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STEM Lessons - Model Eliciting Activity
In this Model Eliciting Activity (MEA), students will read a passage about Asteroids, Comets and Meteors and discuss the material within their groups. Students will then read an article about telescopes and features of telescopes. As a group, students will rate a list of telescopes by deciding which features they feel are most important. Students will be assessed on their writing skills as well as the science material they learned during the supplemental reading.
Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx
Original Student Tutorials Science - Grades K-8
Take a journey and investigate the objects that call our solar system home. In this interactive tutorial, you'll visit the Sun, planets, satellites, asteroids and comets and learn new and exciting information about our exploration of the solar system.
Student Resources
Original Student Tutorials
Explore and compare objects in the solar system, including planets, moons, the Sun, comets, and asteroids, with this interactive research page.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Take a journey and investigate the objects that call our solar system home. In this interactive tutorial, you'll visit the Sun, planets, satellites, asteroids and comets and learn new and exciting information about our exploration of the solar system.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Video/Audio/Animation
While commonly referred to as "shooting stars," meteors and meteor showers are, in fact, unrelated to stars. Instead, these streaks of light are the glow of interplanetary debris crashing into Earth's atmosphere. In this animated video adapted from NASA, learn about these "shooting stars" and the reasons behind annual meteor showers.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
Virtual Manipulatives
This resource provides an interactive tool for the exploration of the solar system. To navigate the interactive solar system move the mouse to hover the target over different objects, to learn more about each click to access images, information about scientists, homework help, articles, news, missions, time lines, and important facts.
Type: Virtual Manipulative
This website is designed by NASA for student use, so it provides the most current, accurate information regarding the objects in our solar system. Each object in the solar system is available on the first screen. Click on any of the names of the objects, and it links to a description of the object.
Type: Virtual Manipulative
Parent Resources
Educational Game
This is a series of interactive modules on Engineering Interact, a free resource developed by the University of Cambridge Engineering department. It is a great whole group, small group, or individual interactive activity to explain a variety of concepts related to the solar system, including the rotation of the earth, what gives us our calendar, what causes the changes in seasons, how the planets are classified, and the phases of the moon.
Type: Educational Game