Teaching Day-by-Day: Space
In the sky – and on these pages – you'll find 30 days of wordplay, activities and space-related fun.
Study the moon for a month. Have students draw it every night and date each drawing. Place the drawings on a blank wall calendar. After about 29 days, the moon completes a full cycle of phases (changing shapes). Students drawings will demonstrate that cycle.
Play with words in space. Write the word "space" in the center of a word web. Then have students fill in the other circles with words, phrases and facts that relate to space.
Pick a scrumptious solar system! Use a watermelon for giant Jupiter and a pea for tiny Mercury. Add an apple, grapefruit, cherry, and so on, to demonstrate the sizes of the planets and their distances from each other.
Define the universe. Have students work together to make a list of words related to space (star, planet, moon and so on). Then have them write the definition and a sentence and draw pictures of the words. Use the words to create a "Space Dictionary".
Wish you were here! Have students draw a picture of their favorite planet and write a postcard-like message from that planet describing one of its characteristics. For example, "Hi Mom, it's hot on Venus!"
Blends in space. Make a list of words related to space that contain consonant blends (planet, star, gravity, space). Then have students list other words that have the same blends (place, plate, plot and so on).
Experience an eclipse. Place a lamp (the sun) in the center of a dark space in your classroom. Attach a foam ball (the moon) to a pencil. Slowly move the ball around a student's head (Earth) to mimic the moon orbiting Earth. ask students "What happens when the moon passes directly between Earth and the sun?"
Make a space flag. Have students design a flag based on a planet, the moon, the sun or a star of their selection. Then have students write a description about their creation. Display the flag in your classroom.
Be an explorer of "planets." We've heard that 92 words can be made from the letters in the word planets. Have students use those letters to write as many words as they can. Can they top 92?
What's in your moon capsule? U.S. astronauts placed a flag on the moon in 1969. It's still there! Have student imagine visiting the moon and leaving a time capsule behind. Which three items would they include and why?
To the moon! Read the children's book Reaching for the Moon by Buzz Aldrin (HarperCollins, 2005) to your class. Then discuss this question: Would you want to travel to the moon? Why or why not?
Write a space myth. Ancient peoples thought the stars in the sky formed pictures. Have students study maps of constellations and read myths about how they formed. Choose a constellation or two and have students write a myth of their own.
Play planetary trivia. Research the planets and write short questions about them on the front of index cards. Write the answers on the back. Then challenge your students to a planetary quiz.
Discover life on another planet. Since 1960, scientists have sent spacecraft to explore Mars. They want to find out if there is, or once was, life on Mars. Ask your students to imagine they found life on Mars. Then have them write a news story about their discovery.
Space race quiz. When did the earliest space shuttle launch? What animal was first to orbit the earth? Using this resource site have your students test their space-exploration know-how.
Space station, here we come! Turn your classroom into a space station. Learn about the jobs that astronauts do in the station. Eat "space" food. At the end of the day, have students write about thier space experience.
Tell a tall tale about Saturn. Explain to your class that a tall tale is an exaggerated explanation of how something came to be. Then have them write a tall tale explaining how Saturn got its famous rings.
Play the name game. Nine-year-old Sofi Collis suggested the names that were given to the rovers currently exploring Mars. Her choices: Spirit and Opportunity. Ask students what names they would have suggested and why?
Size up two planets. Explain to your class that diameter is the distance across a planet's center. Then tell them that the diameter of Earth is 7,926 miles and the diameter of Mars is 4,220 miles. Then ask them this true or false question: Is Mars about half the size of the Earth?
Rewrite the mnemonic. Pluto is no longer a planet, so we need a new sentence to remember the order of the eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Ask students to try writing one. (For example: My very energetic mother just served us nachos!)
Learn about Galileo. Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) was a physicist, astronomer and philosopher who discovered four of Jupiter's 16 moons and improved the telescope. Have students read his biography and discuss his other contributions to science.
Find a far-fetched space fable. Look for books about Earth and sky folklore at your local library. Then share the story that you think is the strangest or the most inventive with your class.
Poor Pluto! Have students pretend they are the former planet Pluto and have just heard the news: They've been demoted and are now just a dwarf planet! Ask them to write an entry in their diary describing how they feel about the news.
How much do you know about the solar system? Have students find out by taking this Space Quiz.
Steer by a star. People have long relied on stars such as Polaris ("The North Star") to navigate. Have students find out how to locate Polaris. Then, on a cloudless night, ask students to go with an adult on a drive or walk and look for the North Star.
Pitch a planet. Can you get people to visit other parts of our solar system? Have students put together a campaign for one of the planets with audio and visual advertisements, slogans and brochures. Make everything accurate! Then have students present it to the class or an imaginary television audience.
Making phases. Dim the lights and shine a flashlight on an orange to demonstrate the moon's phases. Call out, "next phase" and switch to a new one. To see the phases of the moon, go to www.earthsky.org.
Milky Way mysteries. Write the names of space objects on index cards (stars, planets, comets, asteroids or human-made satellites). Have students research each one. Then challenge them to a game of "20 Questions."
Spinning in space. Get outside and get moving! Stand in the center of a large, open space and represent the sun. Ask a few students to represent the planets. Call out their names and have each planet circle you according to its place in the solar system. Don't get dizzy!
Visit the dark side. One side of the moon always faces away from Earth. What could be hidden where no human has been? Have students think about that and write a short story about it.
Weekly Reader Publishing produces educationally rich classroom magazines, supplemental books and an award-winning website for students from preschool through high school. For more resources and information, visit www.weeklyreader.com.
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