Enchanted Learning
Enchanted Learning: Zoom Astronomy
Where is our Solar System? How far away is the sun? What makes up the sun? Find out all you want to know about our solar system. This is a comprehensive on-line site about space and astronomy. Check out all of the excitement!
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: Classroom Planetarium
Create a classroom model of the solar system while teaching about relative size of all the planets, and each planet's distance from the sun.
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: O Logy: Stuff to Do: Scavenger Hunt
Illustrated instructions for creating a scale model of the solar system.
Curated OER
University of Maryland: The Astronomy Workshop
Find tools to calculate astronomical distances and sizes, to view various Solar System models, to compare gravity's affect on weight, and more. A good place to find interesting facts, simple animations, and astronomy links to physics and...
Curated OER
University of Maryland: The Astronomy Workshop
Find tools to calculate astronomical distances and sizes, to view various Solar System models, to compare gravity's affect on weight, and more. A good place to find interesting facts, simple animations, and astronomy links to physics and...
The Wonder of Science
The Wonder of Science: Ms Ess1 1: Earth Sun Moon System
Develop and use a model of the earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.
NASA
Nasa: Mars and Earth: Science Learning Activities for Afterschool
This set of activities teaches students about the big picture of science using Mars as an example: how to collect data, use evidence, and look at models.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Daylighting Design
Students explore the many different ways that engineers provide natural lighting to interior spaces. They analyze various methods of daylighting by constructing model houses from foam core board and simulating the sun with a desk lamp....
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: An Inflated Impression of Mars
The purpose of this activity is to use scaling in order to give students an idea of the size of Mars in relation to the Earth and the Moon as well as the distance between them. The students will have to calculate dimensions of the scaled...
University of California
Uc Berkeley: At Home Astronomy: The Size and Distance of Planets
In this activity, "You will investigate the concepts of relative size and distance by creating a basic model of our solar system." Planet printouts are provided and this site contains related links.
Other
Planetary Science Institute: Building Planets at Psi
An article about the Planetary Science Institutes's advanced computer software, which it uses to model the way the solar system may have formed. Includes some insights into the results already obtained.
Famous Scientists
Famous Scientists: Aristarchus
Find out about the ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician who presented the first known model that placed the Sun at the center of the known universe with the Earth revolving around it.
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Models of the Earth and Moon
This lesson plan from the Illinois Institute of Technology demonstrates the causes of; day and night, seasons, and phases of the moon.With a few items, you help the elementary student discover why these phenomena occur.
National Geographic
National Geographic: Planetary Size and Distance Comparison
Students review the sizes of planets and their order relative to the Sun. They then learn about astronomical uses and create a model of the solar system that reflects planetary distances. Includes handouts and worksheets as well as a...
Concord Consortium
The Concord Consortium: Molecular Workbench Zoom It
See examples of scales based on a range from ten to the twelfth meters to ten to the negative twelth meters. Examples range from parts of our solar system to the nucleus of an atom.
Other
Paper Plate Education: Serving the Universe on a Paper Plate
Excellent resource for "paper-plate" activities that help simplify various astronomy topics. Learn how to build a "Moon Finder" and "Planet Pointer," and create a paper-plate model that explains the Transit of Venus.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy Efficient Housing
We all know that it takes energy to provide us with the basics of shelter: heating, cooling, lighting, electricity, sanitation and cooking. To create energy-efficient housing that is practical for people to use every day requires...
PBS
Pbs: People & Discoveries: Ernest Rutherford
A lovely biographical piece about Ernest Rutherford. A number of personal notes, along with extensive information about the physics work he did. Nice quote at the end.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: The Wind Swe Home Page
This is a technical site from MIT. It provides data and information from satellites which observe solar winds. Provide 3-D models of the heliosphere and uptodate plots of solar wind data.
NASA
Nasa: Astronomy Picture of the Day: Jupiter's Clouds 3 D
Every day is a cloudy day on Jupiter, the Solar System's reigning gas giant. This 3-dimensional visualization presents a simplified model view from between Jovian cloud decks based on imaging and spectral data recorded by the Galileo...
ArtsNow
Arts Now Learning: Phases of the Moon [Pdf]
In this lesson, 4th graders use their bodies to model the day/night cycles of the Sun and Earth. Next, they discuss the moon's role in the solar system and explore the eight phases of the moon by acting out a story. Finally, a song...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Life Science
This unit covers the processes of photosynthesis, extinction, biomimicry and bioremediation. In the first lesson on photosynthesis, students learn how engineers use the natural process of photosynthesis as an exemplary model of a complex...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Photosynthesis Life's Primary Energy Source
This lesson plan covers the process of photosynthesis and the related plant cell functions of transpiration and cellular respiration. Students will learn how engineers can use the natural process of photosynthesis as an exemplary model...
Curated OER
Saturn Photo
In this activity, "You will investigate the concepts of relative size and distance by creating a basic model of our solar system." Planet printouts are provided and this site contains related links.