This is my latest “7 Ideas for” post. In these post, I share 7 of my favorite science activities for upper elementary students. This time, it’s all about our solar system!
1. Sun-Earth-Moon System Model
After teaching students about the positions and orbits of the sun, Earth, and moon, have students create a model. Provide each team with a marble, a Wiffle ball, a practice golf ball (a ping pong ball can work too), several pipe cleaners, some sticky notes, and a Directions Page. Teams follow the directions to create their own model of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. I’ve seen some interesting models, but as long as students can identify the limitations of their model, it’s all good. {Download the Student Directions.}
2. Free Fall Ball
Watch a video where an astronaut shows how shooting a basketball is different in microgravity, then play the game! Play >>
3. Solar System Stations
Solar System Stations includes 9 station activities that students can work through at their own pace to review and extend their knowledge of our solar system. This resource on TpT includes reading, online videos, matching, analysis, and exploration. Students love them!
4. Build the Station Simulation
In this activity from NASA, students build a model of the International Space Station. The complete resource includes fact sheets, printable pages to create the ISS, student pages, and more. Download it here.
5. Earth, Moon, and Mars Balloons
I love the math connections in this activity from NASA! Students use paired number tables, division, and estimation to construct a scale model of the Earth-Moon-Mars system in terms of planetary size, and discover how far one might have to travel to get to the Moon or Mars.
6. Mass vs. Weight
In this series of activities, students demonstrate the difference between mass and weight and investigate careers in space exploration. Students do activities on Earth, then compare their data with that of astronauts on the International Space Station.
7. Interactive Science Notebook Activities
Last year, I posted photos of my science notebook for each unit. You can find that blog post here. The photos below are from Hands-On Science Vocabulary Instruction and All in One Science Interactive Notebook.
Want more?
If you’re looking for space ideas for K-12, be sure to check out STEM on Station from NASA. There are lessons, videos, and lots of information just for teachers.
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