This is an activity about spacecraft design. Teams of learners will model how scientists and engineers design and build spacecraft to collect, store, and transmit data to earth. Teams will design a system to store and transmit topographic data of... (View More) the Moon and then analyze that data and compare it to data collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter . (View Less)

This is an activity about mission planning. Learners will use the roles of a navigation team, spacecraft, comet, Earth, and Sun to simulate how mission planners design a spacecraft/comet rendezvous. This activity requires at least four active... (View More) participants and a large open space. Includes mathematics extensions. (View Less)

This is an activity about parallax. Learners will explore the concept of parallax and then simulate the discovery of Pluto with a Blink Comparator via an online interactive.

This is a lesson about solar system exploration. Learners will understand that combining information gathered by a variety of robots gives us a more comprehensive understanding of our solar system. Learners will explore a planet made up of a... (View More) combination of materials while simulating the perspective of different missions: pre-launch reconnaissance, fly-by, orbit, and landing. Learners will record and share their observations. Requires the book "Seven Blind Mice" by Ed Young. This is lesson 8 of 16 in the MarsBots learning module. This lesson is adapted from "Strange New Planet," an activity in the "Mars Activity Book." (View Less)

This is an activity about the Earth's revolution as it relates to the zodiac. Learners will role-play, acting as the revolving Earth and Sun, while others will hold signs of the 12 zodiac constellation names to form a circle around the Earth-Sun... (View More) system. Then, they will model the motion of the Earth-Sun system during the year in order to visualize why the Sun appears to move into different constellations. This is Activity F-9 of Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0: A Collection of Activities and Resources for Teaching Astronomy DVD-ROM, which is available for purchase. (View Less)

In this lesson, learners will use History of Discovery cards and interpretive skits to examine how scientists throughout history have explored Saturn. The lesson enables students to discern the multicultural nature of scientific inquiry and to see... (View More) how technology improvements increase our ability to solve scientific mysteries. The lesson also prepares students to create and interpret their own timelines spanning the years 1610 to 2010. The timelines depict scientists, technologies, and discoveries. This is lesson 4 of 6 in the Saturn Educators Guide. (View Less)

This is a lesson about science as a human endeavor. Learners will use a diverse collection of profiles of people who work on the Cassini–Huygens mission to learn about science as a human endeavor and to reflect on their own career goals and... (View More) personal impressions of the mission. This is lesson 6 of 6 in the Saturn Educators Guide. (View Less)

This is a lesson about near-miss meteorites. Learners will simulate possible responses to a meteorite impact, write newspaper articles, and role play as different professionals participating in a panel discussion. They will also evaluate the... (View More) implications of scientific principles and research findings. This is lesson 16 of 19 in Exploring Meteorite Mysteries. (View Less)