Explore! Fun with Science
Our Place in Space
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Model/Drawing (Life Beneath the Surface)
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Life in Space


Extensions

Day Night Activities
Several hands-on activities help children ages 10–13 understand why we have day and night on Earth and on other planets, including a simple experiment that children can perform with a flashlight and Styrofoam ball. Some of the activities are more appropriate for the classroom setting, others are appropriate for the library or science center.

Day Night on the Globe
A globe and flashlight are used to demonstrate to 5–7 year old children that Earth's rotation causes day and night.

Seasons Activities
Hands-on activities to help children ages 10–13 understand why Earth has seasons, and how Earth's seasons differ from seasons on other planets. Some of the activities are more appropriate for the classroom setting, others are appropriate for the library or science center.

Lunar Cookie Phases
Students will create the different phases of the moon by using Oreo® cookies and arranging them on a paper plate's perimeter around a central point — Earth. 

Lunar Activities
Hands-on activities and games for children ages 10–13 explore why we see different phases of the Moon.

Handprint Sun
Create the sun in this simple craft made from a paper plate and a child's handprint cutouts. Children ages 4–10 have great fun with this activity. Younger children will need help cutting out the handprints.

Sundial
This activity provides the necessary pattern for children ages 11–14 to create a simple sundial.

Sun Clock
Children ages 7–13 can make a sun clock to use a shadow's position to tell time.

Solar S'Mores
May 11, 2005 ing the sun's energy.

Solar Oven Pizza Boxes

Smashed Potato Asteroids
Using mashed potatoes and all the fixings, children ages 5–13 will enjoy creating the shapes of common asteroids…Gaspra, Dactyl…and then cooking and eating them when their cosmic masterpieces are completed. Clearly one of the strangest activities out there…..

Life on Earth … and elsewhere?
Hands-on activities for children ages 10–15 explore what life needs and where it might be found in our solar system and beyond. Activities were designed for the classroom, but several, particularly the card game in activity 3, can be adapted to the informal learning setting.

Fingerprints of Life
Johnson Space Center's suite of lessons for exploring for life beyond Earth for children ages 10–15. What does life require? Living conditions for extremophiles, etc. Written for the classroom, but adaptable to the informal learning environment. Great list of Web sites, links to astrobio news, list-servs, etc.

Destination Mars
Hands-on activities for children ages 10–15 to investigate the environment of Mars. Activities in lesson 5, Searching for Life on Mars, help children explore the characteristics of living organisms and perform an experiment to determine if samples are alive or not, based on the criteria for “living.” Children love this activity! Designed for the classroom, these activities are portable easily to the informal learning environment.



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Last updated
May 11, 2005