+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Space Science: Zodiac Track

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students create posters of the constellations using glow-in-the-dark glue and black paper. They hang their posters around the room starting with Aries and moving through all the signs. Students create a jingle or acronym to help them...
+
Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Let's Map the Earth

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Before maps went mobile, people actually had to learn how to read maps. Pupils look at map elements in order to understand how to read them and locate specific locations. Finally, young cartographers discover how to make aerial maps.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Angle on Cooling

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore how the angle and distance of an object can change it's temperature. After reviewing how the position of the Earth affects the temperature of the planet, student groups design and perform an experiment to test how...
+
Lesson Plan
Messenger Education

Dangers of Radiation Exposure

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Gamma radiation, which is harmful, is useful in treating cancers. In the second lesson plan in a series of four, young scientists take surveys and calculate their yearly exposure to ionizing radiation. Then they read about how harmful...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Our Intriguing Star, the Sun!

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Explore the sun in a lesson plan about space. The lesson spans ten weeks, with students performing activities to answer weekly questions about the Sun and Earth.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Communication Delay

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Construct a maze in your classroom and have a blindfolded scientist act as a space rover, maneuvering unfamiliar terrain while another scientist plays commander. Classmates record the number of occurrences of the commander having to...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

Looking to the Future

For Teachers 2nd - 6th Standards
New Horizons set forth on a mission to Pluto in 2006. Ten years later, the spacecraft is still on its way. Here, enthusiastic scholars predict what they will be like—likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc.—when New Horizons arrives at its...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
NOAA

Ocean Acidification

For Teachers 9th - 12th
If tap water is more acidic than ocean water, why are we so concerned about ocean acidification? The third installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on carbon dioxide levels in...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT SPACE

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders set up a scale model of the solar system using the same scale for distance and diameter. They calculate scale distances and sizes for modeling the solar system and relate actual distances to difficulties in discovering and...
+
Lesson Plan
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

Goldilocks and the Three Planets

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Venus is the second brightest object in the night sky after the moon. Here is an interesting lesson that explores three planets — Venus, Earth, and Mars — specifically their surfaces and atmospheres. Through an analysis of their spectra,...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mission to Mars: The Journey Begins

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners take a trip through space. In this space science lesson, students travel on a simulated mission to a space station. Learners write a script and perform a play based on the pretend trip.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science and Careers

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students investigate how knowledge of science influences people in their daily lives, specifically in their careers. Students conduct interviews with an individual in a science or technology career as part of their research on the impact...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does the Earth's Energy Budget Relate to Polar Ice?

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students use satellite data to see how radiation budget relates to the ice that is present in the North.  In this energy lesson students correlate data to see a relationship. 
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Flight Paths of Orbiting Satellites

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Learners examine the path a satellite follows as it orbits the earth. In this space science lesson, students use a globe as they illustrate a satellite in its orbital plane, then plot points on the satellite's path on the globe to see...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth's Movement in Space

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students explain how the Earth's tilt and rotation causes night and day. In this earth science instructional activity, students determine how seasonal changes are caused by Earth's revolution. They play a jeopardy team game at the end of...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Space Exploration

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Students explore the significance of the four space programs: Sputnik, Apollo, Viking, and Voyager. In this space exploration lesson, students view a space exploration slideshow and complete an included chart of space exploration.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Trip Around the Sun

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders investigate the relationship between the tilt of the Earth's axis and the seasons. In this earth science lesson, 6th graders sing the song "Why Do We Have Seasons" and use simulate the Earth's tilt by using their bodies.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Explore the Characteristics of Stars with Microsoft WorldWide Telescope

For Teachers 2nd - 9th
Students explore the characteristics of stars. In this space science activity, students use the Microsoft WorldWide Telescope program to identify the properties of stars and identify the stars in the galaxy.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Space Telescope Debate

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the Hubble and Webb telescopes. For this space telescope lesson, students research Internet sites to find out what type of information these telescopes provide. They debate whether it is financially responsible to...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Regolith

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
You may not be able to take a field trip to the moon, but that doesn't mean your class can't study moon rocks. Using graham crackers as the moon's bedrock and powdered donuts as micrometeorites, young scientists simulate...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Meteor, Meteoroid, Meteorite: What's the Difference?

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students explore the difference between a meteor, meteorite and meteoroid. In this space science lesson, students first read information about these space bodies. Students make Comet Cookies and use them to model a meteor shower with a...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Astronomy

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Pupils explore space science by utilizing education software. In this moon cycles activity, students discuss the importance of the moon and the different phases we observe from earth. Pupils demonstrate the earth's orbit by creating a...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

NASA Robots

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students investigate how robots are used in space. In this space science lesson, students participate in an experiment using a blindfold and complete assigned tasks. The students demonstrate how robots are "thinking" machines.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sunspot Activity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
In this space science worksheet, students find the data that is needed to help them acquire the knowledge concerning sunspots through observation and data collection.