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Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this topic.
| Name |
Description |
| NASA and the Space Program Change Florida: NASA and the Space Program Change Florida: | The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite, into space in 1957. Americans watched the Soviet satellite beeping and blinking across the American night sky. Sputnik I weighed only 184 pounds and could do little more than beep, but many people worried that this meant the United States was losing the race to develop space technology.
Pressure exploded from United States politicians and the American public demanding that the country catch up and increase investment in rocket technology and aeronautics. In this lesson students will analyze the film Florida: Moonport USA todescribe the effect of the United States space program on Florida's economy, growth and culture. |
| Ethical Colonization?: | In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses ethical issues that may arise when humans eventually travel to and colonize other planets, especially Mars. The article anticipates many of the concerns that will need to be addressed as space colonization becomes more of a reality. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. |
| Mapping the Milky Way's Dust: | In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that addresses how scientists are mapping the dust of the Milky Way. The text describes how interstellar dust can tell astronomers where stars and planets are forming, where a supernova could have occurred and provide other clues to the history of our galaxy and its formation. Using a newly created 3-D mapping tool, astronomers hope to integrate data from this tool with data from other sources in order to learn more about our galaxy than ever before. This lesson is designed to support reading in the content area. The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. |
| It May Be A Planet, But Could Goldilocks Live There?: | In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text resource intended to support reading in the content area. This text describes scientists' research on identifying "habitable" planets and explains how failed attempts might actually open the doors to more thorough research and understanding. Scientists faced the challenge of collecting specific data in order to determine if bodies qualified as planets. When research revealed that their original hypotheses were incorrect, scientists were able to take the new information and apply it to further investigations. The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Options to extend the lesson are included. |
| A Star is Born...and Dies: | In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes the life cycle of stars and differentiates between their various "fates" as white dwarfs, black holes, novae, etc. The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Numerous options to extend the lesson are also included. |
| Mysterious Corona - Why's it so Hot?: | In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that addresses innovative research to understand why the corona is hotter than the surface of the Sun. This informational text is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes how researchers are using the Hinode satellite from Japan to analyze data being produced from a polar coronal hole in the Sun. They believe that Alfven waves are responsible for the surprising temperature of the corona, thereby unlocking a long unanswered question in solar physics. The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. |
| How a Solar Phenomenon Affects the Earth: | Students will create cause and effect t-shirts to relate phenomena on the sun to disruptive events that they can cause on Earth. |
| Big Bang Theory TicTacToe: | In this lesson, students will explore the Big Bang Theory through academic games and a large technology-based project that accommodates all learner types, deepening their knowledge and understanding of the evidences for the Big Bang Theory. |
| A Stellar Life: | Students are guided through the stages of a star's life using interactive reading, acting out skits, classroom games, and creating their own children's comics. By the end of this lesson, all of your students will be able to determine the course of a star's life knowing it's size. Like supernovas, students will explode with excitement for this lesson! |
| Finding the Galactic Center: | Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to use the astronomical coordinate system of right ascension and declination to locate objects in the sky. For instance, given the values of right ascension and declination of a celestial object (a star, a galaxy, a nebula) and a labeled star chart, the students should be able to note the object's location in the sky. Additionally, students will be able to describe the location of our Solar System in relation to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. |
| Exploring Newton's Laws in The Solar System: | In this lesson, students review the conceptual basics of Newton's three laws, then use those concepts to create models and drawings to represent the Newtonian interactions between the Sun, Earth, and the Moon. |
| The Upside of Spin-Offs: | This lesson is designed to help students understand the importance of space exploration and how it affects their every day lives as Floridians. They will explore the NASA Spin-Off Website , and do research on an everyday example of technology that was developed as the result of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This lesson includes both a guided webquest and a research project. |
| Comparing Distances in Astronomy: | Students will be introduced to various units used for measuring distances in astronomy and when to use each. This lesson will review conversions between units and using scale models. |
| Star Evolution: | In this lesson students will investigate the evolution of different mass stars. Students will create a poster that depicts the evolution of different size stars in order to compare life cycles. |
| A New View: Space Exploration MEA: | This MEA is about space exploration. Students will review data on six extrasolar planets and determine which one would be most feasible to explore first. 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. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom. |
| Scientific calculations from a distant planet: | Students will act as mathematicians and scientists as they use models, observations and space science concepts to perform calculations and draw inferences regarding a fictional solar system with three planets in circular orbits around a sun. Among the calculations are estimates of the size of the home planet (using a method more than 2000 years old) and the relative distances of the planets from their sun. |
| Sunspot Case Study: | The Sunspot Activity Case Study is set up as a series of short activities centered around readings or graphs. Students learn about solar cycles that cause a change in the amount of solar radiation received by the Earth. Students are asked to analyze how these solar cycles might be contributing to global warming and climate change. |
| Searching for Evidence of Dark Energy: | This lesson is a differentiated approach to the concept of Dark Energy and the distribution of matter in our Universe. Students begin by simulating the expansion of the Universe by creating balloon Universes which can be inflated. Students are then assigned one of four articles according to reading ability. They read their articles and then form Jigsaw groups to share the information gleaned from the articles. Students are assessed through a writing assignment. |
| Calculating the Earth-Sun distance using Satellite Observations of a Venus Transit: | Every school child learns that the earth-sun distance is 93 million miles. Yet, determining this distance was a formidable challenge to the best scientists and mathematicians of the 18th and 19th centuries. The purpose of this lesson is to use the 2012 Transit of Venus as an opportunity to work through the mathematics to calculate the earth-sun distance. The only tools needed are basic knowledge of geometry, algebra, and trigonometry. The lesson is self-contained in that it includes all the data needed to work through the exercise. |
| An Out of This World Mission: | Through an inquiry activity students will explore the problems related to space travel. Students will design a rocket that will reach a target (Mars) using the least amount of (fuel) |
| Determining the Hubble Constant: | Students will graph distance/velocity data of real galaxies to arrive at their own value of the Hubble constant (H). Once they have calculated their own value of H, they will use it to determine distances to real galaxies with known recessional velocities. |
| Name |
Description |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Solar System Exploration: | This site provides information on the planets, moons, and other objects in the solar system, and the space missions conducted to study them. Materials include an interactive illustration of the solar system that provides descriptions, facts, and links to resources on solar system objects, and a search tool that lets users find information about planetary and solar system missions by name, decade, target, and nation. Mission information includes a brief history, fact sheet, key dates, and links to additional information and mission-specific websites. The kids' page features interactives, activities, models to build, and a gallery of kids' art. The education page features curriculum materials and resources for museums, planetariums, and scientists. There are also news articles and event announcements, an multimedia gallery with photos, video, and interactives, and profiles of NASA scientists. |
| Exploring Magnetism Lesson Series: | "These seven NASA-funded magnetism guides contain activity- or math-based lessons on magnetic fields. The science and mathematics education standards these activities cover are in the beginning of the guides... These guides were developed as part of the Education and Public Outreach programs of the following NASA science missions: STEREO-IMPACT, RHESSI, THEMIS, and FAST."
These are modules, including student worksheets, about magnetism in general and especially about the Earth's magnetic field. |
| Name |
Description |
| When Humans Begin Colonizing Other Planets, Who Should Be in Charge?: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article asks the reader to ponder the ethical issues that may arise as we travel to and colonize the rocky inner planets in our solar system. The article questions what country or organization will make the guidelines that answer these ethical questions. |
| All We Are is Dust in the Interstellar Wind: | This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes cosmic dust and the effects it leaves on the galaxy when it comes in contact with astronomical phenomenon. The interstellar dust can cause a distortion of astrological observations, called reddening. This can cause false data being reported because, for one, color is used to determine the age of a star. The article addresses how astronomers have produced a 3-D map of interstellar reddening for three-quarters of the visible sky. |
| Astronomers Developed Technology While Studying Gliese 581: | This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The author describes research on identifying "habitable" planets and explains how failed attempts might actually open the doors to more thorough research. Scientists faced the challenge of collecting specific data in order to determine if readings pointed to the existence of a planet. When research revealed that their original hypotheses were incorrect, the scientists were able to take the new information and apply it to further investigations. |
| It's Hot...Super Hot: Finding Answers Around the Sun: | This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes how researchers are using the Hinode satellite from Japan to uncover new explanations for the long-puzzled-after solution behind the searing temperature of the corona of the Sun. |
| Exoplanets Found Orbiting Former Extragalactic Star: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes scientists' discovery of the oldest habitable exoplanet that has been discovered. This planet formed outside our Milky Way and is about 11.5 billion years old. The planet looks like it could support water, has a rocky terrain, and is about five times bigger than Earth. Its proximity to its red dwarf star has led scientists to believe it could have supported life at one time. |
| The Dark Side of the Universe: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how scientists discovered dark energy and dark matter. The article details the role gravity and the study of supernova played in this scientific discovery. It also explains the problems that scientists encountered in the process and the conclusion they were able to reach. The article further explains WIMP, a weakly interacting massive particle and its connection to gamma rays. It also explains how studying supernova helped scientists estimate the age of the universe. Finally, the article summarizes that dark energy still remains a mystery. |
| Sun's Activity Triggers Lightning Strikes: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Researchers have found a correlation between solar wind and an increase in the number of lightning strikes near England, as much as 32% after a month-long period. They believe solar wind causes a greater number of strikes because it delivers streams of high-speed solar particles that strike Earth's atmosphere. This contrasts an earlier hypothesis that solar wind decreases lightning strikes because it deflects cosmic rays. |
| Black Holes : | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes black holes: what they are, how they are formed, where they are located, what evidence there is for their existence, and what scientists still do not know about them. |
| Havard-Smithsonian Astrophysicist Discovers New Method to Weigh Some Distant Stars: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Astrophysicist David Kipping has discovered a new method for weighing distant stars without relying on computer models. For the method to work, a star must have a planet with an orbiting moon cross in front of it, a circumstance not yet known to scientists, but it shows promise for future solar discoveries. |
| What is the Electromagnetic Spectrum?: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes the entire range of light waves which constitute the electromagnetic spectrum. Excellent graphics aid in illustrating the differences in types of light. The article also uses the electromagnetic spectrum to explore the universe, from visible light to X-rays and gamma rays. |
| Space Weather: Sunspots, Solar Flares & Coronal Mass Ejections : | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text describes three kinds of solar phenomena: sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections. Each is explained in relation to its effect on the weather, climate, and technology of Earth. NASA programs that monitor the activity of the Sun are also described. |
| The Big Bang: What Really Happened at Our Universe's Birth?: | This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. This article explains the current prevailing theory of the Big Bang by breaking it up into a timeline. At each moment after the Big Bang, the author discusses what happened and what evidence exists for it. The text also explores the mystery of what—if anything—existed before the Big Bang. |
| NASA Hits Jackpot With Discovery Of 715 New Exoplanets: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the methods scientists have used to discover a large range of planets that exist outside of our solar system. It then details how the technology and techniques involved in planetary identification have evolved to become more efficient. The article also explains that scientists are constantly looking for planets in a "Goldilocks Zone" that could contain liquid water, and therefore sustain life. |
| The Weather on the Moon Is Wonderful! Except for One Small Thing...: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article highlights the dangers that solar flares pose to moon colonization and how humans might deal with them. It is a brief article that grabs the reader's attention and leaves him/her thinking. |
| Antimatter: | This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the history of the study of antimatter in language that is easier to understand than most technical texts. |
| Starless Cloud Cores Reveal Why Some Stars are Bigger than Others: | This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The article explains that astronomers are trying to find out why stars outside our galaxy are so much larger based on what we know about star formation and chemical make-up. |
| Monster Sunspot Larger Than Jupiter Stars in Amazing Sun Photos: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text describes a large sunspot on the sun. It also briefly mentions some characteristics of the sun as well as the effects of the sunspots on earth. |
| Stars: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article traces the evolution of the star by mass. It discusses white dwarfs, novas, supernovas, neutron stars, and black holes. |
| Astronomy Online: | This website is a collection of references, images, and information for general astronomy. This work covers topics from the basics of science and observation through the solar system, stars, cosmology, and telephotography. The material is clearly organized by topic using links to reference materials on the web. |
| Noble Gas Molecule Discovered in Space: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses how the noble gas compound was discovered along with suggestions on how it might have formed and some of its properties. |
| Buzz Aldrin on Why We Should Go to Mars: | This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the academic content areas. It is most appropriate for 9th-10th grade students enrolled in a U.S. History or an Earth/Space Science class.
This is an interview of Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, one of the first men to walk on the moon. In a question/answer format, Aldrin answers questions about his ambitious vision for the future of American space exploration, and he also reflects on the past and present of the U.S. space program. |
| Kennedy Space Center Annual Report 2012: | The 2012 Report of the Kennedy Space Center includes significant events, engineering achievements, partnerships, environmental work, education work, and outreach. In addition, the final section includes the economic impact and work force diversity. |
Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this topic.
Vetted resources caregivers can use to help students learn the concepts and skills in this topic.
