Curated OER
Traveling the Planets!
Fourth graders research the planets and create brochures to share their information. In this planets lesson, 4th graders navigate the Internet to gather information for a brochure about an imaginary trip to their planet. Students...
Curated OER
Development of a Habitable Planet
Students identify and sequence the major events that caused Earth to develop into a habitable planet. They view videos, conduct research, participate in discussions and work in groups to determine the likelihood of other habitable worlds.
University of Colorado
Strange New Planet
The first remote sensors were people in hot air balloons taking photographs of Earth to make maps. Expose middle school learners to space exploration with the use of remote sensing. Groups explore and make observations of a new planet by...
Curated OER
Planets
Young, yet experienced, Spanish learners learn words like noche, dia, luz, and cielo as they read the story La Noche de Las Estrellas by Douglas Gutierrez. The first time you read the story, the class listens intently. The second time,...
Curated OER
Galaxy Adventure
Working in groups, learners create a mnemonic device, give an oral presentation, and create a pictorial representation of the correct sequence of the planets and asteroid belt from the sun. An assessment rubric is included in the lesson.
Curated OER
E.T., Are You Out There?
Research the necessary components of a planet that supports life after reading the article "All of a Sudden, The Neighborhood Looks a Lot Friendlier" from The New York Times. After finding their information, middle and high schoolers...
Curated OER
Reading and Writing About the Solar System
Utilizing the classic Magic School Bus series, young scientists explore the solar system. Some excellent worksheets are included in this plan, such as Planet Roll Call and Solar System in Motion. This is an ambitious 5-day unit that...
Curated OER
Planets
Third graders discover facts about the planets. In this planets lesson, 3rd graders form groups, choose a plant, gather facts about that planet and create a poster with the information. Students learn "tricks" on how to remember the...
Curated OER
A Trip To Outer Space: Planet Exchange
Students examine the different planets in outer space. Each class studies a different planet and creates a scavenger hunt for the other classes to explore that planet.
Curated OER
Exploring the Planets
Students study robotic spacecrafts that have provided detailed information about the inner and outer planets. In this exploring the planets lesson plan, students use posters and diagrams to study the various robotic spacecraft sent to...
Curated OER
Ceres and Pluto: Dwarf Planets as a New Way of Thinking about an Old Solar System
Learners examine the new categories of planets and how planets were reclassified. In this solar system lesson students complete activities using Venn diagrams and images of planets.
Curated OER
Planets in Our Solar System
Second graders research climate and landforms on nine planets in our solar system, choose one planet to visit, gather information about their chosen planet's climate and landforms, and "invent" space suit that would enable them to...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Inner and Outer Planets
Students explore the solar system. In this planets lesson, students learn about the other planets in the solar system. They watch a video clip from National Geographic on the solar system, compare and contrast the planets and create a...
Curated OER
The Planet Mars
Fifth graders gain knowledge about Mars and Earth. In this compare and contrast lesson, 5th graders use visual representations of the solar system to observe the characteristics of the planets. Students read fiction and nonfiction...
Curated OER
How Far Away Are the Planets?
Young scholars name nine planets in order, describe some notable characteristics of the planets, explain how distance from the sun may affect these characteristics, and create solar system models.
Curated OER
What's Your Favorite Planet?
Fourth graders, after listing the nine planets and their differences, choose one planet as their favorite. From the information acquired on each students favorite planet, they make a graph illustrating their favorites and then transform...
Curated OER
Modeling Hot and Cold Planets
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...
Curated OER
Space: Our Star, the Sun, and Its Friends, the Planets
Students examine the solar system. In this space lesson, students identify the order of the planets and their relative size to the sun. Students create a scale model of our solar system using a variety of household objects.
Curated OER
The Physics of the Planets: How 16th and 17th Century Physicist Helped Us Understand Our Solar System
Eighth graders draw the paths of the planets in the solar system. In this astronomy lesson, 8th graders calculate speed of objects using distance and time information. They research about the work of scientists in the 16th and 17th century.
Curated OER
Planets in a Row
Learners use Internet to research and take notes about each planet for a fact book. They then illustrate each page in the fact book and check their facts with a solar system key. When finished, they display their work and share new facts...
Curated OER
Protecting the Planet
Students discuss being a responsible student by helping to protect the rainforest. In this citizenship lesson, students brainstorm ideas to help global warming, warfare, human-rights abuses and acid rain. Students write an essay to send...
Curated OER
Planets in the Solar System
Explore the planets with your young Spanish speakers. First, read Los Planetas by Chris Jaeggi. Then create a class solar system using different size balls as planets. They'll love helping you put it together!
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Black Carbon - a Dusty Situation
Introduce your young meteorologists to black carbon produced by the burning of fossil fuels by showing the video, "Changing Planet: Black Carbon." Viewers discover that deposition of this carbon on polar ice impacts the absorption of...
Curated OER
Jeopardy Game - Science
Used in an upper elementary classroom, this presentation could be a center activity or a whole-group experience. This is a great way to review a variety of scientific topics. There are questions relating to the planets, rock formations,...