JUST RIGHT: SEARCHING FOR THE GOLDILOCKS PLANET
Astronomy & STEM Activities

Best Users: STEM/STEAM Educators, School Librarians, Public Librarians,
Best Audience: Grades 03-05
 

ASTRONOMY & STEM ACTIVITIES

“An ideal addition for libraries building or updating STEAM collections.”
—School Library Journal, starred review

Author Curtis Manley and Curious City were honored to work with librarians Suzanne Costner (2017 Aerospace Teacher of the Year) and Jennifer Beach (Certified Environmental Educator) to create these guided hands-on astronomy activities (for educators and librarians of all STEAM abilities).

DOWNLOAD Just Right: Astronomy Activity Guide (PDF)
Or explore the individual activities…

 

 

Exoplanets & Extraterrestrials Activity & Game
In this playful hands-on activity, you can invite one group of readers to imagine exoplanets, and another group of readers to imagine extraterrestrials. Using crafted planets and alien props, your readers orbit one another trying to make a “just right” Goldilocks match.
DOWNLOAD Just Right: Exoplanets & Extraterrestrials Activity

 

 

Just Right Medallion
“Or maybe it’s like nothing we can even imagine.”
—Just Right
This quote is incorporated into the stunning cover image allowing you to make medallions, pins, or stickers for your readers.
DOWNLOAD Just Right: Medallion (PDF)

 

 

Just Right Temperature Activity
Like Goldilocks’ porridge, there is “just right” temperature for life on Earth. That life depends on the presence of liquid water. We offer ideas to observe the behavior of water at different temperatures and to demonstrate the reaction of plants to water at a variety of temperatures.
DOWNLOAD Just Right: Temperature Activity (PDF)

 

 

Magnetosphere Activity
One of the features that enables the Earth to support life is the protection of the magnetic field around the planet. Demonstrate the magnetic field and its impact with these activities.
DOWNLOAD Just Right: Magnetosphere (PDF)

 

 

Transit Photometry Activity
If astronomers see a star dim and then brighten again, an orbiting planet has passed in front of the star and blocked some of the star’s light. Use these tabletop demonstrations to explore Transit Photometry with readers.
DOWNLOAD Just Right: Transit Photometry Activity (PDF)

 

 

Radial Velocity Activity
The radial velocity method of detecting exoplanets is based on the way a star’s planet(s) affect the star’s movements. Use these spinning (and wobbling) physical activities to demonstrate radial velocity.
DOWNLOAD Just Right: Radial Velocity Activity (PDF)

 

Images © Jessica Lanan

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet
by Curtis Manley
Illustrated by Jessica Lanan
Published by Roaring Brook Press
ISBN-13: 9781250155337
Age Range: 5 – 9 Years

Do you wonder

if humans

are the only beings who wonder

if they are alone

in the universe?

Our sun is a star.

In the night sky are all kinds of stars,

and orbiting those stars are planets like the ones in our own solar system.

Could those planets have life like we do on Earth?

Planet Earth is not too big,

not too small, not too hot,

and not too cold. It’s just right.

Our very own Goldilocks planet . . . .

Follow a young girl as she explores these questions in this gorgeous book about the wondrous search for another Goldilocks planet.

“The illustrations, suffused with glowing light, are dynamically varied, including a colorful double-page spread of the Milky Way galaxy, panels carrying information, fanciful visions of other worlds, and an all-black spread with just one stark sentence in white: “Or maybe it’s like nothing we can even imagine.” Lanan effectively balances the girl’s visual narrative with the heavier scientific exposition of the text….Thorough backmatter includes books, websites, astronomy clubs, and various websites for further exploration. An attractive and informative volume for young stargazers.”
—Kirkus Reviews
.
“The enthusiastic main character lightens what could be weighty scientific information, providing an entry point for newcomers. Lanan’s pleasing, watercolorlike artwork moves between expansive visions of outer space and panels that highlight key concepts. VERDICT An ideal addition for libraries building or updating STEAM collections.”
—School Library Journal, starred review
.
“Lanan captures the child’s dawning awareness of the vastness of the universe. Manley’s writing swings gracefully between factual descriptions (“Earth orbits in our solar system’s ‘habitable zone’ ”) and more lyrical observations: “All stars twinkle, but some stars also seem to wink at us… as if saying, ‘I know a secret.’”….Richly informative prose and intimate yet expansive art show a child’s contagious enthusiasm for the book’s subject. Includes a timeline of astronomical discoveries and suggestions for further reading.”
—Publishers Weekly