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Activity

How Far Away Is Space?

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This How Far Away Is Space? activity also includes:

Outer space may be a lot closer than you think! Science scholars model the layers of the atmosphere using transparencies to gain insight into the scale of space. The resource includes ideas to tailor the activity to the skill level of the class, as well as detailed descriptions to help you set the stage.

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Concepts
space, the earth's atmosphere, atmospheric layers, distance, the stratosphere, the troposphere, the mesosphere, exosphere, the thermosphere, weather, scale models
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Additional Tags
science
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Instructional Ideas
  • Make the activity the focus of a scale, proportion, and quantity investigation
  • Extend the lesson by asking groups to calculate how many transparency sheets they would need to model the distance to the moon or sun
Classroom Considerations
  • Learners should be aware of the different layers of the atmosphere by name before beginning the activity
  • Create groups in advance to ensure you have enough maps for each group
Pros
  • The resource is an innovative way to present Earth's atmospheric layers 
  • Materials are simple and reusable year after year
Cons
  • None