Solar System Activities
The lessons below are teacher-favorite lessons focused on our solar system. 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.
Our Solar System Lessons:
Microgravity in the Classroom
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Our Solar System
Short Description: This activity consists of three demonstrations that create microgravity conditions by freefall.
New Horizons: Orbit and Spin
Grade Level: K-4
Body: Our Solar System
Mission: New Horizons (Dwarf Planets)
Short Description: In this kinesthetic activity, students explore the size, distance, orbit, and spin of the sun, Moon and Earth.
Planetary Geology #4 Impact Cratering
Grade Level: 5-8, 9-12
Body: Our Solar System
Short Description: Students will learn about the mechanics of impact cratering and the concept of kinetic energy; and they will learn to recognize the landforms associated with impact cratering.
Reading, Writing and Rings (Main Portal)
Grade Level: K-4
Body: Our Solar System, Saturn
Mission: Cassini (Saturn)
Short Description: These activities blend the excitement of space exploration with reading and writing. Activities are available for Grades 1-2 and Grades 3-4.
Remote Sensing -- What Can We See When We Can't Touch?
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Our Solar System
Short Description: In this lesson, students discover how remote sensing is used to identify the signatures of life even when the particular life form is not directly observable.
Schoolyard Solar System
Grade Level: 5-8, 9-12
Body: Our Solar System
Short Description: The vastness of the solar system offers a unique lesson in large numbers and in scale. "The Schoolyard Solar System" was developed to demonstrate the solar system to scale; to show the relationship between units of thousands, millions and billions; and to accomplish these goals with student involvement that will re-enforce the lessons.
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 in My Neighborhood
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Our Solar System
Short Description: In this 1-hour activity, students shrink the scale of the vast solar system to the size of their neighborhood. They are challenged to consider not only the traditional "planets," but also some of the smaller objects orbiting the sun. Children compare the relative sizes of scale models of the planets, two dwarf planets, and a comet as represented by fruits and other foods. They determine the spacing between the scaled planets on a map of the neighborhood and relate those distances to familiar landmarks. This indoor activity may be used in addition to, or in place of, the outdoor scale model explored in "Jump to Jupiter."
Solar System Math (Main Portal)
Topic: Math
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Our Solar System
Short Description: "Solar System Math" is a series of four classroom lessons centered on pre-algebra topics such as measurement, unit conversion, ratio and proportion, scale, data analysis, and data representation. The downloadable software application, "What's the Difference," supports the lessons with engaging multimedia that accurately illustrates the size, distance and composition of the bodies in our solar system.
Solar System Math -- Lesson 1: Comparing Size and Distance (2-minute Movie: Hike The Solar System)
Topic: Math
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Our Solar System
Short Description: "Solar System Math" is a series of four classroom lessons centered on pre-algebra topics such as measurement, unit conversion, ratio and proportion, scale, data analysis, and data representation. The downloadable software application, "What's the Difference," supports the lessons with engaging multimedia that accurately illustrates the size, distance and composition of the bodies in our solar system.
