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:
The Thousand Yard Model
Grade Level: 9-12
Body: Our Solar System
Short Description: This is a classic exercise for visualizing just how BIG our solar system really is. Both the relative size and spacing of the planets are demonstrated in this outdoor exercise, using a mere peppercorn to represent the size of the Earth.
The Water Cycle -- Now You See It, Now You Don't
Grade Level: K-4
Body: Our Solar System
Short Description: Elementary students learn about the relationship between temperature and condensation.
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: Landforms and Canyons
Topic: Landforms
Grade Level: K-4, 5-8
Body: Our Solar System, Earth, Mars
Mission: Spirit/Opportunity (Mars), Curiosity / MSL (Mars)
Short Description: Use images like a scientist to investigate one of Earth's seven natural wonders, the spectacular Grand Canyon in Arizona, and the grandest canyon of all, Valles Marineris, on Mars. Students will meet an inspirational NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory geologist, Dr. Robert Anderson.
This lesson is part of the Through the Eyes of Scientists formal education product and is geared toward students in grades 4-6..
Through the Eyes of Scientists: Moons - Many, Many Moons!
Grade Level: K-4
Body: Our Solar System, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud, Earth's Moon
Mission: Cassini (Saturn), Galileo (Jupiter), GRAIL (Earth's Moon), Lunar Recon Orbiter (Earth's Moon)
Short Description: Learning about moons of the solar system through the eyes of Scientist-Moon Master, Dr. Bonnie Buratti.This lesson is part of the Through the Eyes of Scientists formal education product.
Through the Eyes of Scientists: Space Can Be a Chilly Place - Ice Is Nice!
Grade Level: K-4
Body: Our Solar System, Mercury, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Comets, Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud, Earth's Moon
Mission: Cassini (Saturn)
Short Description: Learning about ice in the solar system through the eyes of Scientist-Arctic Space Explorer, Mr. Ben Holt. 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.
Unlocking the Mysteries: Science on the Edge of Our Solar System
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Our Solar System
Short Description: This is an engineering connection. It features the award-winning 23-minute Discovery Program overview video, which takes students along on the explorations being conducted by NASA's Discovery missions. It then allows students to become the scientists and engineers and design their own mission to investigate the cosmic unknowns.
Voyage: A Journey Through Our Solar System -- Lesson 5: Round and Round We Go -- Exploring Orbits in the Solar System
Topic: Modeling Solar System Objects
Grade Level: 5-8
Body: Our Solar System
Short Description: To appreciate the complexity of the solar system requires an understanding that it is a dynamic system -- a system in motion. Objects bound to the sun by gravity -- planets, dwarf planets, comets, asteroids, and trans-neptunian (or Kuiper Belt Objects) -- follow elliptical orbits around the sun. Students first explore the geometric nature of ellipses, and the circle as a special case. These newly developed mathematical skills are then used to plot an accurate model of the outer solar system, which contains the size, eccentricity and orientation in space of the orbits for different classes of objects. Students are then able to understand how orbits can be used to help categorize objects in the solar system.
