American Museum of Natural History
A Closer Look at Mars
A website looks at how we know so much about Mars—telescopes, robots, and spacecraft—and the search for martian life. Following the informational text are three questions that quiz pupils about possible life on Mars.
Curated OER
Mars: Off the Charts--Until You Put It There
Learners explore the night sky and make illustrations which are shared in class the next day. Distinctions are made between the stars and the planets and views of the constellations for the season are made available. The work of early...
Curated OER
Space - In Your Face or Not?
Second graders, in groups, examine how it doesn't matter if they can see the planets in the solar system or not--they're there.
PHET
My Solar System
Orbit diagrams appear to be a work of mathematical art. The simulation helps scholars build their own systems of planets, stars, moons, etc., to observe their orbits. By altering their positions, velocities, and masses, a variety of...
K5 Learning
Miss Mitchell's Comet
Maria Mitchell discovered a comet, became the first female astronomer in the United States, and even has a crater on the moon named after her! Learn more about her passion for the stars with an informative reading passage, followed by...
American Museum of Natural History
How Did the Universe Begin?
The Big Bang Theory is more than a television show. Pupils read how Edwin Hubble observed other galaxies and noticed that the galaxies are moving away from each other. Scholars learn about the idea of the big bang and what happened next...
Mrs. Sol's Class
Solar System Project
Finish or launch your unit on the solar system with a jigsaw project covering major celestial concepts such as the Milky Way Galaxy, asteroids, meteors, comets, Earth's moon, and, of course, all the planets. Learners start by writing...
University of Colorado
The Jovian Basketball Hoop
Can you listen to Jupiter on a simple radio? Turns out the answer is yes! The resource instructs scholars to build a simple radio to pick up the radio waves created when the charged particles from the sun hit Jupiter's magnetic...
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
Solar System
In this solar system, students review information about the planets found in our solar system. Students complete 15 fill in the blank questions and then find the 9 planets in a word search.
Curated OER
The Planet Earth
Learners explore the planet Earth, outer space, and Earth's axis. They demonstrate reading comprehension skills, including literal meaning, inference and critical analysis.
Curated OER
Space Trader and Economics
Students use handheld computer with the appropriate software to explore economic skills. They purchase and sell items, travel to planets, and earn enough money to purchase a moon by playing a computer based game.
Curated OER
Modeling Celestial Motion
In this modeling celestial motion instructional activity, students fill in the blank about the motion of celestial bodies: planets and stars. Students complete the blanks with information about the scientists and philosophers responsible...
Curated OER
Stellarium
Students explore the rotation of the planets from various locations on Earth
Using planetarium software, they will make observations, and explain how the rotation of the planets varies based on ones location on the Earth. Students...
Curated OER
Solar System
Students study space. In this solar system lesson, students discover the correct order of the planets and create a diagram showing this knowledge. They listen to the book A New View of the Solar System and then work in groups on their...
Curated OER
Earth
Fourth graders engage in a study of the solar system. The teacher constructs an outside model of it. They walk through it making constructive observations. Students conduct a class discussion about the solar system and planets. They...
Curated OER
WEAVING TECHNOLOGY INTO THEMATIC UNITS
Fourth graders explore the planets by researching and writing a report about one of the nine planets.
Curated OER
Out of this World! 1
In this space science activity, students use reference books or Internet searches to find the answers to 15 questions about the solar system.
Curated OER
Solar System Bead Distance Activity
Middle schoolers create a scaled solar system model using colorful beads. In this space science instructional activity, students convert AU units into metric measurements. They arrange the planets according to their distances from the sun.
Curated OER
Exploring the Constellations, a WebQuest Activity
Students explore space science by participating in a class WebQuest. In this constellation identification instructional activity, students view star charts based on the four seasons and identify the changes our sky goes through in the...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Constellations
In this constellations worksheet, learners define and discuss forty key terms associated with constellations and circle each one in a word search puzzle.
Curated OER
Finding the Pole Star
Students study the constellations fo the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia and their use in finding the Pole Star. They realize that other celestial objects--Sun, Moon and planets--share the rotation (and hence rise and set), even though their...
Curated OER
A DISAPPEARING ACT Astronomy: Do Stars Always Shine?
Students observe why stars are not visible during the day with a classroom demonstration using an index card punched with holes.