New Horizons NASA's Mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt
Who Is King of the Ice Dwarfs?
Learn more about Pluto on NASA's Space Place website.
Discovering Planet "X" (Grades 3-5)
An activity exploring parallax and then simulating the discovery of Pluto with a Blink Comparator via an online interactive.
Helpful Resources:
Orbit and Spin (Grades 3-5)
A whole-body activity that explores the relative sizes, distances, orbit, and spin of the Sun, Earth, and Moon.
Signals and Noise, Oh Boy! (Grades 3-5)
Students are introduced to the terms "signal" and "noise" in the context of spacecraft communication. They explore these concepts by listening to a computer-generated signal from two different distances with no additional background noise, and then with background noise and compare their experiences in a science journal page.
Appearances Can Be Deceiving!
Students explore the relationship between angular width, actual size, and distance by using their finger, thumb and fist as a unit of angular measurement in this hands-on activity.
Earth Calling
A hands-on activity exploring spacecraft radio communication concepts, including the speed of light and the time-delay for signals sent to and from spacecraft.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
This activity engages students with a hands-on activity and an online interactive to explore the Signal-to-Noise Ratio, a fundamental concept in spacecraft communication. The activity also includes a pencil-and-paper component that addresses relevant topics, such as proportions and ratios.
Invisible Collisions
This activity relates an elastic collision to the change in a satellite's or spacecraft's speed and direction resulting from a planetary fly-by, often called a "gravity assist" maneuver. Both hands-on and online interactive methods are used to explore these topics.
What is a Planet?
Students learn about the characteristics of planets, comets, asteroids, and trans-Neptunian objects through a classification activity. Students can then apply what they have learned by participating in a formal debate about a solar system object discovered by the New Horizons spacecraft and by defining the term 'planet.'
Earth Matters (Grades K-2)
Classification activities that will lead students from simple sorting of familiar objects to classifying materials into liquids, gases, and solids.
Student Activity Sheet
Teacher Lesson Plan
Students will learn that the New Horizons poster depicts a scale drawing of the Solar System. They will use the poster to track the true progress of the spacecraft.
Learning Goals:
S - Understanding the long distances and timescales involved in space travel. M - Using fractions and multiplication to change scales/units.
Materials:
Standards:
S - D: Objects in the Sky; E: Abilities of Technological Design M - Measurement; Number and Operations; Problem Solving
Boys Growth Chart
Girls Growth Chart
Student Activity Sheet (PDF)
Teacher Lesson Plan (PDF)
Students will measure their height, analyze the heights of classmates, and predict their height at the time New Horizons is scheduled to fly by Pluto using a growth chart.
S - Using a model and measurements to make predictions. M - Collecting data and finding the mean, mode, and median.
Graphing points on a Cartesian coordinate system.
M - Measurement; Data Analysis and Probability
Students will determine the length of one year on the nine planets and match historical events that occurred on Earth one year ago on these planets.
S - Learning the astronomical meaning of a year and the timescales associated with planets with large orbits.
S-A: Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry
Students take imaginary trips through the Solar System on a spacebus and use math skills to find out the next spacebus stop.
S -Understanding the order and distances of the planets from the Sun. M -Problem solving using multiplication, rounding and fractions.
S - D: Objects in the Sky M - Number and Operations; Problem Solving
Students will make a scale model of the orbits of the outer planets and explore the peculiarities of Pluto's orbit.
S - Understanding the scale of the Solar System. Learning about Pluto's elliptical and inclined orbit.
S - A: Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry; D: Objects in the Sky
New Horizons Growth Chart Poster
Download Your Own New Horizons Growth Chart poster.
Arrokoth Shape Model
Print your own 3D model of the New Horizons flyby target Arrokoth. This is a published shape model of Arrokoth (.obj format). Please see the Planetary Data Systems Small Bodies Node for more technical information and other formats.
Credit: JHU Applied Physics Laboratory
New Horizons Cut Out Model
Build Your Own New Horizons Spacecraft (Ages 10+)
Best suited for ages 10+, build a scale model of the New Horizons spacecraft!
Make a Model of the Pluto/Charon System (All Ages)
Pluto and Charon are a binary system. Build your own model of a binary system and see what makes it so unique! With adult help, children of any age will enjoy this activity.
Model Design Diagram
View the New Horizons spacecraft model design diagram!
Spacecraft Model Files
Build your own 3D New Horizons spacecraft model. Below is a zipped file of .stl-formatted printable models including instructions for printing and assembly. We understand that 3D printing often involves trial and error. You may make adjustments or changes when printing these models.