Curated OER
Your Address in the Galaxy
Students create a business card after researching their location in space and determining their Galactic Address.
Curated OER
Newton's Theory of Universal Gravitation
Students explore how Newton tied together the gravity observed on Earth and the motion of the Moon. They apply an earlier lesson about centripetal forces.
Curated OER
Our Universe: Always Moving, Always Changing
Students explore the main concepts of astronomy through the eleven lessons of this unit. The past, present, and future methods of studying the science are examined in this unit.
Curated OER
Chandra Spies the Longest Sound Wave in the Universe!
In this black hole instructional activity, students use an x-ray image and a sound waves image to determine the size and the wavelength of the sound wave. This instructional activity has 3 problems to solve.
Curated OER
Our Place in Space
Third graders identify the different planets that make up the solar system. In this space science lesson, 3rd graders construct a scale model of the major planets. They explore their different unique features and dress up as planets.
Curated OER
How Many Quasars Are There?
In this quasars instructional activity, students read about how astronomers can detect quasars by their luminosity. Students use a given equation to solve 4 problems including finding quasar magnitude, determining the number of quasars...
Curated OER
Fact or Fantasy?
Are we alone in the universe? This brief informational text on extraterrestrial theory has been split into seven sections to help scholars practice note taking. They read the statements, underlining key words. Then, using the graphic...
Curated OER
Understanding the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
How did our universe really begin? Explore the Science Big Bang Theory and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with this multiple activity-based lesson that demonstrates that the increase of density due to the decrease of temperatures,...
Curated OER
The Battle for Ultimate Power
Middle schoolers gain an understanding of how the powers of 10 and scientific notation can be used to represent the scale of things in the universe. They relate the number of stars in the universe to the number of grains of sand on...
NASA
The Atmospheric Filter
What is the difference between a comet and a meteoroid? An educational lesson includes five demonstrations of how the atmosphere can inhibit our ability to measure many things in the galaxy.
NASA
Space Images
As technology advances, so does our understanding of the universe around us. Thanks to the Hubble Telescope, Mars rovers, and other high-resolution cameras, there are amazing photographs of celestial bodies, planets, comets, and more...
K5 Learning
Space Based Astronomy
How much astronomy can you study with the naked eye? Learn more about the ways scientists explore the galaxy with a short reading passage and set of short-answer questions.
American Museum of Natural History
What is Astronomy?
Go study the universe. Pupils learn seven aspects about astronomy and astronomers. They begin to learn about constellations; distance and motion between objects; gravity; the electromagnetic spectrum; dark matter and energy; and teams of...
NASA
Discovering the Milky Way
What do you call a tiny collection of galaxies? A puny-verse! Young scholars graph data gathered by scientists studying Cepheids. They attempt to identify a relationship between the variables through standard and logarithmical graphing....
K5 Learning
The Astronomy Project
A passage about an astronomy lesson may leave readers starstruck. Fifth graders read about a class's exploration into the makeup of the galaxy and its constellations before answering six questions about the terms and vocabulary words...
Curated OER
Our Home in the Milky Way
Young scholars gain appreciation of the vastness of our galaxy by viewing an applet about the Milky Way. Students hypothesize about how long it would take to get from Earth to Pluto.
Curated OER
Hubble Space Telescope
Young scholars investigate the universe through the eyes of the Hubble space telescope. They conduct research from looking at the universe that is simulated with a digital projector. The images are projected onto the wall in a simulation...
NASA
Stellar Fingerprints and Doppler Red Shifts
Young scientists observe the spectra of elements and compare that to the Doppler effect. Hook scholars from the beginning all the way to the extension activities in this 5E-format lesson.
American Museum of Natural History
Planetary Mysteries
A website all about planetary mysteries—it's a one-stop-shop for all things, stars, planets, and space travel. Scholars read an astronomy overview to discover the page's big ideas, then choose from the plethora of resources, including...
Curated OER
Learning from Light: The Big Bang
Learners explore what astronomers are able to examine our galaxy and universe by examining light. They explore in this sub-unit the formation of the universe, commonly called "The Big Bang," and it follows studying from the Light: The...
Curated OER
20th-Century Astronomy
Pupils examine and explain how the distance to nearby stars can be measured by the parallax method, discuss the role of women in the history of American astronomy, form their own opinions of the importance of Harlow Shapley and Edwin...
Curated OER
Solar System
In this space science worksheet, middle schoolers complete each statement with the correct word or phrase related to the solar system. Then they locate each of the planets in a word search that follows.
Curated OER
Solar System Socratic Questions
Students reflect on and discuss theories of how the solar system was formed. They respond to prompts in a structured sequence to relate the formation of the solar system and the age of the Earth.
Curated OER
Top 10 Facts About Space
Students create their own Top 10 Facts about any topic related to space. In this space lesson, students work in groups to produce a Top Ten List of facts about space and share with their classmates. Groups choose a fact to research and...