American Museum of Natural History
Journey to the Stars
Fifteen detailed pictures and informative captions delve deep into the exploration of stars—their life cycle and importance in the universe.
NOAA
The Great, Glowing Orb What You Will Do: Make a Solar Heat Engine
How is solar energy able to move wind and water to control the climate? Scholars explore the concept of solar energy in the first of 10 activities in the Discover Your Changing World series. They follow instructions to build homemade...
Space Awareness
Climate Zones
The climate at the equator is hotter than the climate at the poles, but why? The lesson plan goes in depth, explaining how the angles of illumination relate to the heating rate at different latitudes and seasons. Scholars use a strong...
Curated OER
Scale Activities
How do you put something as large as the universe in perspective? Use a series of scale experiments. Classmates collaborate around four experiments to examine the scale of the earth-moon system, our solar system, the Milky Way galaxy,...
Curated OER
Earth
First graders define what a planet is and study the planet earth. They examine the effects of the sun on the earth and make a model.
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Mercury
In this planet science activity, students learn 7 facts about the planet Mercury. Students also read a short paragraph about the planet.
Curated OER
Uranus
In this planet science worksheet, students learn 6 facts about the planet Uranus. Students also read a paragraph containing more information about the planet.
Curated OER
Sunspots: Correlating Sunspots to Active Regions
Students investigate sunspots. They use solar imaging from satellite instruments which are currently circling the sun. Students compare images from the satellites and determine the existence of a correlation between the two types of...
Curated OER
Solar System: Mars
Students research Mars, read why it is called the Red Planet and find out whether there is or was life on Mars.
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Astronomy and Me: Moons Over New Haven
Third graders study the features of different moons orbiting the planets. In this astronomy lesson, 3rd graders explore the different phases of the moon using an interactive online website. They compare and contrast the features of the...
Curated OER
Stars in Your Eyes
In this solar system worksheet, students answer 20 short answer questions about the stars, the planets, the sun and moon, meteorites and constellations.
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Mercury
Students study the planet Mercury and develop an understanding of the planet's composition, geology, and other important characteristics. They explore a Web resource on the planet Mercury which is the central focus of this lesson.
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Spinning into Space
Students, through hands-on activities, teacher demonstrations, pictures, and informational books, complete a unit on the Earth and its place in the Universe. They make mobiles of the Milky Way and watch demonstrations of lunar and solar...
Curated OER
Cosmic Wheels
Young scholars build a scale model of the Solar System and determine the time other planets take to travel around the Sun in comparison to the time of the Earth's revolution. The velocity of the planets are also determined in this lesson.
Curated OER
Groups, Clusters and Individuals
In this galaxies, clusters and planets worksheet, students solve 5 problems including determining sunspot groups on the sun in a particular day, finding the number of individual galaxies present, determining the number of stars in...
Curated OER
Earth Rotation
Students examine the rotation of the Earth as it occurs in the 24 hour cycle. They use models of planets and the globe to make observations of movements made. Students brainstorm prior knowledge and then participate in a demonstration of...
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Gravity Gets You Down
Students investigate the force of gravity and how it effects different objects that are put into acceleration when applied the experiment of free falling. They drop different objects that have a variety of masses and some that cause air...
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The Stellar Magnitude Scale
In this stellar magnitude scale worksheet, learners use a scale showing the magnitude of objects in the sky to answer 5 questions about the brightness of the moon, the planets and stars.
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Fractions in Space
In this fractions in space worksheet, students solve 4 problems where they find ratios of orbit periods of satellites, they find the ratio of Neptune's and Pluto's periods, they determine the location of the planets after 5 opposition...
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Voyage: A Journey through our Solar System
Learners build the Voyage scale model of the Solar System on a playground and "travel" to each planet. They recognize that the Sun and planets are tiny worlds in a vast space, giving them a new perspective on the Solar System, and...
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Moons Of The Solar System
Learners investigate the solar system and its moons. They conduct research in groups to find information. Also the teacher uses models of the planets in order to teach different facts about the solar system through the use of...
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Meteorites
Students model how meteors fall to the surface of planets. In this space science lesson, students identify different types of meteorites using an interactive online website. They investigate the relationship between a meteorite's size...
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Astronomy Merit Badge
Young scholars explore astronomy through the Starry Night Constellation Adventure software. They print star charts and identify constellations. They sketch the Big Dipper and describe the Milky Way. They list the five most visible...
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Space Science: Journey Through the Solar System
Students explore the Solar System and examine the characteristics of al the planets. Through research and discussion, they create catalogs of the Solar System's components. Next, students use their findings to create Powerpoint...