Learners will visit a sequence of stations to discover how the dark and light areas and craters we see on the Moon's face today record major events of its lifetime. While they may visit the stations in any order, the stations trace the Moon's... (View More) 4.5-billion-year history from "infancy" to the imagined future. The children tie together major events in the Moon's geologic history as a series of comic panels in their Marvel Moon comic books. At each station, the children identify the lunar features that were produced during that era on a Moon map. This activity is part of Explore! Marvel Moon, a series of activities developed specifically for use in libraries. (View Less)

This is a lesson about generating hypotheses and testable questions. Learners will use critical thinking and a collaborative approach to pose questions related to the study of Mars and evaluate the quality of their questions. They will explore... (View More) remote-sensing data collected by a camera orbiting Mars - the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) and develop a team science question. Students will practice critical thinking skills, use a collaborative approach to this first critical step of the scientific process. Exploring the images of the surface of Mars in Visible (VIS) images, students will come up with a topic of study, their team science question and hypotheses. The lesson models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes and vocabulary. (View Less)

Learners will investigate, compare, and describe patterns in Solar System data. They will then hypothesize about the formation of the Solar System based on data and explain how extrasolar planets can be discovered. In the first activity, the... (View More) students investigate Solar System data to find clues to how our planetary system was formed. By the end of the activity, the students come to understand that other stars form just like the Sun, and, therefore, many stars could have planets around them. The second activity examines how scientists can find these extrasolar planets. By observing the behavior of a model star-planet system, the students come to understand that it is possible to see the effect a planet has on its parent star even if the planet cannot be seen directly. By comparing the properties of our Solar System with other planetary systems, we can gain a deeper understanding of planetary systems across the Universe. Note: The MESSENGER mission to Mercury that is mentioned in this lesson ended operations April 30, 2015. For the latest information about MESSENGER and NASA's solar system missions see the links under Related & Supplemental Resources (right side of this page). (View Less)

Learners will use the inquiry process to explore the affect of atmosphere on the temperature of a planet. They create a model of the system to test. They then create a concept map of the planetary temperature system. The lesson models scientific... (View More) inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes, prerequisite concepts, common misconceptions, student journal and reading. This is lesson 10 in the Astro-Venture Astronomy Unit. The lessons are designed for educators to use in conjunction with the Astro-Venture multimedia modules. (View Less)

This is a lesson about designing and building an effective sunshade for a model MESSENGER craft. Learners will build a model of MESSENGER. They will use a scientific approach to solve problems and work as a cooperative team. They will discover their... (View More) own strengths, and those of others, and will witness firsthand the importance of both successes and failures. This is activity 4 of 4 for the Pre-K - 4 range of "Staying Cool." (View Less)

This is a lesson about radiation and the use of the scientific method to solve problems of too much radiation. Learners will build snow goggles similar to those used by the Inuit (designed to block unwanted light, while increasing the viewer’s... (View More) ability to see in a bright region) to understand some of the engineering challenges encountered while protecting the solar cells on the Mercury MESSENGER. This is Lesson 2 of 4 at the middle level in the module, Staying Cool. (View Less)

This is a lesson about infrared radiation. Learners will investigate invisible forms of light as they conduct William Herschel’s experiment and subsequent discovery of infrared radiation. They will construct a device to measure the presence of... (View More) infrared radiation in sunlight, explain that visible light is only part of the electromagnetic spectrum of radiation emitted by the Sun, follow the path taken by Herschel through scientific discovery, explain why we would want to use infrared radiation to study Mercury and other planets, and explain how excess infrared radiation is a concern for the MESSENGER mission. This is activity 1 of 4 at the Grade 5-8 band of "Staying Cool." (View Less)