Education
Curricula & Resources
Adler Discovery Kits are sure to be a hit in your classroom! Each Kit is full of learning resources for you and your students to explore and comes with a corresponding curriculum guide. Kits may be checked out for four weeks at a time. The Kits are available by reservation only.
Alien Exposé Discovery Kit
Audience: Grades 5-8
Description: Are we alone in the Universe? Build on your students' natural curiosity of life beyond Earth with the Alien Exposé Discovery Kit. This kit provides books, video, and materials to use with our Alien Exposé curriculum guide. Explore what constitutes life, where life can be found on earth, and where it might be found throughout the Universe. Preview the curriculum guide.
Beyond the Solar System: Expanding the Universe in the Classroom
Audience: Grades 8-12
Description: Help your students deepen their understanding of the structure and evolution of the universe and the nature of science. The resources in this kit along with the accompanying DVD will encourage exploration of a topic that is often difficult to teach.
Capturing Light in our Community
Audience: Grades 5-8
Description: Examine the many different kinds of light with the Capturing Light in our Community Discovery Kit. This kit provides the materials needed to explore the electromagnetic spectrum and light. Explore how the Sun affects our community.
GEMS® Space Science Sequence Kits
Looking for a way to include basic space science in your curriculum? The GEMS® Space Sciences Sequences for grade 3-5 and 6-8 were created by NASA, educators, and astronomers to meet your needs! More information about the sequences can be found by visiting http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/gems/CurriculumSequences.htm. Each Kit includes guides and materials for two units that can be covered in 2-4 weeks.
GEMS Space Science Sequence 3-5 A "How Big and How Far" and "Earth's Shape and Gravity"
Audience: Grades 3-5
Description: "How Big and How Far?" explores the scale and distances of objects within Earth’s atmosphere and in space. In the second unit, "Earth’s Shape and Gravity", students develop basic ideas about gravity through experiments. Students use what they’ve learned to analyze images from Apollo 11.
GEMS Space Science Sequence 3-5 B "How Does the Earth Move?" and "Moon Phases and Eclipses"
Audience: Grades 3-5
Description: In "How Does the Earth Move?", students investigate the cause of night and day as well as the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. In the second unit, students explore shadows and cycles to develop an understanding of "Moon Phases and Eclipses."
GEMS Space Science Sequence 6-8 A "How Does the Sun Affect the Earth?" and "Why Are There Seasons?"
Audience: Grades 6-8
Description: This kit includes units that help students answer the questions "How Does the Sun Affect the Earth?" and "Why Are There Seasons?" Students will explore the electromagnetic energies and solar particles produced by the Sun and the real reasons we experience seasons.
GEMS Space Science Sequence 6-8 B "The Solar System" and "Beyond the Solar System"
Audience: Grades 6-8
Description: In the units "The Solar System" and "Beyond the Solar System" students will investigate the variety of objects in space. Modeling activities help students understand more about these objects and the vast distances between them.
Gravity and Black Holes Discovery Kit
Audience: Grades 5-8, 9-12
Description: "Examine the ultimate limits of gravity and Energy in the Universe" with the Gravity and Black Holes Discovery kit. This Kit provides materials for students to explore gravity and related physics concepts, such as mass and force, within the context of Earth, space, and black holes. Preview the curriculum guide
Rock-n-Sol Discovery Kit
Audience: Grades 5-8
Description: Explore energy and its many forms with the Rock-n-Sol Discovery Kit. This Kit provides materials for students to explore light and our sun to discover how energy is used.
Solar Energy
Audience: Grades 4-7
Description: This kit begins with students exploring different types of energy followed by a deeper exploration of light energy. Using what they have learned, student will then develop a solar oven and make design changes to maximize its usability. As a culminating project, students will use science and technology knowledge along with their creative talents to design and build a solar car model.
Sun-Earth Connection Discovery Kit
Audience: Grades K-4, 5-8
Description: Begin this amazing journey from the Sun to the Earth with the Sun-Earth Connection Discovery Kit. This kit provides books, posters, CD-ROMS, video and other materials to use with our Sun-Earth Connection curriculum guide. Explore how the Sun affects our daily lives by investigating topics such as night and day, energy, and the reasons for the seasons. Preview the curriculum guide
To Borrow a Discovery Kit:
At least one week in advance, print reservation PDF form, fill out and mail, fax or email to:
Adler ACCESS/Discovery Kits
1300 South Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60605
312-322-0302
Fax: 312-322-9181
learn@adlerplanetarium.org
1300 South Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60605
312-322-0302
Fax: 312-322-9181
learn@adlerplanetarium.org
After receiving confirmation of reservation, schedule a Discovery Kit pick up time with an Adler Educator. On that day you will meet with an Adler Educator to review the contents of your kit and complete and sign a loan agreement.
To Return a Discovery Kit:
- Inventory the Kit to ensure all items are returned.
- Please take a few minutes to complete the evaluation form inside. Your feedback is extremely important to us.
- Return Kit and evaluation to Adler during normal operating hours. (See Plan a Visit page for hours)
There is a $10 fee for each day that the Kit is overdue. Please see Discovery Kit Guidelines (PDF) for more information.
(image Credit: Lawrence Hall of
Science, Great Explorations in
Math and Science.)
Browse our library of Teacher Guides from the Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS®) series to find lesson plans and activities designed to help you present math and science topics to your students in a fun and engaging way. Your kids can absorb physics concepts while building model rockets, get a grasp on why seasons change, and much more!
You can view the contents of our library and detailed descriptions of each guide available. Then submit a GEMS® Curriculum Guide Request and we will be in touch to arrange for pick up. The check out period is 4 weeks.
Adler educators developed the following curriculum guides for the popular Astronomy Connections professional development and classroom curriculum program. Each lesson and activity has been used by interdisciplinary teams of Astronomy Connections teachers in their classrooms, and adapted for Adler's education programs within the museum. Please use and modify these resources to fit the needs of your students.
Alien Exposé
Alien Exposé is a curriculum guide that introduces students to the study of life on Earth and helps them explore the possibility of life elsewhere in the Universe.
Sun-Earth Connection
Sun-Earth Connection is a curriculum guide that focuses on studying the Sun's structure, light, energy, and its relationship with Earth.
Gravity and Black Holes
Gravity and Black Holes is a curriculum guide focused on the teaching of gravity and related physics concepts, such as mass and force, within the context of earth, space, and black holes.
Mars Exploration Station
Mars Exploration Station was developed for the nationwide Mars Millennium Project. Use it as a guide to the study of Mars.
Cultural Astronomy
Bringing the Heavens to Earth is a new online cultural astronomy resource based on Adler's Bringing the Heavens to Earth gallery, which opened in March 2002. The site was co-developed by the Adler Planetarium, the University of Chicago, and Chicago Public Schools involved in eCUIP. The site contains information, lesson plans, interactives, and animations describing how numerous cultures have used the sky over the centuries to survive, structure their communities and provide meaning to their lives.
Sun and Seasons Online Activity enhances your class' study of the "reasons for the seasons". You will need the Macromedia Flash Player to do the activity, which only works in Internet Explorer.
Astronomy Connections Gravity Lab is an online activity that allows students to experiment with objects of differing masses in ways not possible in class! This activity requires Macromedia Flash Player, and will only work with the Internet Explorer browser.
Moons of Jupiter Puzzle takes students through observations of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter. We have adapted this activity from one found in the book The Moons of Jupiter, which was developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science for their Great Explorations in Math and Science school curriculum program.
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