Searching the Sky

Uncover the secrets of the Solar System by using ancient calendars and observations of planets, stars, and more. Searching the Sky can help any young astronomer discover the relationships between solar objects.

Searching the Sky is a high school Launch level kit that includes a full-color Student Workbook and Teacher Guide, with step-by-step instruction for both hands-on and reading-based activities designed to engage students in the movement of solar bodies in the universe. Both teacher and student will be able to open the box and star within minutes. As part of a special program from Home Science Tools, this Launch level kit will provide over 15 hours of engaging learning.

In this kit, the student will engage in these hands-on learning experiences:

1. Use calendars of ancient people to begin your understanding of what can be learned from the universe.
2. Work through several types of scale to best understand the scale of the universe. 
3. Work with gravity in a hands-on way that doesn't require you to drop something. 
4. Discover how gravity impacts black holes. 
5. Work through Kepler's three Laws of Planetary Motion.

Use the Searching the Sky kit to answer questions such as:

• What are the relationships between solar objects?
• How are the planets' orbits impacted by gravity?
• Where do black holes come from?
• What impacts the motion of planets?

Interested in learning more? Check out our Student Workbook Sample and Teacher Guide Sample!

More Information

• Below is the animation referenced in the Student Workbook:

This kit contains:

• 1 Blue Pin
• 1 Marble
• 1 Masking Tape
• 1 Red Pin
• 1 Rubber Ball
• 1 Rubber Stopper
• 1 Ruler
• 1 Star and Planet Locator
• 1 Straw
• 1 String
• 5 Washers

On hand, you will want to have:

• Scissors
• Stopwatch
• Video Camera

• Learning outcome: Uncover the secrets of the Solar System by using ancient calendars and observations of planets, stars, and more.
• NGSS science standards alignment
• HS-ESS1-4 Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system.
• MS-ESS1-2 Make a model to show how gravity affects motion within galaxies and the solar system.
• MS-ESS1-3 Use data to determine the size, surface features, and orbital radius of objects in the solar system.