Have a budding astronaut who wants to learn all about outer space? Unit studies are an excellent way to explore a variety of subjects through research of a particular topic of interest. Pick and choose from the collection of resources below to create and personalize your own Out of this World Space Unit Study.
How to incorporate other subjects into a Unit Study?
Language Arts
- Handwriting or typing practice.
- Notebooking pages.
- Narration-have them give an oral presentation or repeat back to you what they have learned in their own words
- Copy Work-have them copy a passage from a book paying attention to spelling, punctuation, capitalization.
- Vocabulary-find or create a vocabulary list related to the subject or as you come across unfamiliar words in your reading. Cool Space & Astronomy Vocabulary, Astronomy Vocabulary Word List
- Read aloud together-find a fiction (or non-fiction) book related to the topic to enjoy together
- Spelling- create your own spelling list or practice through dictation.
- Dictation-reading aloud for your student to write or type up. Develops attention and focus, writing skills, and great for learning language and sentence structure.
Math
- Graphs– create a bar graph of all of the planets and how many moons each one has.
- Measuring – talk about different units of measurement, distance, speed, time (what makes a day/year/hour?) how do days and years of each planet compare to earth and why are they different? What time is it in space?
- Adventures in Space Science Mathematics by NASA (Grade levels 5-8 and 9-12
Art
Art for Kids Hub– multiple space related drawing tutorials. Great way to build fine motor skills and improve handwriting!
Build a solar system- here is an easy free printable version
List of 40 Simple Space Crafts
Find Fun Facts
Google Sky maps of space
Space Unit Study Activities
Magic School Bus Videos (Check out your local library for these videos and books as well!)
Build and launch model rockets
Build a solar system- here is an easy free printable version
NASA at home science activities
Take a Class!
Varsity Tutors offers variety of awesome free classes on space, including one with Leland Melvin if you can catch it!
Top 10 Online Astronomy Classes – Varsity Tutors (if there aren’t any at the time, be sure to check back as they offer them in cycles!)
Plus check out their YouTube Channel Varsity Tutors – YouTube
Books
Space – Free Kids Books Free Kids books about space (PDF or read online)
Space Online Activities and Games
Solar System Activities (Listen to Vivaldi the four seasons, calculate your weight and age on each planet, ID moon phases)
All About Space Suits: Space Suite Basics, Parts of a space suite, Why does an astronaut wear a suit ?
ViewSpace.org has a number of interactives on light, black holes, stars, and galaxies, as well as a Video Library on space, earth, and news.
Build a spacecraft (online activity)
Help Paxi land on different planets game
Big list of NASA websites for Students A-Z
NASA for Students (K-4,5-8,9-12)
Pilot the SpaceX Dragon (simulator)
International Space Station Kids Zone (interactive videos)
Check out other Unit Studies Here
