This Amazing Space lesson is an interactive card game which helps students learn the properties of comets, asteroids, and the Sun and planets. As students answer questions correctly about the solar system, they collect cards. Background information is provided for teachers. Full description.

A poster that shows a visual comparison of Mars and Earth. The back contains panels that go into detail on Mars science and explorations. It contains eleven lessons and resources for teachers. Full description.

The purpose of this lesson is for students to explore the nature and composition of a comet. The student will select ingredients to create a comet and will learn to identify ingredients responsible for a comet nucleus, and how changes in the nucleus when the comet approaches the Sun cause two different kinds of tails to form. Students can explore some facts, myths, and legends linked to the appearance ... Full description.

In this classroom exercise, students will "build" a comet using representative materials. Learning outcomes, concepts, and a link to the comet "recipe" are provided. Safety tips, comet facts, and links to additional information are also included. Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the DiscoverySchool.com lesson plan library for grades 6-8. It focuses on glaciers and icebergs, specifically, glacial scraping and landforms left behind by glaciers, and information about icebergs in the oceans. Students do a lab simulating glacial scouring. It includes objectives, materials, procedures, discussion questions, evaluation ideas, extensions, suggested readings, ... Full description.

In this article, The Why Files examines the possible finding of water ice on our Moon, and the implications for this discovery. The article discusses why scientists believe there is water on the Moon, how a neutron spectrometer picks up the unusual presence of hydrogen on the Moon which could indicate water, what scientists hope to use this water for, and where this water may have come from. A moon ... Full description.

In this hands-on activity, students explore the relationship between angular width, actual size, and distance by using their finger, thumb and fist as a unit of angular measurement. They should learn to relate angular width to actual size using distance; quantify the relationship between angular width and distance; and understand why the Sun appears smaller from Pluto than from Earth. Full description.

This website presents the story of Comet LINEAR, which broke apart in 2000, revealing what many scientists thought all along - water in Earth's oceans could have come from outer space. The article discusses findings from the breakup of Comet LINEAR and the possibility of water in its composition. Full description.

This is a copy of a news story originally written on March 1, 2001 that describes the theory of how small comets may have been at least part of the source of the water on our planet. The site also offers links to the University of Iowa's Small Comets research site and information on the ground-based measurements that are used to identify these comets. Full description.

This article discusses the importance of water in supporting and sustaining life and focuses on why water, and solely in its liquid form, is so essential. The focus here is on the potential presence of water on Mars. Some of the physical and chemical properties of water are summarized, and their uniqueness is presented as the reason planetary scientists are on the lookout for water on Mars and elsewhere ... Full description.