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In this lesson, students will analyze an intended to support reading in the content area. The article showcases the recent discovery of a planet orbiting our nearest star that may have the necessary ingredients to harbor life. The possibly Earth-like planet is 4 light years away, however. How might we explore it in greater detail? 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.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will explore current space technology and explore the possibilities of traveling to Pluto. Students will participate in an Engineering Design Challenge in which they will construct and test their rockets to see how far they can go!

An Engineering Design Challenge is a combination of project-based learning, design thinking, and the engineering design process that develops the innovator's mindset through iteration. This lets students use their own imaginations to design projects according to science and engineering processes.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will draw three dots on an unblown balloon to represent three different galaxies. They will measure the distance between these "galaxies" and then blow up the balloon in three stages, measuring the distance between the "galaxies" at each stage.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students must decide the destination of a multi-billion dollar space flight to an unexplored world. The location must be selected based on its potential for valuable research opportunities. Some locations may have life, while others could hold the answers to global warming or our energy crisis. Students must choose the destination that they feel will be most helpful to human-kind.

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 process. 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 MEA’s visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Type: Lesson Plan

This activity will help students understand why astronomers use large units and scientific notation to describe distances in the universe.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson allows students to model and compare the distance of planets from the Sun, as well as, compare the relative sizes of the planets using everyday items.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this MEA, students will:

• identify and compare characteristics of the electromagnetic spectrum such as wavelength, frequency, and energy.
• understand the benefits of studying astronomy using the electromagnetic spectrum and appreciate the amount of knowledge available through data and observations such as planetary images and satellite photographs.
• assess the value of technology in science for such purposes as access to outer space and other remote locations, sample collection, measurement, data collection and storage, computation, and communication of information.
• be able to describe the vast distances between objects in space using an understanding of light and how it travels.
• be able to analyze scientific texts and support their findings with textual evidence.

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

Explore the challenges related to space travel in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This model gives students an overview of the distances between the orbits of the planets and other objects in our solar system.

Type: Teaching Idea

This resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text includes information on a newly discovered planet that orbits the nearest star to our sun. Proxima b, while close, is actually quite far—more than four light years from our sun—yet it shows potential for life, close enough for the planet to receive radiation and energy from its star. The article also discusses the possibility of sending robotic missions there using new technology that could perhaps reach the planet in twenty years.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how astronomers have found a new exoplanet, Kepler-186f, orbiting a distant star. Research suggests that this planet is in the habitable "Goldilocks" zone—not too close and not too far—of the red dwarf star it orbits. If the planet is in the habitable zone, it mimics the earth/sun relationship we have, and astronomers believe liquid water might be present on this planet. Water, of course, is the key to (extraterrestrial) life.

Type: Text Resource