There's No "Space" Like Home

byValerie Schwarz

The curriculum unit titled, There’s No “Space” Like Home examines our solar system and beyond. The recent images from the James Webb Space Telescope shed light on how little we really know about our universe and the space frontier. Planets orbit most stars in the sky and with the thousands of galaxies revealed in the photo, it seems unlikely that we are alone. What makes a planet habitable? Are other planets, moons, or dwarf planets in the solar system habitable? And for that matter, what is life?

The unit will use modeling and measurement to create a scale model of the eight planets. Students will compare and contrast the planets, moons, and dwarf planets. Students will also use Design Thinking to create and launch a rocket. The unit can be adapted for grades 3-6 and focuses on science content. This unit covers NGSS standard MS-ESS1-2 and Virginia Standards of Science: 4.5, 4.6, and 4.1.

(Developed for Science, Math, and Language Arts, grade 4; recommended for Science and Math, grades 4-6)


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