Alka-Seltzer Rockets
Topic: Modeling Solar System Objects
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Comets, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud, Earth's Moon
Short Description: Using baking soda and vinegar, propel an object across the floor to introduce the idea of how things move through space.
Analyzing Elemental Abundances
Grade Level: 9-12
Body: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Comets, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud
Mission: Genesis (Our Solar System)
Short Description: Participants will practice and understand the use of ratios in describing the abundances of isotopes.
Follow the Falling Meteorite
Topic: Math
Grade Level: K-4, 5-8
Body: Venus
Short Description: Participants demonstrate and experience the way remote objects or sites can be accurately located by triangulation.
Geologic Landforms of Venus
Topic: Landforms
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Venus
Mission: MESSENGER (Mercury)
Short Description: Participants are introduced to the remote sensing technique of radar imaging using aerial photos to study the geologic features of Venus.
Goldilocks and the Three Planets (Main Portal)
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Venus, Earth, Mars
Short Description: Students determine what some of Earth, Venus and Mars' atmosphere is composed of and then mathematically compare the amount of the greenhouse gas, CO2, on the planets Venus, Earth and Mars in order to determine which has the most. Link to the interactive feature.
Goldilocks and the Three Planets (Student Handout)
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Venus, Earth, Mars
Short Description: Students determine what some of Earth, Venus and Mars' atmosphere is composed of and then mathematically compare the amount of the greenhouse gas, CO2, on the planets Venus, Earth and Mars in order to determine which has the most. Link to the interactive feature.
Goldilocks and the Three Planets (Teacher's Packet)
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Venus, Earth, Mars
Short Description: Students determine what some of Earth, Venus and Mars' atmosphere is composed of and then mathematically compare the amount of the greenhouse gas, CO2, on the planets Venus, Earth and Mars in order to determine which has the most. Link to the interactive feature.
Interactive Periodic Table
Topic: Modeling Solar System Objects
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Venus
Mission: Genesis (Our Solar System)
Short Description: Participants model the process that Mendeleev used to build the periodic table.
It's Just Right
Topic: Life
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Venus
Short Description: Participants examine the relationship between temperature and the growth and survival of organisms in extreme environments.
Life: Here? There? Elsewhere? The Search for Life on Venus and Mars
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Venus, Mars
Short Description: Students investigate the phenomena of life through activities that introduce them to the multidisciplinary sciences of planetology and exobiology. Simulating Venusian and Martian conditions, they explore various means of detecting life in the atmosphere and soils of Earth. They use their findings to propose a spacecraft design for life detection on Venus and Mars.
Life: Here? There? Elsewhere? The Search for Life on Venus and Mars (Mission 11 Alternate "Mission to Mars Spectroscopy")
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Venus, Mars
Short Description: Students investigate the phenomena of life through activities that introduce them to the multidisciplinary sciences of planetology and exobiology. Simulating Venusian and Martian conditions, they explore various means of detecting life in the atmosphere and soils of Earth. They use their findings to propose a spacecraft design for life detection on Venus and Mars.
Life: Here? There? Elsewhere? The Search for Life on Venus and Mars (PowerPoint)
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Venus, Mars
Short Description: Students investigate the phenomena of life through activities that introduce them to the multidisciplinary sciences of planetology and exobiology. Simulating Venusian and Martian conditions, they explore various means of detecting life in the atmosphere and soils of Earth. They use their findings to propose a spacecraft design for life detection on Venus and Mars.
Mars Pathfinder: Egg Drop and Landing
Topic: Modeling Solar System Objects
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Comets, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud, Earth's Moon, Pluto
Mission: Mars Pathfinder (Mars)
Short Description: Design, build, and test a system for landing on the surface of Mars without breaking the cargo, an egg.
Measuring Solar Activity
Topic: Light and Spectra
Grade Level: 9-12
Body: Our Solar System, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Comets, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud
Short Description: Measuring Solar Activity is a multi-part exercise in math and physics for high school students and above. Students will learn graphing, pattern recognition by looking at satellite images and 250 years worth of data, making predictions, and recognizing spacial relationships.
Modeling the Solar System
Topic: Modeling Solar System Objects
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Comets, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud, Earth's Moon
Short Description: This PDF contains four lessons:
1) Modeling Orbits in the Solar System. This lesson models the orbital distances between the planets and shows that the solar system is mostly empty space.
2) Modeling Sizes of Planets. This lesson compares the relative sizes of the planets to those of familiar fruits and vegetables. It also uses size to calculate density and planet composition.
3) Looking Inside Planets. This lesson involves modeling the interior structures of the planets and shows that the solid cores of the gas giants are similar in size to the Earth or Venus.
4) Search for A Habitable Planet. This lesson looks at the characteristics of planets that make them livable, their temperature, and compositions of atmosphere and surface instead of size
or orbit.
Morning Star and Evening Star
Grade Level: K-4
Body: Venus
Short Description: Students participate in a kinesthetic model that demonstrates that Venus is visible in the evening and morning sky.
Mud Splat Craters
Topic: Planetary Surface Processes
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Comets, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud, Earth's Moon, Pluto
Short Description: Observe crater formation in mud to introduce the idea of fluidized craters as seen on the surface of Mars.
Paper Plate Education: Transit Frequency
Grade Level: 9-12
Body: Sun, Venus
Short Description: This activity, by Paper Plate Education, models why Venus' transits come in pairs that are eight years apart, followed alternately by spans of 121 ½ years and 105 ½ years.
Play-Doh Venus Volcanoes
Topic: Modeling Solar System Objects
Grade Level: K-4
Body: Venus
Short Description: This simple activity for young elementary students is based on a middle school activity ("Making and Mapping a Volcano"). After having vinegar/baking soda eruptions, students use Play-Doh to mark where the lava flowed.
Size and Shape Imaged
Topic: Life
Body: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Comets, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud, Earth's Moon
Short Description: This activity contains a series of images of very small things. Students will view the images, hear the information from a script, and make some observations and connections. They will see Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) images of small living organisms and rock surfaces. Then, using their new perspective, they will view unidentified samples and speculate about the surfaces and the origins of the features in the images. The goal is to get the students to think about looking at very small objects and to realize
that observations are a great way to start scientific research.
Solar System Exploration Mission Timeline Activity
Topic: Modeling Solar System Objects
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Our Solar System, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Meteors & Meteorites, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Dwarf Planets, Comets, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud, Earth's Moon, Europa
Mission: ARTEMIS (Earth's Moon), Cassini (Saturn), Dawn (Dwarf Planets), DSN (Our Solar System), GRAIL (Earth's Moon), Hubble (Beyond Our Solar System), Huygens (Saturn), IBEX (Our Solar System), InSight (Mars), Juno (Jupiter), Lunar Recon Orbiter (Earth's Moon), MESSENGER (Mercury), NEAR Shoemaker (Asteroids), New Horizons (Dwarf Planets), Phoenix (Mars), Stardust (Comets), Venus Express (Venus), Viking 01 (Mars), Viking 02 (Mars), Voyager 1 (Our Solar System), Voyager 2 (Our Solar System)
Short Description: Extreme Exploration -- Solar System Exploration Missions Timeline involves students in the wide range of mission events of 2008-2015+. Using the Solar System Exploration Timeline poster as a guide, student teams research assigned missions and record events such as launch and landing, etc. It is expected that students will be drawn into the excitement of mission events as they follow along with NASA's Solar System Exploration -- past, current, and future.
Solar System Exploration Timeline Activity
Topic: Modeling Solar System Objects
Grade Level: K-4
Body: Venus
Short Description: Participants are introduced to solar system exploration missions as they construct a timeline using the Solar System Exploration Timeline on NASA internet resources. The timeline display then serves as a visual reminder of coming events.
Through the Eyes of Scientists Grades 4-6: Volcanoes - They're Everywhere!
Topic: Landforms
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Earth's Moon
Mission: Cassini (Saturn), Galileo (Jupiter)
Short Description: Learn about volcanoes on Earth and in the solar system through the eyes of Scientist Dr. Rosaly Lopes.This lesson is part of the Through the Eyes of Scientists formal education product, and includes materials for students in grades 4-6.
Through the Eyes of Scientists, Grades 4-6: Volcanoes - Theyr'e Everywhere!
Topic: Landforms
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Our Solar System, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter
Mission: Cassini (Saturn), Galileo (Jupiter)
Short Description: Learn about volcanoes on Earth and in the solar system through the eyes of Scientist Dr. Rosaly Lopes.This lesson is part of the Through the Eyes of Scientists formal education product, and includes materials for students in grades 4-6.
Through the Eyes of Scientists: Around and Around - Everything is Moving
Grade Level: K-4
Body: Our Solar System, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Comets, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud, Earth's Moon
Mission: Voyager 1 (Our Solar System), Voyager 2 (Our Solar System)
Short Description: Learning about the ever-moving objects in our solar system through the eyes of Scientist-Adventurer, Dr. Edward Stone. This lesson is part of the Through the Eyes of Scientists formal education product.
Through the Eyes of Scientists: What is a Planet?
Grade Level: K-4
Body: Our Solar System, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Comets, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud, Earth's Moon
Short Description: Learning about the Sun and the planets as a "treasure map" through the eyes of Scientist-Treasure Hunter, Dr. Phil Chamberlin.
Transit Math
Topic: Math
Grade Level: 5-8, 9-12
Body: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud, Earth's Moon
Short Description: The introduction clearly explains the apparent "collisions," eclipses, transits, and occultations. The collection includes problems on synodic periods, planetary conjunctions, geometry, fractions, linear equations, and probability. The Table of Contents clearly separates middle school level problems from high school problems.
Transit of Venus Math
Grade Level: 5-8, 9-12
Body: Sun, Venus, Earth
Mission: Heliophysics (Sun), SOHO (Comets)
Short Description: This problem book covers 17 specific mathematics problems that are common to studying the transit of Venus more critically.
Venus Topography Box
Topic: Planetary Surface Processes
Body: Venus
Short Description: In this exercise, students learn how to use altimetry to map the topography of a "planet" whose surface is hidden from view.
Venus: Global Greenhouse
Topic: Light and Spectra
Grade Level: 5-8, 9-12
Body: Venus
Mission: Venus Express (Venus)
Short Description: Participants model the greenhouse effect on Venus by taking temperature measurements in closed systems overtime to demonstrate greenhouse warming observed in planetary atmospheres.
Virtual Venus
Topic: Motions: Orbits, Phases, and Seasons
Grade Level: 5-8, 9-12
Body: Venus
Short Description: Students use the Slooh Online Observatory to investigate the phases of Venus, and explore how Galileo's observations of Venus helped to revolutionize our understanding of the solar system by demonstrating that Venus must orbit the sun rather than Earth. See how students can make the same set of enlightening observations.
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