Students explore planetary transits and related data to support their understanding of Kepler’s laws of planetary motion.

This lesson plan features media resources from NASA, including video footage of Mercury and Venus transits, and a visualization of satellite orbits that illustrates Kepler’s laws. An interactive lesson introduces students to the transit method and guides students through data analysis and interpretation of light curves in the study of exoplanets. A video from NOVA further illustrates how the Kepler Space Telescope uses the transit method to detect planets beyond our solar system.

Support materials include: Non-Visual (NV) Supports. This resource was developed through WGBH’s Bringing the Universe to America’s Classrooms project, in collaboration with NASA.