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Exploring the Planets
Sixth graders explore the planets through an interactive web site. In this astronomy based lesson, 6th graders compare planets, explore comets, and discover planet facts through a variety of activities provided by the Smithsonian Museum.
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Heavens Above
Middle schoolers study the stars and their positions. In this astronomy lesson students see how scientists can predict the positions of the stars and can tell how they would have appeared in the past.
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CHARTING A COURSE
Students model how a gyroscope works with string, an old phonograph record and crayon.
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BOUNCING INFORMATION AROUND
Learners examine how satellite signals are sent and duplicate it with a mirror, flashlight and black paper.
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Earth's Revolution and Rotation
Eighth graders investigate the regular motions of the sun, Earth and the moon and explain how these are related to days, years, seasons, eclipses, tides and moon cycles. They participate in an exercise where they explore the...
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Science - Lesson 42 - Astronomy
Third graders demonstrate the position of the Earth, Moon, and Sun in a solar and lunar eclipse. They list uses for manmade satellites and write a description of how a satellite would be use.
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The Solar Cycle
Students research the solar cycle. In this Science lesson, students use the internet to investigate the solar cycle. Students produce a spreadsheet and graph from the information collected.
PHET
Pre- and post-assessment (High School)
Need to gauge your pupils' understanding before the lesson begins? A base assessment includes short answer and drawings to determine pupil knowledge. Advanced assessment covers vector addition.
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Animal Poetry
Fourth graders write poems that use local wildlife as their inspiration. After a class discussion which produces a list of wildlife that pupils have seen in their town, a review of three types of poetry ensues. They look at how haiku,...
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`Great Debate' Lesson Plan for Undergraduates
Students study the Curtis- Shapley debate which highlighted the view of human place in the universe. They examine the clash of these two astronomers in a debate which took place in 1920.
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Momentum
Students learn the concepts of momentum and its conservation, using the recoil of a cannon as an example. They examine how momentum is a vector, allowing its conservation to be applied to problems in 2 and 3 dimensions.
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The KAO Telescope
Students explore the basic principles of the operation of the NASA's KAO telescope. They construct a simplified model of it using film canisters and other everyday objects. Step by step directions are included in plan.
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Galaxies
Students use the provided website to classify galaxies after exploring information about elliptical, spiral, lenticular, and irregular galaxies and using the Hubble Tuning Fork.
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Puzzling Planets
Students examine the concept of a solar system. In this research based lesson, students compare a star and a planet. They explain the requirements for life in a biosphere.
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Classifying Galaxies
Students classify galaxies by their shape using the Hubble Tuning Fork Diagram.
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Charting The Planets
Young scholars conduct different activities in order to unlock the secrets of the universe. They answer different questions that are written to assess knowledge of the planets. Information can be found on the internet to help.
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Stellar Lunar Curriculum
Students engage in a lesson that covers the concept of different phases of the moon. They name the cycles of the phases of the moon while using flashlights to simulate the light of the sun. They research information about several...
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Our Solar System to Scale
Middle schoolers 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. Middle schoolers use cross multiplying...
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Modeling the Big Bang and the Formation of the Universe
Sixth graders conduct an experiment to understand the Big Bang Theory. In this Big Bang Theory lesson, 6th graders will observe a balloon with confetti popping to emulate and analyze information related tot he Big Bang theory. Students...
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The Life Cycle of a Star
Students investigate the life cycle of a star through research. Once research is complete, students prepare posters and present findings to class. Flash animation is included to help students visualize life cycle of star researching.
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The Reasons for the Season
Students explain the reason for the changes in season. In this lesson examining the relationship between the Earth and the Sun, students use an applet to discover how the alignment of the Earth and the Sun cause the change in seasons.
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Constellation Projections
Students draw constellations. In this astronomy instructional activity, students create constellations from star groupings projected on a chalk board. Students connect the "stars" to create a pattern on the board. Student can create new...
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Pulsar Stars And Black Holes
Learners explore the discovery of pulsar stars, and the characteristics of pulsar stars. Theories and ideas behind black holes are discussed. The issues of women's historical role in science are also touched on.
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Bubble-ology
Learners observe the visible spectrum while observing light hitting the surface of bubbles. They blow large bubbles and observe how the colors change.