Students discuss the benefits of the International Space Station. They evaluate the challenges the designers faced when trying to design the space station. Students discuss the use of scale models when designing large structures and...

Students study the International Space Station and space exploration.  In this space travel instructional activity students describe the different types of engineers that contribute to space travel.

Does a spider spin its web differently in space? What other ways might microgravity affect an arachnid? Pick a topic to research, plan an investigation, and follow astronauts on the International Space Station as they perform some of the...

How does gravity affect the life cycle of a butterfly? Learn first-hand what types of investigations astronauts perform in space by following along with one of NASA's experiments. Create butterfly habitats in the classroom with specific...

How do you know there is air? Can you see it, smell it, feel it? To begin the investigation, learners watch a video and discuss what they know about air and the atmosphere. Then, they participate in five different hands-on, inquiry-based...

Focus on inquiry-based learning in your science class with a series of activities designed for middle schoolers. A helpful packet samples four different texts, which include activities about predator-prey relationships, Earth's axis...

Students explore the potential challenges of living in space.  In this investigative lesson plan students search the Internet to locate 16 nations that are working together to build the Independent Space Station, then they divide...

Science can be quite tasty. A delectable unit from NASA shows learners why it's important to consider food, nutrition, and health in space. Four lessons explore the idea in great depth, including testing cookie recipes. Along the way,...

Students research and compare/contrast how routine tasks on Earth would be without gravity. They read and discuss the article "The Life Galactic: A Lot of Work, a Little Play, Plenty of E-Mail." In groups they write a pitch for a TV...

Sixth graders look at toys in space. For this gravity lesson, 6th graders make predictions about what different toys will do with zero gravity. They watch a space video and see what happens to these toys in space.

Young scholars participate in a science lesson that integrates connections between health issues on Earth and how those issues are related to studies conducted on the International Space Station. T

Students explore the effects of velocity on an object when it collides with another object. They design and outfit a potato astronaut in a spacesuit to withstand the hazards of high velocity impacts from space debris and meteoroids.

Students design and build one of three engineering problems dealing with living and working in space.

Eighth graders examine the ways that NASA could create space farms,  In this space farms lesson students complete an experiment where they grow several plants. 

Construct a maze in your classroom and have a blindfolded scientist act as a space rover, maneuvering unfamiliar terrain while another scientist plays commander. Classmates record the number of occurrences of the commander having to...

Our bodies have some amazing capabilities, but there are some limitations. Explore the limitations of the human eye through the eighth lab activity in a series of 12 biology lessons. Individuals measure their own peripheral vision...

From their sweat to the water vapor in their breath, astronauts recycle every possible drop of water while in space. After watching a short video describing the different ways materials are recycled and reused in space...

Students investigate space travel. In this science lesson, students discuss the space station and its representation in orbit. They talk about food, travel and survival in space with the correct equipment.

Take young geologists on an exploration of the rock cycle with this six-lesson earth science unit on rocks and minerals. Through a series of discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on investigations your class will learn...

Student groups rotate through four stations to examine light energy behavior: refraction, magnification, prisms and polarization. They see how a beam of light is refracted (bent) through various transparent mediums. Students investigate...

Learners discover how scientific methods are integral to the creation of energy. In this energy resources instructional activity, students follow the provided procedures to learn how science impacts energy production.

Young scholars examine the use of space as the frontier of the future. Using the colonist's experience coming to the New World, they identify challenges they would face if they were to settle in space. As a class, they share what they...

Students study the physical properties of the Moon.  In this life on the moon lesson students describe the ways life on the Moon would be different than on Earth. 

Students work together to design an experiment that compares and contrasts differnet plant cultivation systems. In groups, they evaluate the results of the experiment to discover if the cultivation system could be used in space. They...