Earth and Space Apps

The apps are sorted by content area and how you might use them. I want to help as many students as possible get a high-quality three-dimensional science education. The apps will always be free. If you find them useful, consider donating to the Wild Haired Science Teacher on patreon. You’ll support development of more apps!

Virtual Labs/Phenomena

These replicate something like you would get with a hands on lab. Students can change things and see final velocities.

Atmosphere - Earth - Simulation of light energy interacting with CO₂ in the atmosphere. Shows light of different wavelengths from the sun and infrared leaving.

Dot Animation – Earth Moon Sun - Earth/Space - Animation of the Earth orbiting the Sun and the Moon orbiting the Earth. They leave a trail of dots so students can see the path. Note: Because it is not to scale, the path of the Moon is unrealistic, but I still think it helps students think about relative motion.

Earth Sun Moon - Earth/Space - High quality representation of the Earth, Sun, and Moon. The Earth revolves but also rotates around a tilted axis so you can see the difference in time of day at different seasons. You have the option of showing the phase of the moon. Students have control over time so they can take screenshots. You might also be interested in the Moon simulation that doesn’t show the Earth orbiting.

Gravity Assist - Space - Students can figure out the conditions for how a spacecraft can use the gravity from a planet to speed up or slow down.

ISS Orbit - Space - Change the velocity of the ISS to make it orbit the Earth. Helps with understanding how an orbit works.

Moon - Earth&Space - App shows the moon, Earth, and sun in a top view and a view of the moon from the Earth. Users can see the change the phase throughout the lunar cycle and how they connect to the location of each body. You may also be interested in the Earth Sun Moon simulation that shows the orbit of the Earth.

Orbit Examples 1 - Space - Shows four orbits around the Earth including low earth, geostationary, and very elliptical. Good for finding patterns in orbits.

Orbit Examples 2 - Space - More examples of orbits. Shows a transfer orbit from a close to a far circular orbit.

Orbit Force - Earth/Space - Simple simulation of a circular orbit with a fixed distance to the star. Adjust the gravitational force to see how the orbital speed changes.

Orbit Sweep - Space - Eliptical orbit showing a line sweeping out an area. Students can use a ruler to measure triangles to check that the area per time is constant.

Orbit Values - Earth/Space - Drag a body around and adjust its initial velocity to see how its orbit changes. I ask students to try to produce a circular orbit than figure out how to make a single change that will make it elliptical starting at either perigee or apogee.

Planet Energy - Earth & Space - Shows the Earth and Mercury change temperature over time. Mercury is hotter during the day but colder at night. I used this phenomenon to start a unit about climate change. Also available as a version that shows photons entering and leaving the planet: Planet Energy With Light. Versions in °C: Without Light and with Light. You an also change the location of the marker on Earth.

Storms - Energy/Earth & Space - Students change the temperature of the atmosphere and see the effect on clouds and wind. A very simplified version of a weather simulation. I used this as a summative assessment where students practiced finding patterns and then constructing explanations of why climate change causes more violent storms using ideas about kinetic and potential energy. in °C.

Two Body Orbit - Earth/Space - Change the mass and separation distance between two objects and see how their orbit changes. Good for understanding a planet and moon, exoplanets, or binary stars. It also comes in a version specifically for a star and planet where the masses are very different and a version without the distance.

Tides - Earth/Space - Drag the location of the Earth and Moon to see how the level of the oceans are affected. Toggle through showing the Moon and Sun, just the Sun, or just the Moon. The Earth rotates so students can see how the tides change over time.

Zodiac Location - Space - The Earth and Moon orbit with lines drawn in so students can see how the zodiac signs are defined. I have students look up their sun and moon sign and then take a screenshot showing the location of the Earth and Moon at the time of their birth. Also available in a version without lines.

Tools for Students

Keyframe Animator – Earth Moon Sun - Earth/Space - Keyframe animator for the Earth, Moon, and Sun. Click on an object to select it and then set keyframes. I’ll be honest, this is pretty tedious to use. I can’t say I recommend it. At some point I hope to update it with curve fitting so it doesn’t need so many keyframes and other hinting to help like automatic distance from the sun calculation.

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