CONVERSEMOS:
¿Qué lugares en nuestro sistema solar te gustaría visitar? ¿De qué te tipo de cosas te tendrías que proteger?
CONVERSEMOS:
¿Cómo vas a decidir cuál exoplaneta visitarías primero?
Gravity Guru & Spinning Specialist worksheet | 1 per pair |
Mission Plan worksheet | 1 per pair |
Plant Pro worksheet | 1 per pair |
Plant Pro, Water Wizard, and Mission Plan Answer Keys teacher-only resource | 1 per class |
Starlight Guide worksheet | 1 per pair |
Starlight Guide Answer Key teacher-only resource | 1 per class |
Water Wizard worksheet | 1 per pair |
Scissors
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1 pair per student |
We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own, but this activity works best if each student can engage in debate and discussion with at least one other person.
The Mission Plan worksheets include greyscale shading that indicates the amount of heat and light that emit from each star of the three solar systems. The correct shading is essential for the activity, so we suggest printing out copies of these worksheets beforehand to ensure that everything prints correctly.
The solar systems and stars (Malina, Thea, and Helios) used in the activity are fictional, but they were inspired by real scientific discoveries. If you and your students would like to learn more about real stars and exoplanets that astronomers are investigating, there are several resources in our Extensions section for you to explore.
Student slideshow: English | Spanish
Teacher printout: English & Spanish
In this reading, students learn about the invention of the telescope.
NASA’s “Eyes on Exoplanets” will digitally fly you to any star or planet outside our solar system. You can visit over 1,000 planets that scientists have discovered to orbit distant stars. Find out how long it would take you to get to each place if you were to travel by car, jet plane, bullet train, or starship. Turn on the “habitable zone” display to show the region around each star that could potentially support life. Requires a one-time download of the app onto a desktop computer.
With NASA’s Exoplanet Travel Bureau, you can imagine what it’s like to stand on the surface of far-away planets. Visit their website, and with the click of a button, you can pretend you’re standing on the surface of planets outside our solar system. On TRAPPIST-1d you can see look up at the sky and see six other planets. You can also see what happens when you stand on a planet that has two stars (instead of one) in the solar system.
You can elaborate student learning and engagement with Mystery Science mini-lessons.
Is Earth the only planet with life? In this mini-lesson, students explore our solar system and consider if other planets could also sustain life.
How close could an astronaut get to the Sun? In this mini-lesson, students explore the intense heat of the Sun and the innovative ways scientists use to investigate it.
Are aliens real? In this mini-lesson, students consider the exciting possibility of intelligent life on other planets!
If you are in an NGSS state, these mini-lessons support the DCI ESS1.A: The Universe and its Stars
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