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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's "In" There: A Study of the Inner Planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

For Teachers 1st
First graders identify and explore the four inner planets. In this planet science lesson, 1st graders watch a PowerPoint about the planets. Students read the book Our Solar System and discuss the inner planets. Students create a book...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's "Out" There?

For Teachers 1st
First graders investigate the five outer planets. In this space science lesson, 1st graders read the book Our Solar System and identify the five outer planets. Students create a booklet and write about outer planets.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Planetary Orbits

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore space science by completing a solar system identification worksheet. In this planets lesson, students discuss the different planets in our star system and identify their traits. Students complete an orbital system...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Those Changing Theories.

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students investigate the developing theories towards a heliocentric models of the solar system.  In this science based instructional activity students explore how science theories change over time based on evidence. Students view...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cosmic Wheels

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Young scholars build a scale model of the Solar System and determine the time other planets take to travel around the Sun in comparison to the time of the Earth's revolution. The velocity of the planets are also determined in this lesson.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water, Weather, and the World

For Teachers 4th - Higher Ed
Students in a special education classroom examine the role of weather and water in their lives. Each day, they add a symbol for the weather outside and identify the proper activities for the weather on that day. In groups, they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Faces: A Study of Solar and Planetary Rotation Rates

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers determine rotation rates of a variety of solar system objects using images and the Internet.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Scale Models to Planet Size

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students consider the comparative sizes of the planets in the solar system. In this scale instructional activity, students select balls of different sizes to represent the planets in the solar system.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Star Systems

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students study a star system and see how the planets move around stars.  In this star system lesson students complete an activity and see what an eclipse is.
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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

The Engine of Life

For Teachers 5th - 11th Standards
There is a specific zone, or distance from a star, that a planet must be in order to have water in a liquid form. The activity demonstrates how flux density depends on its distance from the source. A photovoltaic cell gets power to drive...
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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Measure the Solar Diameter

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed Standards
Scientists could measure the diameter of the sun before they knew its distance. Scholars construct a simple mirror box to measure the diameter for themselves. They compare this measurement with the official size, listed in a textbook,...
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Lesson Plan
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University of Colorado

Planetary Distances on the Playground

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Earth is 149,600,000 km, or 92,957,130.4 miles, from the sun. Young astronauts create an interactive model to learn the distances between planets. Nine groups, each representing a different planet, are spread around at class-calculated...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Mars

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Learners, working in small groups construct scale models of the planets and solar system. They examine images of Mars and discuss what might have caused the features. They record facts about their planetary research in their journals and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nine Planets

For Teachers 3rd
What are characteristics of a planet? With this plan, learners investigate the characteristics of the planets in our solar system. They gather research of the nine planets by using the Internet and other research tools. Then they create...
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Earth's Global Energy Budget

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Introduce your earth science enthusiasts to the earth's energy budget. Teach them using an informative set of slides that include illuminating lecturer's notes, relevant vocabulary, embedded animations, colorful satellite maps, and a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Far Away Is Saturn?

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students work together to create a scale model of the solar system. They write a descriptive paper and a paper comparing and contrasting the Earth to Saturn. They discuss their writings with the class.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth, Sun and Moon

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students explore, experiment and study how the Earth orbits the Sun once a year and how the moon takes approximately 29 days to orbit the Earth. They access an online activity to examine the process of how the Sun is at the center of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sun Shadow Cycles

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers use diagrams to review how the Earth rotates around the sun. In groups, they use the same diagrams to explain how the sun shadows are produced and how they differ between seasons. They describe the Earth's rotation and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Planets an Introduction

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders investigate one planet, enter information into a database, and print the database sorting for each of the attributes.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Inner Planets

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students create a booklet about the inner planets after researching the characteristics of each planet. Students research the following items for each planet: moons, size, rotation, orbit, atmosphere, an interesting fact. Their final...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Modeling Hot and Cold Planets

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students, in teams, design and construct models of two planets, one hot and the other cold, using a variety of materials. They attempt to create the models out of substances that will actually show the greatest temperature differences...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TE Activity: You're in Hot Water

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students study different ways of using solar energy. They design a solar water heater and determine how much water it can heat in a set amount of time. They examine how the heaters work by solar radiation and convection.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pioneers of Space

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore how to use natural resources in the next millenium. Students create a KWL chart and then research information on our solar systsem, natural resources, and environments. Students build a model of a future community and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth's Orbit Lesson

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders devise a computational model to explore how the orbit of the Earth might change if its velocity were different. Using accurately recorded data, 10th graders defend a scientific argument.

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