Lesson+Plan

Topic: The Solar System

Grade Level: 5th - Science (can be adapted to any level)

S.S.S: SC.5.E.5.2: Recognize the major common characteristics of all planets and compare/contrast the properties of inner and outer planets.

SC.5.E.5.3: Distinguish among the following objects of the Solar System -- Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets -- and identify Earth's position in it.

Objectives: Given an online scavenger hunt and clues to which textbooks to use, the 5th grade science students will be able to identify the major common characteristics of all planets and will compare and contrast these characteristics in a online journal that they will design after the lesson with 95% accuracy.

Given PowerPoint presentation and the internet the 5th grade science students will be able to describe the properties of the inner and outer planets and will be able to compose a weather podcast in groups with 95% accuracy.

Given planetary video and the internet the 5th grade science students will be able to explain and outline the differences between the sun, moons, asteroids and comets in order to sketch a picture of these differences and will also be able generate a list in an Excel document with 95% accuracy.

Given an online scavenger hunt and the internet the 5th grade science students will be able to identify the Earth's position in the solar system and will generate a newsletter, as if this was the first discussion about the subject for the audience, detailing the exact positions of all the planets with 100% accuracy.

Given use of any materials the 5th grade science learners will describe their particular planet as they design a Photo Story movie which they will examine their particular planet with 100% accuracy.

Levels of Bloom's Taxonomy being addressed... Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis

Materials: Computer w/ Excel for creating a database for characteristics of sun, moons, and planets Internet for an online scavenger hunt, and reference information Headphones for making a podcast and Photo Story Microphone for verbal parts on the podcast and Photo Story Textbooks for reference information Colored Pencils for coloring pictures of the planets Construction Paper for drawing Digital Camera for taking pictures of the students drawings Paper for notes Pencils to take notes with

Day:1 Discuss prior knowledge of the solar system. Students will create an online journal containing the major characteristics of the planets that they learn about in a scavenger hunt online and though the use of textbooks. They will be broken down into 8 groups of 4 by counting the students off 1-8, 1 group for each planet. However the online journal will be an individual project.

Day: 2 Students will be broken back down into their groups in order to create a weather podcast from the planet that their group was assigned. This will be to broadcast a live weather report based on the characteristics of their particular planet that they were assigned and learned about on Day 1. In addition to the weather report they must also name the properties of their planet such as whether it is an inner or outer planet, its characteristics, etc. They will do internet research and also watch a PPT.

Day: 3 Students will create an Excel database in order to list the planets and the characteristics of the planets that were detailed in the video and internet in the day’s lesson. They will also draw pictures showing these differences for the final project of the week.

Day 4: Students will create a newsletter as to describe to the readers the Earth's exact location in the solar system and it's characteristics. Make sure the newsletter is like the reader is hearing this information for the first time. The students will also draw pictures of the planets and their alignment for the final project of the week. Students will also take pictures of their drawings in order to upload them for the final project.

Day: 5 Students will design a Photo Story using notes from their online journal, the uploaded pictures of the students’ drawings and their Podcast recording to create a 3-4 minute movie on Photo Story in which they discuss the information that they learned about the solar system and their particular planet I assigned to the groups.