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Curated OER

Exploring the Planets

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students study robotic spacecrafts that have provided detailed information about the inner and outer planets. In this exploring the planets lesson plan, students use posters and diagrams to study the various robotic spacecraft sent to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Far Away Are the Planets?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students name nine planets in order, describe some notable characteristics of the planets, explain how distance from the sun may affect these characteristics, and create solar system models.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discovering Planet X

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate the movements of the planet Pluto. Students participate in a hands-on activity to record data similar to the movements of the planet Pluto. Students compare their data to that found on a website.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar System and Planets

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students identify the main components of the solar system. In this earth science instructional activity, students order the planets according to their distances from the Sun. They differentiate planets from dwarf planets.
Lesson Plan
Journey Through the Universe

Our Solar System

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Take your class on a journey through our solar system. Learners explore each planet, from Mercury to Pluto, and discuss various features that differentiate one from another. They complete activities related to the topics and discuss the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Planets in Balance

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students study the solar system by researching the planets.  In this exploratory lesson students divide into teams and create mobiles.
Interactive
McGraw Hill

Orbital Velocity Interactive

For Students 9th - Higher Ed
Why does it take Pluto 90,000 days to orbit the sun, but it only takes Mercury 88 days? An interactive lesson helps pupils find a connection between the speed of orbit and distance a planet is from the sun. The simulation allows for...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Categorizing Celestial Objects

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students work together to develop a classification system for planets. They take a class vote and read an article about an astronomer's classification system. They write an essay on how scientists make decisions for the general public.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Planets in our Solar System

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Learners learn the order and key characteristics of each planet in our solar system. In this solar system lesson, students work in groups to characterize each planet on an index card. They use their index cards to put the planets in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Toilet Paper Solar System

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students create a model of the distances of the planets in the solar system using sheets of toilet paper and markers. Generally accepted orbital parameters are applied.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Walk a Mile in your Orbit

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers create an awareness of the distance between the planets and the complexity of the solar system through a model of an active solar system. they incorporate physical education and math with the ability to convert distances...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Space Exploration to Find Habitable Planets

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Students explore space science by reviewing scientific vocabulary terms. In this planet identification lesson, students identify the nine planets in our solar system and discuss which ones could potentially harbor life at some point....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Our Place in Space

For Teachers 3rd
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Solar System Walk

For Teachers 11th - 12th
A unique lesson on the solar system, and some of the mathematics associated with it, is here for your high schoolers. Pupils are put into groups of four, and each group is assigned one of the planets from our solar system. They must...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Milky Way and Beyond

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Young scholars consider the scale of the Milky Way Galaxy. In this Milky Way lesson, students hypothesize the length of time necessary to cross the Milky Way.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Objects in the Solar System

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders define a planet by the orbit around the sun, have a large enough gravitational force to hold a sphere shape and needs to clear the neighboorhood of it own orbital zone. They describe comets, meteoroids, meteor, meteorites...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Toilet Paper Solar System

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Students classify the planets in the solar system, study planetary objects, and measure the relative distance between planets. In this solar system lesson, students use toilet paper to complete a scale model of the distance between the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Our Solar System #1

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars examine the different theories on how our solar system was formed. They discover the order of the nine planets. They also identify the surface features of each planet.
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Our Universe: Always Moving, Always Changing

For Teachers 3rd
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Interplanetary Distance and Travel Time

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Students are introduced to the challenges involved in understanding the space travel distances and the time involved to do so through the use of an interactive fable. The modeling and comparisons deal with specific distances at different...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Solar System

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students describe the different bodies that make up our solar system, explain the place of our solar system within the Milky Way Galaxy and the universe, explain day and night and the Earth's movement, and describe the relationship...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Types of Galaxies

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders take a quiz to review the different objects in space. As a class, they define terms related to galaxies. In groups, they make a model of the Milky Way galaxy using materials provided to them by their teacher. To end the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring the Speed of Light

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers explore physics by completing measurement problems in class. In this speed of light lesson, students discuss the importance of knowing the speed of light and how it affects many aspects of human life on Earth. High...

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