AIMER Program
Unless otherwise noted, each of the above activities takes about an hour.
K-12 AIMER Lessons
Grade | 1st Lesson | 2nd Lesson | 3rd Lesson | 4th Lesson |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kindergarten | Day/Night (45 minutes) | Measuring Temperatures* | The “Astro-Not_Yets” Sound on a String | - |
First Grade | UV Bead Inquiry | Mirror, Mirror | Nefertiti the Spidernaut | - |
Second Grade | Play-doh size model of Earth, Moon and Mars | Where is Saturn in the Solar System? Where am I in the Solar System? (45 minutes) | I Want to be an Astronaut (Students learn about traits needed to be an astronaut and practice those traits at centers) | - |
Third Grade | Telescope Basics (Reflecting/Refracting) followed by solar observing | Mirror Moon | Does Matter Matter? | - |
Fourth Grade | Model night/day/year and seasons (we need a darkened area where students can form a large circle – desks or tables can be moved to the middle of the classroom) | Model Lunar Phases/Month (we need a darkened area where students can form a large circle – desks or tables can be moved to the middle of the classroom) | Construct a Moon Finder (45 minutes) | Ingenuity: Engineering Marvel |
Fifth Grade | Play-doh size model of the solar system (75 minutes) | The Scoop on Moon Dirt (90 minutes which could be divided into two 45-minutes blocks) | The Story of Pluto | Perseverance: Our Quest for Evidence of Water (two 45-minutes sessions) |
Sixth Grade | Talk about the Sun with an emphasis on UV radiation, followed by solar observing | Cratering | Construct Galileoscopes – this activity should be followed by an evening star party | “Houston, We Have a Problem” – Using Apollo 13 as a springboard, students use the engineering design process to create a landing craft for an “egg-stronaut” |
Seventh Grade | Construct a distance model of the solar system using string and beads (90 minutes, which can be broken into two 45-minute sessions, or the students may complete the model at home) | Mission Moon | Invisible Universe: Investigating the Electromagnetic Spectrum | - |
Eighth Grade | Build a comet Dependent on availability of dry ice) | Mission Patches | Marsbound: Mission to the Red Planet (This activity takes two full class periods) | Lava Layering |
High School | Construct and launch alka-rockets, straw rockets and/or stomp rockets. We can also facilitate construction of Alpha Rockets (this takes 2 class periods for construction and one period for launch). | - | Marsbound: Mission to the Red Planet (This activity takes two full class periods) | - |