Layout For Solar System Science Projects

Solar System Formation

• Pupils can develop any aspect of the solar system's formation into a compositional investigation project. Students invoke critical thinking skills while contemplating the standard accretion theory of how planets formed out of a whirling cloud of stellar dust and hydrogen called the solar nebula. Students researching and composing papers on the different ways the giant gas planets formed as compared to the inner rocky planets will use information from the fields of physics, geology and astronomy.

Planetary Models

• Students making realistic two- or three-dimensional models of the planets will learn about their comparative sizes and orbits. NASA's website is a good place to download reference photographs and images to assist students in their representations of the planets. Painting and drawing the planets provides good opportunities to learn about their characteristic features, such as the rotating red spot of Jupiter or Mars's polar ice caps. Younger students can use foam balls to build models of the planets, then suspend them from a wooden frame.

Meteorites

• The subject of meteorites is a good area for fascinating science projects. Inexpensive meteorites bought on eBay teach students about the primordial material of the solar system. Sometimes dealers of the space stones will donate them to your class or sell them at a discount. The sliced-up stones make excellent subjects for study under the microscope. Meteorite projects are valuable because students have tangible objects to handle and analyze from the earliest days of the solar system. Students can study and compare their classification and chemical compositions.

The Sun

• The sun is the central feature and most massive object in the solar system. Many of the sun's internal and external characteristics are interesting enough to build a project around. The origin and effects of sunspots on Earth and outer space weather are areas ripe for investigation. The internal structure and dynamics of the sun are fields for students to expand into science writing projects. A project with students making charts to illustrate the cycles of the solar corona and solar eclipses provides a positive learning experience.