Asteroid Activities
The lessons below are teacher-favorite lessons focused on asteroids. For more search options or to search by other science target, missions and other criteria, visit our Fast Lesson Finder. You can also search by curriculum standards on our popular Curriculum Standards Quilts.
Asteroids Lessons:
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.
Asteroid Resources (Edible Asteroid Mining)
Topic: Solar System Exploration
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Asteroids
Mission: Dawn (Dwarf Planets)
Short Description: Participants map and core an edible asteroid. This is part of a sequence that explores the potential resources available to space travelers.
DPS Slide Set: Asteroid Detected Before Impact
Grade Level: 9-12
Body: Asteroids
Short Description: This four-slide powerpoint by the Division of Planetary Science includes basic information for college-level introductory courses.
Dwarf Planets as a New Way of Thinking About an Old Solar System
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Our Solar System, Asteroids, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud
Mission: Dawn (Dwarf Planets)
Short Description: This middle school activity utilizes a researched-based instructional strategy called direct vocabulary instruction to help students understand the new definitions of planet and dwarf planet.
Edible Rocks
Topic: Modeling Solar System Objects
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Asteroids
Mission: Hayabusa (Asteroids)
Short Description: Participants observe and describe physical characteristics of an edible sample in preparation for describing rock or meteorite samples.
Exploring Meteorite Mysteries: Lesson 4 The Meteorite-Asteroid Connection: Orbits in the Inner Solar System
Grade Level: 9-12
Body: Asteroids, Meteors & Meteorites
Short Description: This lesson allows students to understand how meteorites get from the asteroid belt to Earth and how rare it is for the Earth to be hit by a large asteroid. The students will build an exact scale model of the inner solar system.
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 Asteroid Vesta in 3-D
Grade Level: K-4
Body: Asteroids
Mission: Dawn (Dwarf Planets)
Short Description: Students create a 3D model of Vesta using images, clay and other materials.
