Discover+the+Solar+System

=Discover the Solar System= by Rita Riebel Mitchell, MA in Educational Technology and Instructional Technology Specialist (rita_jr@yahoo.com) There's a whole world beyond our small plant Earth! Students will find the Internet a perfect place to study space and access the latest spacecraft exploration data. Your students will feel as if they are astronauts in training@
 * Grades 6-12**


 * Learning Goals**
 * Use the Internet for research.
 * Understand the distance or size relationship between the planets.
 * Identify stars and observe changes in their positions over time.
 * Calculate weight on another planet.
 * Complete an online quiz.

Activities Begin your solar system unit by asking each student to use the websites below to locate facts about one of the eight planets, the sun, the moon, or Pluto. Other topics may include stars, comets, asteroids, meteoroids, NASA's astronaut training program, rockets, satellites, space junk, or space probes. students can search for the following:
 * Date of discovery
 * Rotation time
 * High and low temperatures
 * Diameter and density
 * Number of moons
 * Dates of spacecraft exploration
 * Surface description

After completing their research, encourage students to share their findings with the class.


 * [|NASA for Students 5 - 8]
 * [|NASA for Students 9 - 12]
 * [|Views of the Solar System]
 * [|Virtual Solar System]
 * [|Discover the Solar System]
 * [|Space Exploration Facts]
 * [|Nine Planets Solar System Tour - Now Eight Planets]

Young students may have a hard time imagining the size of the solar system. Use a large playground or park near the school to have them pace the distances between the planets. The first website provides direction for the activity. If you cannot go outside, collect the objects listed in either site to give your students an idea of the relationship between the sizes of the planets.


 * [|How Big Is the Solar System?]
 * [|Science Fun: Relative Size of the Planets]

Students can use these star charts to investigate seasonal changes in the night sky.


 * [|Northern Stars Planetarium]
 * [|Interactive Star Charts]

Help your students understand the effect of gravitational pull. they can enter their weight on the sites below or calculate to fin out how much they would weigh on a particular planted. Have them write a paragraph explaining their results.


 * [|Your Weight on Other Worlds]
 * [|Your Weight and Age in Other Planets]
 * [|Canadian Space Agency: Astronomy]

The Great Moonbuggy Race is inspired by the actual lunar roving vehicle project completed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama (USA), during the 1960's and 1970's. This competition challenges high school and college students to deal with real-world engineering problems as tehy design and build a human-powered vehicle. Registration begins in October.


 * [|The Great Moonbuggy Race]

Wrap up your space unit with these quizzes that test student' knowledge of the solar system.
 * [|Collect Solar System Trading Cards]
 * [|NASA's Space Place]
 * [|Astronomy & Planets Quiz Activities and Games]
 * [|Quizzes: Our Solar System]
 * [|Solar System Quiz]
 * [|NeoK-12: Solar System]
 * [|Solar System Quizzes]