Yes. Math!
Astronomy and space flight topics involve a lot of math, which is probably not the average student’s favorite subject! It’s important, though, even for learning about science. The math and arithmetic in most of these activities might be more interesting to students than typical classroom drills and thought questions.
No attempt has been made to define what educational standards these meet—there are just too many of those, varying from state to state and year to year. Teachers are encouraged to think of these as extension or enrichment activities, and to judge for themselves whether an activity matches with their students’ needs and abilities. There might be some students who would enjoy doing these activities on their own even if the other students don’t.
Space and Astronomy Basic Knowledge
Even these activities that don’t directly use math involve concepts such as scale and ratios.
Discover the names of every known moon in the solar system, and which planet each one orbits. Moons are listed in order of their increasing distance from their planet.
3rd grade and up
Math-based Activities
These activities can be used to help students learn about concepts such as equations, exponents, roots, and more, and some of them can be simplified if needed to match student abilities. Most of them have been used with students as young as 4th grade (sometimes in GT programs or science clubs), although the math might not be typically introduced that early. Each activity has a recommended grade level, but going higher or lower than that is fine if it suits student needs or interests. No strong attempt is made in the activities to control significant figures, but teachers are encouraged to include that if their students are ready for it.
Some of the activities are more easily done using scientific notation, and scientific calculators would be handy for all of them.
This activity helps students visualize the tremendous distances between planets, and the tiny sizes of the planets compared to those distances. It can help break misconceptions caused by maps and artwork that necessarily must be compressed to fit on textbook pages or computer monitors. Because distances and sizes are given by ratios, it’s possible to lay out your scale model of the solar system in a classroom, gym, or outdoors depending on the actual distance you choose to represent Earth’s distance from the sun.
4th grade and up
A simple equation using nothing more than decimal multiplication, division, and squares is used to let students calculate their weight on any other planet in the solar system. The required planetary data is included. An optional calculation using addition yields a comparison between Jupiter and other planets that may surprise the students!
6th grade and up
A little more mathematically complex than some of these activities, this uses an equation involving multiplication and division, pi, squares, and cubes to determine the masses of planets from the data provided. Scientific notation is strongly recommended, along with calculators that can handle that. There are a half dozen student questions to calculate, with a Teacher Answer Sheet showing the calculations and results.
10th grade and up
Given the distance from Earth to the Sun, students can actually measure the diameter of the Sun to within about 10% accuracy using nothing but a meter stick, index cards, tape, and a thumbtack! They can build the measuring devices themselves, or the teacher can build them in advance. A solar projection method ensures that students look down and away from the sun while doing measurements, and a measuring “ruler” is included. The only required math operations are multiplication, division, and the use of ratios.
4th grade and up
Students can use these instructions and the included data to calculate the speeds of Earth and other planets around the sun. Older students can use equations for Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion, but younger students can get results with nothing more than decimal multiplication and division. Comparing the results of various planets can reveal a pattern in their motions.
8th grade and up
By far the longest and most wide open of these exercises, this seeks to encourage creative but rational discussion to questions that currently have no reliable answers! The only math required is decimal multiplication using scientific notation, and cube roots. Scientific calculators are a big help! For younger students, the teacher may need to help with some of that. Possible discussion questions and discussion points are included. How likely is life elsewhere? How far away might other civilizations be? Are there realistic ways to travel to the stars? The Drake Equation can help students understand the complexity of these questions while leading to lively discussion!
8th grade and up