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The Solar System and Beyond
Survey the solar system by viewing this PowerPoint. Amateur astronomers discover that gravity is responsible for Earth's orbit around the sun and the moon's orbit around Earth. They explore the moon's phases and Earth's seasons. This...
Classics for Kids
"Mars" from The Planets
Gustav Holst's The Planets provide young musicians an opportunity to examine how composers can create a suite: a collection of smaller pieces grouped to explore a single topic. After listening to "Jupiter," they examine "Mars" in detail,...
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The Planets in Our Solar System
Students gain knowledge about earth and space science by studying the nine planets in the solar system as well as their key characteristics. In this solar system lesson, students identify the nine planets. Students work in groups to...
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Planets Curriculum
Pupils investigate the planets in our solar system. They conduct research using a variety of resources in order for students to make cognitive connections with the demonstrations made by the teacher. Pupils discover how to recognize the...
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Planets Curriculum
Students complete an in-depth study of the known planets in the solar system. As a class, students identify the planets that are known in the universe, in the night sky. They explain the differences between planets and stars and the...
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Planet Vacation
In this planets worksheet, students fill out a chart where they fill in the distance each planet is from the Earth, and how much travel time in years and hours it would take to get there. Students do this for 8 planets.
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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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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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Sculpt-a-Planet
Students study the moon and the planets. They create a painted, paper mache moon or planet sculpture.
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Planet Sun Catchers
Students create suncatchers that resemble planets using recycled plastic lids.
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Solar System and Planets
Students identify the main components of the solar system. For this earth science lesson, students order the planets according to their distances from the Sun. They differentiate planets from dwarf planets.
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Exploring Dwarf Planet Eris
For this planet Eris worksheet, students read about the discovery of this dwarf planet and its characteristics. Students answer 3 questions about the planets, the classification of planets and the definition of planets. Students define 7...
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How Hot is that Planet?
In this planet worksheet, students read about finding the temperature of a planet using the distance to its star, its reflectivity and the luminosity of the star. Students use a given equation to determine the surface temperature of the...
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Could the Solar System have Ten Planets?
Students react to statements about the solar system, then read a news article about a recently discovered object that could be another planet. In this space science and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the lesson with a...
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What Makes a Habitable Planet?
Students list conditions necessary for humans to survive. They then mix yeast with a nutrient broth consisting of warm water and table sugar in a plastic bottle, capping it with a party balloon and compare the factors within the bottle...
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Planet Pluto and Personification
In this writing prompt worksheet students are asked to use personification in discussing the redefinition of "planet Pluto" to "dwarf planet." Students are asked to communicate the feelings of the planet as it pertains to its...
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Planet Fractions and Scales
In this planets and fractions worksheet, students solve nine problems about the sizes and scales of planets compared to each other using fractions.
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Kepler-The Hunt for Earth-like Planets
In this hunt for planets worksheet, learners read about the Kepler satellite used to detect exoplanets. Students solve 6 problems including drawing a sun disk and determining the scale in kilometers/millimeter, finding the area of the...
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The Webb Space Telescope: Detecting Dwarf Planets
In this detecting dwarf planets learning exercise, students read about the Webb Space Telescope that will be launched in 2014 to detect dwarf planets using an infrared telescope. Students solve 3 problems and create a graph for each...
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Planets Mnemonic Phrase
In this planet worksheet, students read 4 different memory devices which will help them learn the planet names in order. These mnemonic phrases will inspire students to make up their own.
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Planets Word Search
In this planets word search worksheet, students search for words that name eight planets reading across, up and down, or diagonally that are hidden in the puzzle. Students find 8 words.
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Seeing a Dwarf Planet Clearly: Pluto
For this dwarf planet worksheet, students use images from the Hubble Space Telescope and they determine the scale of the image, they identify the largest features in the images, they calculate the volume of Pluto and they create a model...
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Stars and Planets
In this space science worksheet, middle schoolers find the words that are related to the vocabulary of stars and planets. The answers are found at the bottom of the page.
Star Wars in the Classroom
Star Wars Geography Unit
What kind of animals live on an ice planet like Hoth? How would the habitat on Tatooine allow different organisms to thrive? Connect social studies, science, and Star Wars in one engaging activity that focuses on the ecosystems of the...