Shadow Play
Everyone and everything has a shadow. Shadows illustrate how three-dimensional objects can be viewed in two dimensions.

Observing the Moon
Does the Moon always look the same? Does its surface look different at different times?

Modeling the Night Sky
This activity extends Shadow Play to include more solar system objects and to examine their motions.

Equatorial Sundial
One of astronomy's first tools to measure the flow of time, a sundial is simply a stick that casts a shadow on a face marked with units of time.

Reflective Solar Cooker
Use the Sun’s energy to cook marshmallows.

Planet Tours
Planning to take a vacation soon? Visit Phobos! Try this creative activity to help your students explore the solar system in an imaginative manner.

Solar System Science
Each student becomes the "ambassador" for a planet and prepares by researching their planet, then meets with other ambassadors to form new mini-solar systems.

Rock Cycle
After learning about Earth's rock cycle and the basic characteristics of objects in the solar system, students can consider how to extend this concept to other objects.

Spectroscope
Just as a geologist collects rocks or minerals and a botanist collects plants, an astronomer collects light. When an astronomer looks at a star through a spectroscope, he or she sees a colorful spectrum that is full of information.

Sunspots
Sunspots are some of the most noticeable features of the Sun.

The Milky Way
Stretching across the dark night sky, not easily visible when the Moon is in the sky, is a faint irregular glowing strip of light. For thousands of years peoples of various cultures tried to explain what they saw, sometimes using stories.