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Out of This World (Language Arts)
Second graders, in groups, research the planets in the solar system and create a guidebook for travel.
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Rolling Through Space
Seventh graders use a foll of toilet paper to visualize the vast distance that separates the sun and the planets of our solar system.
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Extra Terrestial Excursions
Fourth graders determine how long it would take to fly to each of the planets in the solar system. They do two calculations: one, if they were using conventional jet, the other if they were using the fastest spacecraft possible.
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What's "Out" There?
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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Out of This World
Students are introduced to the solar system and its place in the universe. They begin to grasp the idea of very large numbers by estimating and computing how long it take the class to make a million x's.
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Space, the Final Frontier...
Students study a common theory on how the solar system was formed and examine the relative scale of the size and distances among the bodies of the Solar System.
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Our Solar System to Scale
Students calculate the diameter of planets and their relative distances. In this space science lesson, students discover how small or big the planets are in comparison to each other. Students use cross multiplying fractions to find...
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Outpost Communications Exercise
Students engage in a unique study of the solar system with the integration of technology in the form of e-mail. They communicate to each other on e-mail and give clues to an imaginary location without revealing the source the students...
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To Infinity and Beyond
Students explore the planets in our solar system and create a brochure on each planet. They read the book, The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System and write notes about solar system facts and watch a video. After the video, they...
Journey Through the Universe
Where to Look For Life?
Every year we discover new planets including more than 1,000 in 2016 alone. Will we ever find life on another planet? The instructional activity includes two activities to help scholars understand this concept. First, they analyze the...
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Glowing Glimpses of Our Universe
Learners will complete hands-on space activities. In this space science lesson, students will create a glow-in-the-dark model of the solar system, visit a planetarium, make star pictures, and paint constellations. Activities are meant to...
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Celestial Motions
Ninth graders complete a unit of lessons on the history of our knowledge of celestial objects. They conduct Internet research, plot the motion of a planet, construct a model of the sun's apparent motions, and create diagrams of the solar...
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Beyond The Earth Part I
Students explore the solar system. In this space science lesson, students take notes on the solar system provided by their instructors. Students then collaborate to design a computer-generated drawing of the solar system.
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Your Weight on Other Planets
Students explore their weight on other planets. In this science lesson, students view a presentation about the other planets and complete a worksheet in which they make predictions about their weight on the moon and other planets.
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Windows to the Universe Scavenger Hunt
Students access the Internet to go on a scavenger hunt to investigate the solar system. In this space mission lessons students fill out a worksheet and explain how technology and scientific inquiry have helped us learn about...
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Life Beyond Earth
Young scholars investigate the solar system and what makes a planet habitable. They complete an online Webquest, simulate a NASA training program online, take an online quiz, answer discussion questions, and locate newspaper articles...
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Attributes of Renewable Energy: From Nanopossibilities to Solar Power
High schoolers explore solar energy, why we use it and how we use it. In this renewable energy lesson students compare active and solar techniques.
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Investigating Planetary Soils
Young scholars study soil characteristics and identify properties of soils from different parts of the solar system. In this soil lesson students divide into groups, read soil descriptions, test and record soil samples.
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Solar System (Lesson 2)
Eighth graders identify the objects that make up the solar system. They define new vocabulary and practice using them. They discover that the sun is a star.
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Planet Picking
Students arrange the planets according to their distances from the sun. In this astronomy lesson, students list interesting properties about each planet. They identify an unknown planet photo.
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How Do Atmospheres Affet Planetary Temperatures?
Students perform a literature search and use reputable research resources in order to find the surface temperature of different planets in our solar system. They speculate about the observed and unobserved factors. Then brainstorming is...
University of Colorado
Terra Bagga
Earth's magnetic poles switch positions about every 200,000—300,000 years. In the activity, groups create a planet with a magnetic field. Once made, they use a magnetometer to determine the orientation of the planet's magnetic field....
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Water, Weather, and the World
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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Puzzling Planets
Learners list the order of the planets, describe the general characteristics of each planet and explain why we could not live on other planets without special equipment.