The theme of this unit is the development of an imaginary mission to the asteroid Vesta. It also introduces teachers and students to the Vesta Mappers citizen scientist project, which is part of the CosmoQuest online community. The unit is designed... (View More) to be used in 50-minute periods over 13 days and lessons follow the 5E instructional model. Students will explore not only science content but science and engineering practices as well. An alignment is provided to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). (View Less)

This Science On a Sphere (SOS) module is designed to help the public better understand the story of water on Mars and how we're learning more about it. It portrays the mystery of what happened to the water on Mars in the context of a detective... (View More) story. NASA's MAVEN mission (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutoN) will help solve this mystery by studying the Martian atmosphere, how it has changed over time, and how it interacts with the Sun and the solar wind. The module also delves into Mars exploration, featuring past, present, and future Mars missions, and includes an activity comparing images of water-related features on Earth and Mars. It will help people understand that a planet's climate can change over time and how learning more about Mars helps us learn more about Earth and other planets as well. Resources included are: script, SOS playlist and datasets, background and tips for the docent or facilitator, and image comparisons of water-related features on Earth and Mars. (View Less)

Learners use a Styrofoam ball, sunlight, and the motions of their bodies to model the Moon's phases outdoors. An extension is to have children predict future Moon phases. This activity is part of Explore! Marvel Moon, a series of activities... (View More) developed specifically for use in libraries. (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, a series of activities developed specifically for use in libraries. (View Less)

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, a series of activities developed specifically for use in libraries. (View Less)

Learners will construct a valid scientific question that can be answered by data and/or modeling and choose an appropriate mission for their rover that will answer their scientific question. The lesson uses the 5E instructional model and includes:... (View More) TEKS Details (Texas Standards alignment), Essential Question, Science Notebook, Vocabulary Definitions for Students, Vocabulary Definitions for Teachers, four Vocabulary Cards, and supplements on writing a scientific question and possible Mission Choices. This is lesson 5 of the Mars Rover Celebration Unit, a six week long curriculum. (View Less)