participating in class discussion...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Big Are Earth, Sun, and Moon?

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders draw what they believe is in space on a dry erase board. In groups, they are given a beaker half filled with water and they add a teaspoon of oil, observing the different layers that form. To end the lesson plan, they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sun-Earth Day Flip Books

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Young scholars assemble flip books. For this Earth science lesson, students read about different solar occurrences and create flip books. This teacher resource has links to create six different flip books.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth Day: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students list ways to reduce, reuse and recycle, and produce an acrostic poem reflecting their understanding about Earth Day. They also use the Internet to integrate technology into learning.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life in Space: International Space Station

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the potential challenges of living in space.  In this investigative instructional activity students search the Internet to locate 16 nations that are working together to build the Independent Space Station, then...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth Viewer

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore the Earth. In this space activity, students view the " Earth and Moon Viewer" web site and complete a related worksheet.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Makes Day and Night? The Earth's Rotation

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students discover that the Earth rotates on its axis in a cyclical fashion. They examine how this rotation results in day and night.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pictures from Hubble Space Telescope

For Teachers 5th - 11th
Students observe pictures taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. From a given website, students observe images of the Einstein Cross, Black Eye Galaxy, Hoag's Object, merging and interacting galaxies and more. This lesson plan gives a...