American Museum of Natural History
A Closer Look at Mars
A website looks at how we know so much about Mars—telescopes, robots, and spacecraft—and the search for martian life. Following the informational text are three questions that quiz pupils about possible life on Mars.
Curated OER
Black Holes
High schoolers study black holes and see how space telescopes can provide data to support current hypotheses. They examine the anatomy of a black hole using a diagram of an accretion disk, the event horizon, and jets of hot gas.
American Museum of Natural History
Planetary Mysteries
A website all about planetary mysteries—it's a one-stop-shop for all things, stars, planets, and space travel. Scholars read an astronomy overview to discover the page's big ideas, then choose from the plethora of resources, including...
University of Colorado
Phases of Charon
Pluto, although no longer considered a planet, has five moons. Pluto's moon, Charon, is the focus of a resource that describes how the moon is viewed from the surface of Pluto. Photos help individuals see how Charon would look at...
Curated OER
Scoping Out Space
Students research existing and proposed telescope projects and synthesize their knowledge by creating presentations on each telescope and speculating about which project is worthy of additional funding.
Curated OER
NASA Anniversary
In this NASA Anniversary worksheet, students complete activities such as reading a passage, phrase matching, fill in the blanks, correct words, multiple choice, spelling, sequencing, scrambled sentences, writing questions, survey, and...
Curated OER
Planetary Jeopardy!
Space Science can be so much fun, especially when you play Planetary Jeopardy! This game tests students on what they know about Roman Gods, the planets and moons in our solar system, and the Earth's rotation.
Curated OER
Searching For Protoplanetary Disks
Learners download NASA Hubble Space Telescope views of star-forming regions in nebulae and look for evidence of planetary systems forming beyond our own solar system. They hypothesize about mysterious objects in NASA HST images.
Curated OER
Classifying Galaxies
Students classify galaxies by their shape using the Hubble Tuning Fork Diagram.
Curated OER
How Many Stars in the Milky Way?
Students perform an experiment in which they will use a statistical method called `sampling' to count to a billion (and beyond). Students practice sampling by estimating the number of characters on a page from the classified section of a...
Curated OER
Stellar Fingerprints: the Spectra of Stars
Pupils explain how an element can be identified using emission spectra. They relate the emission spectrum of hydrogen to its absorption spectrum and identify hydrogen absorption lines in the spectrum of stars.
Curated OER
SETI WebQuest and the Drake Equation
Learners complete a WebQuest where they research the Internet for extraterrestrial intelligence. In this extraterrestrial lesson plan, students also explore how the Drake Equation can predict the occurrence of life elsewhere.
Curated OER
The Next Logical Step in Astronomy
Students research future astronomy endeavors and how the exploration with contribute to astronomy and humanity. In this astronomy lesson plan, students research, present, and debate the topics as a class.
Curated OER
Volcanoes in Space
Students research volcanoes on the Internet to compare/contrast the volcanoes on Earth to the ones found on Io, a moon of Jupiter. Students list the similarities and differences in science journals, and illustrate pictures of the volcanoes.
Curated OER
Life Cycle Of Stars
Students analyze characteristics that indicate human life cycles, and then apply these observational principles to various NASA pictures of stars to synthesize patterns of stellar life cycles. They observe NASA images of stars at various...
Curated OER
Measuring Speed in the Universe
In this measuring speed in the universe worksheet, students use photographs of 3 astronomical phenomena including supernova explosions, coronal mass ejections and solar flare shock waves to find how fast they move. The photographs show...
Curated OER
Cosmic Collision
In this cosmic collision worksheet, students explore interactive online website to study about the dynamics of different galaxies. They write short answers to 8 questions that follow.
Curated OER
Probes to Other Planets
Sixth graders use a list of robot components and common household items to design and construct a robot spacecraft model suitable for exploring the Saturn System. They present the robots to the class.
Curated OER
The Planets Terra Firma
Students explore the theories of the creation of the universe and examine the properties of celestial bodies. They analyze the relationship between the sun, Earth and the other planets.
Space Telescope Science Institute
Hubble Site: Hand Held Hubble
This site has an activity to make a hand-held telescope. "The Hubble Space Telescope that's orbiting Earth right now is the size of a school bus, but you can make a model of it that you can hold in your hands!"
Space Telescope Science Institute
Space Telescope Science Institute: Amazing Space
Amazing Space promotes the "science and majestic beauty of the universe for use in the classroom." Here you can find learning activities, lesson plans, teaching guides, and helpful tips for students eager to learn about space and space...
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Museum of Science, Art and Perception
This museum provides numerous online exhibits about everything from the science of sports to the Hubble Telescope. Each exhibit includes learning ideas, fun activities, articles, and learning games.
George Mason University
Blacklisting Hollywood's Communists: A Qualified Defense
This site from George Mason University describes the blacklisting of Hollywood communists during the Red Scare.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Solar System!
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...