This is an activity about the tides. Learners discover how the Moon's gravitational pull causes the level of the ocean to rise and fall twice a day along most coastlines. Six children represent the oceans, solid Earth, Moon, and Sun and move their... (View More) bodies to show the interactions of these elements. They then consider what the Earth's tides might have been like if there were no Moon. They model the smaller tides that would be produced solely by the Sun. This activity is part of Explore! Marvel Moon. (View Less)

This is an activity about the way the moon interacts with sunlight. Learners consider a ball, wrapped in aluminum foil, and experiment with a flashlight to make it appear bright. The children compare the foil-wrapped ball to a Moon globe and... (View More) discover that the Moon reflects very little of the light the falls on it, but still appears bright. The children construct their own globe of the Moon to take home with them by gluing a map template onto a tennis-ball. This activity is most effective when conducted in a dark area, such as outdoors at night or in a darkened room. This activity is part of Explore! Marvel Moon. (View Less)

This is a series of seven brief activities about Jupiter's atmosphere and weather. Learners will look at Jupiter's distinct banded appearance, violent storms, and clouds of many different colors. The activities are part of Explore! Jupiter's Family... (View More) Secrets, a series designed to engage children in space and planetary science in libraries and informal learning environments. (View Less)

Learners will weigh themselves on scales modified to represent their weights on other worlds to explore the concept of gravity and its relationship to weight. They consider how their weights would be the highest of all the planets while standing on... (View More) Jupiter, but their mass remains the same no matter where in the solar system they are. They compare the features of different planets to determine which characteristics cause a planet to have more or less gravity. This activity is part of Explore! Jupiter's Family Secrets, a series designed to engage children in space and planetary science in libraries and informal learning environments. (View Less)

This is a demonstration about the density of the planets. Learners will compare the relative sizes and masses of scale models of the planets as represented by fruits and other foods. They will then dunk the "planets" in water to highlight the fact... (View More) that even a large, massive planet - such as Saturn - can have low density. They discuss how a planet's density is related to whether it is mainly made up of rock or gas. This activity is part of Explore! Jupiter's Family Secrets, a series designed to engage children in space and planetary science in libraries and informal learning environments. (View Less)

Learners will model the gravitational fields of planets on a flexible surface. Children place and move balls of different sizes and densities on a plastic sheet to develop a mental picture of how the mass of an object influences how much effect it... (View More) has on the surrounding space. This activity is part of Explore! Jupiter's Family Secrets, a series designed to engage children in space and planetary science in libraries and informal learning environments. (View Less)

This is a set of three activities about the distance to Saturn. Learners will use simple props to create a playground model for size and distance for the Sun, Earth, and Saturn - then walk on their scale model to Saturn. Includes a glossary,... (View More) information for families, and guidance for deepening the science. This is lesson 2 of 8 in the Jewel of the Solar System: From Out-of-School to Outer Space an adaptation for afterschool programs of the Cassini-Huygens educational product Reading, Writing, and Rings. (View Less)