Students research space flight exploration and technology. In small groups, they research a significant event from early time until the start of the space age. A class time line is created from the research groups.

Students explore paper rockets, learn about the Apollo Program and Apollo spin-offs, and use simple office supplies to design and create a new useful product. This amazing plan is incredibly well written and leads students through a...

To go or to not to go — the question for a mission to Mars. This resource provides details for a possible manned mission to Mars. Details include a launch schedule, what life would be like on the surface, and how the astronauts would...

Learners discover how flight is possible.  In this physics lesson, students investigate the properties of a blimp and gyro-copter, comparing rotating wings and fixed wings of aircraft.  Learners create their own model aircraft...

Microsoft's Flight simulator is the focal point of this instructional activity. By participating in this activity, teenagers role-play what is necessary for piloting an airplane. They explore the concepts of flight. You will need to...

Students explore the July 1999 space shuttle mission while learning how to cite Web sites in correct MLA bibliographical format. They discuss the mission's goals and historic importance as the first American space flight commanded by a...

Students investigate the physics of flight by experimenting in class.  For this history of flight lesson, students define terms such as gravity, lift, and drag in order to better understand how a plane is able to stay in the air....

Young scholars observe how bird flight and machine flight are similar. For this aerodynamics lesson, students observe how birds fly and the shapes of their wings, and investigate how observing birds helped develop the concept of machine...

Students role-play the jobs of space shuttle astronauts, conduct experiments, and research space using the Internet and offline experiments. Student-astronauts hold a "press conference" to share their information with others in a...

The reason people first began trading was because of their desires for objects other societies possessed. In the activity, classes discuss why exploration has been a common thread in all societies and where these desires have taken...

Students demonstrate the Bernoulli Principle, review the influences that affected the Wright Brothers, and make and modify paper airplanes. This amazing lesson plan has an excellent structure, and very clear plans for the students to...

Middle schoolers investigate how engineers navigate satellites in orbit around the Earth and on their way to other planets in the solar system. They study vocabulary words and participate in studying a satellite by learning about times...

Students design and construct a paper rocket that can be launched with a drinking straw. They participate in a lecture and read an article about rocketry and how Newton's Third Law applies to rocket launches. Each student constructs...

Junior engineers examine aspect ration in airplane wings. Using the length and width of two differetn wings, they calculate the aspect ratios and compare drag rankings. An engineering or space science class would benefit from this lesson...

Students explain the cause of and effects of fluid shift in a microgravity environment. Students identify the effects of microgravity during long duration space flight. Students describe research on cardiovascular effects in microgravity...

Students examine the roles of the immune system in keeping the body healthy. They see how engineers contribute to this process by creating antibiotics, and vaccinations. They discuss how an astronauts' immune system may be suppressed...

Students study the parts of the human respiratory system while examining the gas exchange that takes place in the lungs. They make a model lung. They look at how the respiratory system is affected by spaceflight.

Students examine the competition between the United States and Russia to put the first man in space. In groups, they use the internet to identify areas in which the two countries cooperated with one another to promote space exploration....

How fun it must be to play Frisbee in space! That is just what a NASA engineer gets to do, and you can learn how, too. Follow the instructions provided in this informational article to create your own satellite launcher. Afterward,...

Learners construct a rocket using soda straw. In this physics lesson, students determine the nose cone length that produces the best rocket. They explain the importance of using a control in an experiment.

Students research the tetrahedral kites invented by Alexander Graham Bell. In this components of flight lesson, students examine the kites made by Bell and his team. Students create their own kite and add them together as a class to...

For this momentum worksheet, students will calculate the maximum forward momentum of the Apollo 11 lunar spacecraft at three different stages of its space travel.

In this astronauts worksheet, students read about the accomplishments of Sally Ride, Neil Armstrong, and John Glenn. Then students complete 27 multiple choice, 2 true or false, and 3 short answer questions.

Learners investigate the cycles of solar activity. They plot the solar activity and use the graph to answer a number of questions and explain the relationship between the solar storms and sunspots and the impact on earth and space travel.