Planetary Science STEM Activities for Beginners – 50 Hands-On Missions for Grades 6–8

Help your middle-schooler think like a planetary scientist. Planetary Science STEM Activities for Beginners packs 50 two-page missions into one printable 124-page PDF — each with a Look & STEM Idea page, a Try & Draw page, a mission goal and a materials list — for Grades 6–8.

What this book helps you do

Inside the book

• 50 two-page STEM missions for Grades 6–8 (ages 11–13)
• 7 sections, from The Solar System & Its Worlds to Exploration & Design
• Look & STEM Idea and Try & Draw pages with a mission goal, time, difficulty and materials list
• Key planetary science words: Scale, Gravity, Crater, Atmosphere, Spectrum and Rover
• For Grown-Ups notes and a Certificate of Discovery
• Printable 124-page PDF — Level D “Innovators” of the Mathfa STEM series

Topics covered

The book moves through seven sections: The Solar System & Its Worlds (8 missions, from Mapping the Solar System to Design a Planetary Data Card), Gravity, Orbits & Kepler (7 missions, from Weight on Other Worlds to Design an Orbit Investigation), Craters & Impacts (7 missions, from What Is an Impact Crater? to Design an Impact Investigation), Planetary Atmospheres (7 missions, from What Is an Atmosphere? to Design an Atmosphere Investigation), Surfaces, Geology & Volcanism (7 missions, from Reading a Planet’s Surface to Design a Surface Investigation), Exoplanets & Habitability (7 missions, from Worlds Around Other Stars to Design an Exoplanet Investigation) and Exploration & Design (7 missions, from Why We Send Robots to Present a Complete Planetary Study). Every section opens with a mission plan, and the book ends with For Grown-Ups notes and a Certificate of Discovery for finishing all 50 missions.

Built for

Grade 6–8 students (ages 11–13); parents who want screen-light, purposeful STEM projects; teachers and homeschool families who need ready-made missions; and STEM clubs looking for investigations that end in something students can show.

Getting the most from it

Let students read the STEM idea and predict before they build or measure. Encourage them to record every result, even the surprising ones, and to explain what the evidence shows. Revisit a mission after finishing a section — improving a first design is where much of the learning happens.

Before you begin

For background on middle-school science and engineering practices, see the Next Generation Science Standards; for real-world planetary science data and careers, visit the NASA. On Mathfa, explore the Mathfa STEM hub, try Advanced Weather STEM Activities for Beginners, or browse the full Mathfa library.

Frequently asked questions