OER Commons has worked with some of the most trusted and innovative OER science educators out there to bring you resources aligned and evaluated against the Next Generation Science Standards.
This lesson investigates the alignment of the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun during a solar eclipse and model that alignment with classroom materials.
Learn facts about a solar eclipse and how to safely view one.
STEM in 30 celebrates the 2017 Great American Eclipse live from Liberty, Missouri, in the path of totality, and at the Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory at the Museum in Washington, DC.
Astronaut Randy Bresnik will have a unique view as he watches from space. In this episode of ISS Science, find out how the ISS crew will watch and learn how to build your own eclipse.
Don't have solar glasses? Don't worry. Here are five unique ways to view an eclipse, including using a cracker!
Learn how eclipses work by making your own with some clay, toothpicks, binder clips, a yardstick and don't forget the Sun!
How can you safely view the August 21 solar eclipse? What is a solar eclipse? Where can you see this upcoming eclipse?
An introduction to our solar system the planets, our Sun and Moon. To begin, students learn about the history and engineering of space travel. They make simple rockets to acquire a basic understanding Newton's third law of motion. They explore energy transfer concepts and use renewable solar energy for cooking. They see how engineers design tools, equipment and spacecraft to go where it is too far and too dangerous for humans. They explore the Earth's water cycle, and gravity as applied to orbiting bodies. They learn the steps of the design process as they create their own models of planetary rovers made of edible parts. Students conduct experiments to examine soil for signs of life, and explore orbit transfers. While studying about the International Space Station, they investigate the realities of living in space. Activities explore low gravity on human muscles, eating in microgravity, and satellite tracking. Finally, students learn about the context of our solar system the universe as they learn about the Hubble Space Telescope, celestial navigation and spectroscopy.
Get creative during a solar eclipse and find out how to use the Sun as an artistic tool.
This is a 30 minute lesson where students will be able to:
1. Describe the size, composition, and motion of meteors and comets.
2. Discuss the similarities and differences in comets and meteors.
3. Explain:
a. what happens to meteors as they fall through the atmosphere
b. why comet debris is observed as a meteor shower from the Earth
c. how the planet's gravitational forces affect a comet's orbit.
d. why we see a comet's tail.
e. why a comet disintegrates when it gets close to the sun.
Rating: Example of High Quality NGSS Design if Improved
Science Discipline: Earth & Space Sciences, Physical Sciences
Length: Unit
In Investigating Life on the Third Rock, middle school students work to generate and explore the overarching question of “How does the solar system and its objects affect life on Earth?” Students use modeling and argumentation to explore the lesson-level questions: “What properties of the solar system and its objects help explain why Earth can sustain life?” “Does the Moon affect life on Earth?” and “Why do the solar system and its objects move like they do?”
Why does the Moon not always look the same to us? Sometimes it is a big, bright, circle, but, other times, it is only a tiny sliver, if we can see it at all. The different shapes and sizes of the slivers of the Moon are referred to as its phases, and they change periodically over the course of a lunar month, which is twenty-eight days long. The phases are caused by the relative positions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon at different times during the month.
How are we connected to the patterns we see in the sky and space? Students develop models for the Earth-Sun and Earth-Sun-Moon systems that explain some of the patterns in the sky that they have identified, including seasons, eclipses, and lunar phases. They investigate a series of related phenomena motivated by their questions and ideas for investigations.
This unit is part of the OpenSciEd core instructional materials for middle school.
Students work in teams of two to discover the relative positions of the Earth, Sun and Moon that produce the different phases of the Moon. Groups are each given a Styrofoam ball that they attach to a pencil so that it looks like a lollipop. In this acting-out model exercise, this ball on a stick represents the Moon, the students represent the Earth and a hanging lightbulb serves as the Sun. Students move the "Moon" around them to discover the different phases. They fill in the position of the Moon and its corresponding phase in a worksheet.
This Motions of the Sun Lab is an interactive applet from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Astronomy Applet project.
Use this slide show to help students explore what a meteorite is and how can they help us better understand Earth and our Solar System.
This activity engages learners to investigate the impact of Earth's tilt and the angle of solar insolation as the reason for seasons by doing a series of hands-on activities that include scale models. Students plot the path of the Sun's apparent movement across the sky on two days separated by three months of time.
This collection of learning activities allows students to explore phenology, phenological changes over time, and how these changes fit into the larger context of climate change. Students explore patterns of solar radiation and seasons as well as phenological cycles and ecological affects of these patterns.
Students learn about the Earth's only natural satellite, the Moon. They discuss the Moon's surface features and human exploration. They also learn about how engineers develop technologies to study and explore the Moon, which also helps us learn more about the Earth.
No matter where you live, there are things to observe in the night sky. In this episode learn how you can become a night sky observer.