Space Theme

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INTERNET RESOURCES

An Overview of the Solar System
This site contains basic information about the Solar System in very simple terms.
http://www.nineplanets.org/

Discovery Channel Online
Their site contians some great articles on the latest space projects. The day I visited, there was a feature story on Mars, as well as several other space related stories.
http://www.discovery.com/

DSEP(Deep Space Exploration Project)
This is a web-page journey through the solar system, with the help of The Nine Planets pages (listed above). The entire project is on the internet.
http://www.northstar.k12.ak.us/schools/lad...ephomepage.html

Earth and Moon Viewer
This is an INCREDIBLE site!! You can view any part of the Earth you want. You can view the areas in the sun, or in the darkness of the moon. You can choose a city to view as well. FUN!
http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html

Earth and Sky Homepage
http://www.earthsky.com/

Education and Public Outreach Activities at the HEASARC
This is an incredible site that contains an enormous amount of resources. You can find your way to other sites.
http://guinan.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/outreach.html

HEASARC Resources
You can search this site to find more information about the solar system and related people.
http://guinan.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/resources.html

Kid's Web
Astronomy and Space- This site contains another large amount of sites dealing with all aspects of the Solar System.
http://www.npac.syr.edu/textbook/kidsweb/astronomy.html

The Magic School Bus Fun Place
This site may not have solar system activities when you visit it, but it has a great deal of information dealing with the MSB programs.
http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/home.htm

NASA Home Page
This site allows you to find information on NASA's latest projects, as well as information on the Solar System in general. If you don't see what you're looking for, you can search the NASA site.
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/ca...ndexintro.html

National Space Science Data Center Photo Gallery
Solar System Family Portrait includes a very cool picture of our solar system taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft taken from the edge of the solar system.
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/

The Nine Planets
A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System.
http://dept.physics.upenn.edu/nineplanets/

Solar Data Analysis Center
See the sun in a whole new way!
http://umbra.gsfc.nasa.gov/sdac.html

Space Science Hotlist
This is a comprehensive list of space science resources, planets, exploration, stars, NASA, cosmology, teacher resources and ask the astronomer. There are resources to learn how to construct an amateur telescope, a Hubble Space Telescope model, and a space educator handbook.
http://sln.fi.edu/tfi/hotlists/space.html

The Solar System in Pictures
Astronomy webquests and pictures of all the planets in the solar system. There are picture quizzes on all the other solar system websites as well.
http://www.the-solar-system.net/

Star Child
A learning center for young astronomers.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/...StarChild.html

TeacherLINK
After you get to TeacherLINK, click on the NASA Resources. This will take you to the
NASA Educator Resource Center at Utah State University.
Here you will find an incredible amount of resources!
http://www.teacherlink.usu.edu/index.html

Ulysses/NASA home page
The Ulysses Mission - A Deep Space Voyage to High Latitudes over the Solar Poles. This site contains some incredible pictures and information about the Ulysses voyages.
http://ulysses.jpl.nasa.gov/

Walk the Solar System
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/

Your Weight On Other Worlds
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/index.html

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Activity
Planet Activity

Props: Color (or paint) a white paper plate yellow. Label it "Sun". Label 9 white paper plates: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

Have a child stand first in line (holding the "sun" plate). Have the children (child) put the planets in order.

(http://www.fastq.com/%7Ejbpratt/educ...eme/space.html)

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SONG

Song:
(This song takes about 3 minutes to sing but the children will learn the order of the planets.)

There Are Nine Planets
Copyright © 2003 Barbara Prat. All rights reserved.
Tune: Mary Had A Little Lamb

The-re a-re nine planets,
nine planets, nine planets.
The-re a-re nine planets.
they rotate around the sun.

Fi-rst co-mes Mercury,
Mercury, Mercury, Mercury.
Fi-rst co-mes Mercury,
it rotates around the sun.

Second co-mes Venus.
Thi-rd co-mes Earth.
Four-th co-mes Mars.
Fif-th co-mes Jupiter.
Six-th co-mes Saturn.
Seventh co-mes Uranus.
Eighth co-mes Neptune.
Nin-th co-mes Pluto.

The-se a-re the nine planets,
nine planets, nine planets.
The-se a-re the nine planets,
that rotate around the sun.

(You can say, "Hoorah", etc. and spread your arms out)

Note: If you don't sing the above song, you can say, "Which planet comes next." or "Which planet comes after ...".

(http://www.fastq.com/%7Ejbpratt/educ...eme/space.html)

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Crafts

Shoe Box Planet Mobile
Make a sun and 9 planets out of paper. Decorate the circles how you would like them (the sun is usually yellow). (You can glue them on cardboard.) Hole punch a hole. Place string or yarn through the hole. Tie off. Make holes on the top of a shoe box. Make a space background. Tie the sun first and then the planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.


Hanger Planet Mobile
Make a sun and 9 planets out of paper. Decorate the circles how you would like them (the sun is usually yellow). (You can glue them on cardboard.) Hole punch a hole. Place string or yarn through the hole. Tie off. Tie on a hanger. (If you use a metal hanger, make sure to put some tape on the pointy end.)

(http://www.fastq.com/%7Ejbpratt/educ...eme/space.html)

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Picture BOOKS

Picture Books for Pre K to 2nd grade
http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/ys/BOOKS/starbks.htm

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Lesson Plans

Amazing Space is a set of web-based activities primarily designed for classroom use.
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/


Astronomy in a Puddle
Teach at what point the sun is in the sky by using a reflective puddle.
http://www2.yarden.ac.il/bloss/IAS/unit1_11/epool.htm

Astronomy With a Stick
Teach students about the sun's shadow and the changing of seasons.
http://www2.yarden.ac.il/bloss/IAS/unit1_1/eclock1.htm

Astronomy With Glass
This activity shows what happens when light passes through two unparalleled sides.
http://www2.yarden.ac.il/bloss/IAS/unit1_8/eglass1.htm

Astronomy With Air-Why do stars glimmer? This activity uses lenses to illustrate the glittering of stars.
http://www2.yarden.ac.il/bloss/IAS/u...3/airstar1.htm

Aurora Borealis: What Creates These Shimmering Celestial Lights?
http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperim...n/Borealis.html

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Lesson PLans

Constellations (grades 3-6)
http://www.col-ed.org/cur/sci/sci05.txt

Counting the Stars-An activity where sky charts are made to estimate how many stars are visible in the night sky.
http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperim...countstars.html

Cratering in Your Classroom
http://www.eoascientific.com/prototype/new...rth/earth4.html

Crazy Craters - students do a variety of activities to simulate how cratering occurs by dropping and throwing objects at a chocolate-powder surface on top of flour.
http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/10feb00/teach10.html

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Lesson Plans

Distances in the Solar System
This exercise uses familiar distances and relates them to astronomical distances so that students can sense their reality.
http://www2.yarden.ac.il/bloss/IAS/unit1_4/dist1.htm

Edible Rocks Teacher Page From Exploring Meteorite Mysteries
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_act...bleRocksTe.html

Exploring Planets in the Classroom - wonderful hands-on activities!
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/index.html

Finding Your Way Around the Sky
This activity teaches how to locate certain stars and constellations by using longitude and latitude in the earth's sky.
http://www.mscd.edu/~physics/astro/direct.htm

First Look at the Night Sky
This lesson provides a road map to the world of stars. Students can learn to identify the sky's brightest stars.
http://www2.yarden.ac.il/bloss/IAS/unit1_7/firstlk1.htm

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Lesson Plans

How to See Around Corners
Students observe a ray of light penetrating glass and then predict where the ray of light will hit the surface.
http://www2.yarden.ac.il/bloss/IAS/unit1_6/ehow2s1.htm

Impact Cratering: Students drop projectiles into a tray of sand, make craters on various types of surfaces, and measure their results
http://www.astrosociety.org/educatio...tnl/23/23.html

Invent an Alien
This classic activity by Dennis Schatz asks students to invent a more-or-less plausible life form that could survive on one of the moons and planets in our solar system.
http://www.astrosociety.org/educatio...tnl/01/01.html

The K-8 Aeronautics Internet Textbook Aeronautics lesson plans, sign language demos, activities, the dynamics of tennis balls, and aerospace careers are just a few of the selections available at this site. Through an agreement with NASA the University of California at Davis has developed these educational materials on beginner, intermediate, and advanced grade levels for classroom teachers. Be sure and check out the mythology section for aerospace related activities.
http://wings.avkids.com/

K-8 Aeronautics Lessons
These lessons are designed to complement the K-8 Aeronautics Textbook developed in cooperation with NASA. They provide a set of lessons keyed to the material presented at the site.
http://wings.ucdavis.edu/Curriculums/

Kids on Mars
http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperim...n/kidsmars.html

Live From Mars
Become a classroom that participates in this exciting Live From Mars project! It enhances student understanding of the climate, atmosphere, and geology of Mars as well.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/

Luna and Io A Comparison Study
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/edu/moonio.htm

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Lesson Plans

Make a Comet Nucleus
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/edu/comets.htm

Making a Comet in the Classroom
Neat activity for middle school students
http://www.noao.edu/education/crecipe.html

Making a sun clock lesson plan
Instructions for building a sun-clock, using their print-out and a compass, to measure local solar time.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/science.../sunclock.html

Meteors: What Are Meteors and Where Do They Come From?
http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperim...on/meteors.html

The Moon's 29 Faces
This activity uses a story and changing photographs of the moon to teach about the lunar cycle.
http://www2.yarden.ac.il/bloss/IAS/unit1_10/emoonp1.htm

Moon Phases
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/moon_phases.html

NASAexplores
This NASA website provides weekly lesson plans for Grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Topics will be selected from current NASA Aerospace Technology and Human Exploration of Space topics. A great site for enriching existing curriculum.
http://www.nasaexplores.com/

NASA Observatorium Teacher Guides
http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/education/teach_guide/

NASA Quest Aerospace Team Online
http://quest.nasa.gov/aero/teachers/learning.html