Each lesson plan follows a standard format that shows the objective, activity, materials needed, and previous knowledge required. (Those lessons that may require knowledge beyond what a teacher already knows have an information sheet so that knowledge is readily accessible.) Then the procedure is written up step by step.
Some of the lessons integrate other disciplines, such as art or poetry. Some are multicultural. For instance, the poetry lesson suggests using haiku, a Japanese form of poetry, and free verse, which has been used by many African-American poets such as Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes.
One of our foremost goals is to make these lessons truly usable. There are many books full of great astronomy activities, but require materials that are hard to find or are beyond the budget of a classroom teacher. Also, we are aware that classroom teachers have much to do, so we chose to make our lessons straightforward. They may lack the "fireworks" of other activity modules because we have concentrated on making them "teacher friendly" instead.
After the lessons there are some worksheets and discussion questions that you may find useful. There is also a summary of space flight, as I found this information hard to find without using many sources.
These lessons may work particularly well when paired with a visit to a planetarium. They can be used either before a visit, to strengthen the students' knowledge, or afterward, to reinforce what was learned or continue a unit on astronomy. The original lessons were written in conjunction with the University of Nebraska at Kearney and its planetarium director, Dr. José Mena-Werth.