Teaching Themes
Solar System: Everything You Need
Lesson plans, interactive activities, and other resources to help students learn about and explore our solar system
The Solar System
Grades: 3–5, 6–8, 9–12
Take a trip through the Solar System, passing the Sun, the nine planets, moons and asteroids.
Lesson Plans, Extension Activities, Writing Activities, Book Resources
Reading and Writing About the Solar System
Grades: 1–2
Immerse your students in books and poetry to teach about the solar system with some of these creative ideas.
Solar System Books
Grades: PreK–K, 1–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12
Check out these great books at The Teacher Store.
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 Computer Lab Activities, Interactive Whiteboard Activities, Online Learning Activities Journey Into Space: A Science ExplorationGrades: 3–5, 6–8, 9–12 Watch and learn about collisions in space with Dr. Mike Shara. Continue to leveled activities for different skills and grade ranges. |
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Articles Discover the Planets printableGrades: PreK–K, 1–2
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Articles Surface FeaturesGrades: 6–8, 9–12 Naked-eye as well as more detailed telescopic and satellite observations disclose that the lunar surface consists mainly of two different types of... |
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Articles Transient Lunar PhenomenaGrades: 6–8, 9–12 Temporary changes in the appearance of lunar features are known as temporary lunar phenomena, or TLP. Such occasional changes have been noted... |
Articles The PlanetsGrades: 6–8, 9–12 The nine planets of the solar system may be divided into two groups: the inner, or terrestrial, planets, and the outer, or Jovian, planets. This... |
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Articles Chemical CompositionGrades: 6–8, 9–12 Direct information on the chemical composition of the Moon became available in 1969 with the return of the first Apollo mission. Although the data... |
Articles Interplanetary ProbesGrades: 6–8, 9–12 The exploration of other bodies in the solar system began within a few years of the first satellites. Both U.S. and Soviet space engineers set... |
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Articles TemperatureGrades: 6–8, 9–12 Because the sole source of the Moon's heat is derived from its illumination by the Sun, its mean temperature would be about that of the Earth... |
Articles Asteroids and MeteoroidsGrades: 6–8, 9–12 The major planets in the solar system are greatly outnumbered by the swarms of smaller bodies called minor planets, or asteroids, and by the even... |
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Articles Formation and EvolutionGrades: 6–8, 9–12 The Moon and the Earth have been companions for several billion years, and one Moon-formation theory proposes that they have been so since the... |
Articles CometsGrades: 6–8, 9–12 Comets are sometimes spectacular objects from the outer regions of the solar system, as far away as a substantial fraction of the distance to the... |
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Articles Dust RingsGrades: 6–8, 9–12 The sun is also encircled by rings, or disks, of interplanetary dust. One such ring, lying in the zone between the orbital paths of Jupiter and... |
Articles Origin of the Solar SystemGrades: 6–8, 9–12 For more than 300 years there has been serious scientific discussion of the processes and events that led to the formation of the solar system.... |
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Articles Solar ApexGrades: 6–8, 9–12 Finally, the movement of the solar system as a whole through space is defined in terms of the celestial sphere, the imaginary sphere of the... |
 Activities and Games, Lesson Plans The Magic School Bus Lost in SpaceGrades: 3–5 In this activity, your child learns the planets by making two models of the Solar System. The first shows the order of the planets, and the second... |
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Articles, Online Learning Activities See the LightGrades: 3–5, 6–8 This content resource helps teachers locate online resources on light and energy. Web links to light and energy topics, facts on light and energy... |
Articles, Online Learning Activities Truckin’ Around the Solar SystemGrades: PreK–K, 1–2 This content resource helps teachers locate online resources on the solar system. This site can be used by teachers to develop lesson plans or by... |
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Extension Activities, Book Resources The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System Extension ActivitiesGrades: 3–5 Extension activity for The Magic School Bus® Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole. |
Vocabulary Builders, Book Resources The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar Vocabulary BuilderGrades: 3–5 Vocabulary builder for The Magic School Bus® Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole. |
