Lunar Math applies mathematics to help understand Earth's natural satellite and future missions to the moon. Problems in Lunar Math use mathematical applications to explain concepts such as the physical features of the moon; the probability of a meteorite impact on the lunar surface; and how oxygen might be extracted from moon rocks. The problems in this guide include basic mathematics, algebra, geometry and some trigonometric functions. The one-page assignments are accompanied by one-page answer keys.
The Faces of the Moon Teacher’s Guide is a full classroom unit, designed to teach the lunar phases using the book The Faces of the Moon. The teacher’s guide Includes a fun, hands-on lab activity recommended for 4th-8th grades. A Moon Gazers wheel is also available for purchase.
In the On the Moon activity guide, NASA and PBS’s Design Squad team up to inspire a new generation of engineers. The guide offers six hands-on challenges that bring engineering and NASA's moon missions to life for kids at events, and in school, and afterschool programs. NASA and DESIGN SQUAD® have developed an online workshop for educators and afterschool leaders to build their skills and confidence in guiding kids through engineering activities like those found in the On the Moon Educator Guide.
NASA's Exploring the Moon is an integrated portfolio of hands-on activities that explore what we know about the Moon, what we have learned through lunar samples from the Apollo missions, and where we may go next. Map to National Science Education Standards
Help students explore why we observe lunar phases from Earth using golf balls and black lights.
Return to the Moon is a collection of lesson plans from the Challenger Center. Students explore the lunar environment, learn about the geology of the Moon, and build lunar bases. Several activities explore history and social studies concepts. Map to National Science Standards
Through the hands-on inquiry based activities of Seeing the Moon: Using Light to Investigate the Moon, students experiment with light and color, collect and analyze authentic data from rock samples using a hand-held reflectance spectrometer, map the rock types of the Moon, and develop theories of the Moon’s history. Map to National Science Standards
Through Lunar Nautics: Designing a Mission to Live and Work on the Moon, students assume roles of workers at Lunar Nautics Space Systems, Inc., a fictional aerospace company specializing in mission management, lunar habitat and exploration design, and scientific research. Students undertake a variety of explorations to learn about the lunar environment and engineering.
The Challenger Learning Center offers To the Moon, Mars, and Beyond e-mission for grades 3-5. With training, teachers can access lesson plans and run a simulated rescue mission, involving lunar and martian bases, in their classrooms. During the mission, students connect live to a Flight Director with the help of computers, the Internet, and video conferencing equipment.
Explore! To the Moon and Beyond with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter offers a variety of inquiry based, standards-aligned lesson plans. Designed for the informal learning environment, several of the activities about lunar site selection and lunar geology are appropriate for the middle school classroom.
Explore! Ice Worlds – Ice in the Solar System offers a variety of inquiry based, standards-aligned lesson plans. Designed for the informal learning environment, several of the activities about how scientists search for ice on other moons and planets and why ice might exist on the Moon are appropriate for the middle school classroom.
Meet the team of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite! Biographies and pictures included.
Teachers’ Domain offers digital media for the classroom and professional development.. Search the database by grade level and topic. Each product is accompanied by essays, discussions, and classroom ideas.
Space Faring: The Radiation Challenge examines the effects of radiation on living systems in the context of a lunar outpost through inquiry-based activities for middle school students. The activities are “Radiation: Radiation Exposure on Earth,” “Radiation Damage in Living Organisms: Modeling Radiation-Damaged DNA,” and “Protection from Radiation: Space Weather Forecasting.”
After watching the Field Trip to the Moon DVD, students in grades 5-8 work in teams to continue their lunar exploration with activities that investigate the Moon's habitability and sustainable resources. These activities culminate with plans for the design and creation of a lunar station.
The Earth's Moon chapter of the Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground collection of hands-on astronomy activities engages students in grades 2-6 in a variety of modeling, observing, and drawing activities. Phases, tides, and the Moon’s motions are explored.
The Hawai‘i Space Grant Consortium offers Lunar Life Support, which engages students in grades 8-9 in designing and building models of life support systems for a settlement on the Moon. Students divide into teams and each group focuses on one of nine life support systems that are crucial to our successful settlement of the Moon. Each team builds a model of their system with cardboard boxes and tubes, rubber bands, straws, and other common materials and considers how the Moon’s environment affects their design.
The Lunar Prospector education pages offer a variety of activities that explore the discoveries made by the Lunar Prospector mission and Apollo program about lunar geology. Additional topics relating to the exploration of the Moon, including the distance between the Earth and Moon, rockets, and future lunar exploration are also investigated.
Moon Math is a free software application where users investigate lunar habitat design through learning the mathematical concepts of area, volume and proportion using geometric shapes. Students in grades 6-9 may explore three case studies, each offered at varying levels of difficulty. The software can be downloaded from the site for PC or Macintosh.