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CLUB ACTIVITIES

Solar System: Kindergarten through Second Grade


  • Relative Sizes of Things

    Students create a scale model of the solar system using everything from a basketball (for the sun) to M&Ms and seeds representing the approximate sizes of the planets. Students can walk through the solar system telling what they know about each object. An interesting addition to this is construction of a model milky way showing distances to some of the stars and clusters we see in the night sky.
    Submitted By: Lou Mayo, Sligo Creek Elementary Astronomy Club
  • Space Art

    Students are given many different Hubble Space Telescope photos, and encouraged to create their own space art using the archetypes they find for nebulae, planets, stars and galaxies.
    Submitted By: Sten Odenwald, Holy Redeemer Elementary/Middle School Astronomy Club
  • Watching the Sun on the Internet

    Students visit several web sites where they can see what the sun and earth look like right now in real time.
    Submitted By: Sten Odenwald, Holy Redeemer Elementary/Middle School Astronomy Club
  • Chocolate Pudding Craters

    Students fill aluminum trays with chocolate pudding then sprinkle with powered sugar. Gum drops or chocolate kisses are then dropped into the mix resulting in craters with powered sugar ejecta. Students draw what they see and compare with images of cratered bodies in our solar system. The lunar crater, Tycho makes a great comparison object.
    Submitted By: Lou Mayo, Sligo Creek Elementary Astronomy Club
  • Solar System Models out of Styrofoam Balls

    Kits of styrofoam balls for solar system simulations, can be purchased through Edmund Scientific Company. Students can color the balls based on their knowledge of solar system objects (from Voyager, HST, etc, images) and assemble their solar system with wire.
    Submitted By: Lou Mayo, Sligo Creek Elementary Astronomy Club
  • Tips for Holding a Viewing Night

    I have one online article that may be of interest to ASAC newsgroup members. It is a general introduction and set of suggestions entitled "Tips for holding a viewing night" at:
    http://outreach.atnf.csiro.au/education/teachers/viewing/
    Submitted By: Rob Hollow, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility
  • Impact Craters

    Simulate impact craters in the classroom.
    Fill a baking dish 3/4 full with white flour. Level the surface. Cover the flour with a thin layer of brown sugar so that the entire surface is now brown.
    Stand back and gently hrow marbles at the dish and watch the resulting craters and rays form.
    Submitted By: Jeff Charbonneau, Zillah High School
  • Astronomy Screensaver

    It's a multi-facetted application that allows you to keep abreast of status reports, news and announcements of events taking place at ESA Science and the most recent near-real-time images from SOHO. I don't know of a NASA equivalent but many of the projects are joint with NASA. For those interested in Solar observations, there's less chance of missing exciting solar storms (like the one that's been going on for the last few days) because the screensaver updates its images whenever you're online.
    Download it here: http://sci.esa.int/jump.cfm?oid=34651
    Submitted By: Mike Cripps, Neatherd High School Astronomy Club
  • Solar System "Walk-Through" PowerPoint Presentation

    This is a presentation that I created on solar system objects that is sutable for students in elementary and middle-school. It contains images and information about the Sun, the nine planets, the Asteroid Belt, and comets.

    Microsoft Power Point

    Our Solar System.ppt Size: 1.43Mb


    Submitted By: Dorian Janney, Watkins Mill High School Astronomy Club
  • The Moon PowerPoint presentation

    This is a PowerPoint presentation that I created for elementary and middle school students to teach them some of the basic concepts related to our moon.

    Microsoft Power Point

    The Moon.ppt Size: 130Kb


    Submitted By: Dorian Janney, Watkins Mill High School Astronomy Club
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