Earth-Sun-Moon System Activities for Middle School Science

The Kesler Science Lunar Cycle 5E Lesson is a comprehensive unit designed to help middle school students understand and predict changes in the Moon’s appearance. It includes editable presentations, worksheets, choice projects, and assessments, all designed for student-led, differentiated learning. Aligned with NGSS standards, the lesson follows the 5E Model: Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation.

Students engage with essential questions through word wall vocabulary, teacher-led discussions, and interactive activities. The exploration phase features a student-led station lab with multimodal learning options, including hands-on experiments, reading passages in English and Spanish, research tasks, video discussions, and interactive assessments. Explanation includes editable PowerPoints, interactive notebook templates, and note-taking guides. Elaboration allows students to extend their understanding with choice projects on the lunar cycle, while evaluation includes updated STAAR 2.0 assessments, review questions, and worksheets for discussion or homework. 

This resource is flexible for both in-person and virtual learning, with digital and printable options to suit different classroom needs. Spanish translations are available for vocabulary, reading passages, and interactive notebook pages.

The Kesler Science Eclipses 5E Lesson is a comprehensive, student-led unit designed to engage middle school students in understanding solar and lunar eclipses. It includes editable presentations, worksheets, assessments, and student-choice projects, requiring minimal prep while supporting differentiated learning. The lesson is NGSS-aligned.

Students explore essential questions about how the positions of Earth, the Sun, and the Moon determine the type of eclipse and how shadows create partial and total eclipses. The unit follows the 5E Model, incorporating engagement activities, a hands-on exploration station lab with multimodal learning options, and interactive notebooks in English and Spanish. Explanation resources include editable PowerPoints, note-taking templates, and differentiated materials. Elaboration features student-choice projects, while evaluation includes STAAR 2.0-aligned assessments, review questions, and worksheets.

This flexible resource supports both printable and digital formats for in-class or virtual learning. With interactive and differentiated activities, Spanish translations, and various student engagement methods, this lesson ensures a comprehensive understanding of eclipses in an engaging and accessible way.

The Kesler Science Seasons 5E Lesson is a comprehensive middle school unit that includes presentations, worksheets, choice projects, and assessments. Designed for differentiated, student-led learning, it requires minimal prep and is fully editable. The lesson is NGSS aligned.

Following the 5E Model, the lesson engages students with objectives, word wall cards, and class discussion activities. The hands-on, student-led station lab in the Exploration phase includes nine stations offering multimodal learning through experiments, readings, videos, research, and interactive activities. Explanation features editable PowerPoints, interactive notebooks, and note-taking templates in English and Spanish. Elaboration includes student-choice projects, while Evaluation provides STAAR 2.0-aligned assessments and review worksheets.

With digital and printable options, Spanish translations, and flexible learning formats, this lesson supports both in-class and virtual learning.

Engage your middle school students with this student-led Lunar Cycle Station Lab, designed to promote independent learning and critical thinking. This hands-on activity guides students as they demonstrate and predict the sequence of events in the lunar cycle through nine interactive stations.

Students explore new concepts using videos, readings, research, and hands-on demonstrations. They showcase their understanding through organizing information, illustrating models, writing responses, and completing assessments. A challenge station offers extension activities for advanced learners. Differentiated reading passages are available in English and Spanish to support varied learning needs.

This flexible resource can be used in both classroom and virtual settings, providing an engaging, multimodal approach to learning the lunar cycle.

Engage your students with this student-led station lab on eclipses, designed to promote independent learning while minimizing teacher prep time. Through interactive stations, students develop and use a model of the Earth-Sun-Moon system to describe cyclic patterns.

This activity features nine differentiated stations, offering hands-on exploration, research, reading, videos, and creative outputs. Students organize information, illustrate models, respond to prompts, and complete assessments, with an optional challenge station for extension activities. Stations include a mix of physical and digital tasks, with Spanish and English reading passages for differentiated support.

Ideal for in-class or virtual learning, this resource fosters engagement, critical thinking, and active exploration of space science concepts.

Engage your middle school students with this student-led Seasons Station Lab, designed to model and illustrate how Earth's axial tilt and orbit around the Sun create seasonal changes. This interactive lesson allows students to direct their own learning while teachers facilitate.

Featuring nine differentiated stations, students explore the seasons through hands-on demonstrations, research, readings, videos, and creative tasks. Input stations introduce concepts through experiments, multimedia, and text, while output stations encourage students to organize, illustrate, write, and assess their understanding. A bonus challenge station offers extension activities for advanced learners.

With both physical and digital versions available, this resource supports in-class and virtual learning, making it a flexible and engaging way to deepen students' understanding of the seasons.

The Lunar Cycle Student Choice Projects lesson allows middle school students to demonstrate their understanding through a project that fits their preferred output style. A project page outlines six student-led options plus a “design your own” project, all supported by an editable rubric for teacher, peer, or self-assessment. 

These flexible projects offer creative, multimodal ways for students to engage with the material. Two versions of the project page support differentiation, with modified options for students needing remediation and challenge opportunities for advanced learners. Teachers can customize the rubric to fit grading needs.

The projects require standard classroom supplies like paper, markers, and scissors, with many options available for digital completion. Some crafting materials may be useful for model-building activities.

The Eclipses Student Choice Projects lesson allows middle school students to select a project that fits their preferred output style. A project page outlines six student-led options plus a “design your own” project, with an editable rubric for teacher, peer, or self-assessment. 

These flexible, multimodal projects offer creative ways for students to demonstrate their understanding. Two versions of the project page support differentiation, with modified options for students needing remediation and challenge opportunities for advanced learners. Teachers can adjust the rubric to fit grading needs. 

The projects use common classroom supplies like paper, markers, and scissors, with many options available for digital completion.

The Seasons Student Choice Projects lesson allows middle school students to select a project that matches their preferred output style. A project page outlines six student-led options plus a “design your own” project, all supported by a grading rubric for teacher, peer, or self-assessment. 

These flexible, multimodal projects offer creative ways for students to demonstrate their understanding. Teachers can modify the rubric to fit grading needs, and two versions of the project page provide differentiation—one with targeted support for students needing remediation and another allowing advanced students to combine projects for a challenge.

The projects require standard classroom supplies such as paper, markers, and scissors, with many options available for digital completion. Some crafting materials may be useful for building models.

The Lunar Cycle Escape Room is an engaging activity that challenges students to demonstrate their understanding of the lunar cycle by predicting past and future moon phases. To succeed, students should be familiar with the phases of the Moon, their sequence, and the approximate time it takes for one phase to transition to the next.  

Teachers have full control over the experience, choosing from eight independent puzzles that can be used in any order to fit class time constraints. The escape room can be conducted using simple manila envelopes or a more immersive setup with locks and a storage box. Materials needed include printed resources, envelopes, and a reflective surface such as a small mirror or a phone camera.  

A digital version is available for online learning, with a Single Student Digital Version in PowerPoint that can be shared through email or a learning management system. This version is also compatible with Google Slides. A printable version in PPT or PDF is provided for at-home use.  

Included in this resource are teacher directions, a detailed answer key, an editable teacher version, a digital answer sheet (Google Form), a video challenge, and eight unique puzzles with printable props. Additional features include reward templates, over 50 prize ideas, and 30 editable signs for post-activity photos. This exciting and immersive escape room will leave students talking about their experience for weeks!

The Seasons, Day & Night Escape Room is an interactive activity that allows students to demonstrate their understanding of Earth's rotation, revolution, seasons, and the day-and-night cycle in an engaging way. Aligned with NGSS MS-ESS1-1, this experience challenges students to model and illustrate how Earth's tilt and movement around the Sun influence seasonal changes.

Teachers have full control over the eight independent puzzles, allowing flexibility in selection and order based on class time. The escape room can be conducted using manila envelopes for a simple setup or enhanced with locks, a storage box, and UV pens for a more immersive experience. 

A digital version is available for online learning via PowerPoint or Google Slides, allowing students to solve puzzles by answering questions and manipulating images. A printable version in PPT and PDF formats is also provided for at-home use, with restrictions on public sharing.

Included in this resource are teacher directions, a detailed answer key, a digital answer sheet, an editable teacher version, and a video challenge to set the scene. Students will engage with eight unique puzzles, printable props, reward templates, and over 50 prize ideas. With fun, interactive elements and customizable features, this escape room will keep students engaged long after the challenge ends.