Grade: Elementary
Subject: Science

#2068. The Solar System

Science, level: Elementary
Posted Tue Dec 5 18:09:03 PST 2000 by Cortney Swigart (QLGH@grove.iup.edu).
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, USA
Materials Required: Worksheets, Circle the Word, books on the solar system
Activity Time: overnight, 30-40 mins.

It is important for students to understand what is in our Solar System. The Students need to know that there are other things besides the Earth, Sun and Moon in the solar sky. The students will learn about the other eight planets and a few other celestial objects like comets and asteroids.

Objectives:
The students will visually list ten objects in our solar system, along with one characteristic of the object,on a piece of paper with 100% accuracy.

Materials:
Books about objects in the solar system
Worksheet with listing of objects in the solar system
Circle the word worksheet

Exploration:
The students will get into groups of four to five students in each group. The group will go
outside and write down what they see in the sky during the day. Then each student at
home will go outside later in the evening and record what they see in the sky then. The
next day in class, the students will get into their groups and discuss what they saw in the
sky that night and see if they have some of the same things down.

Explanation:After a few moments, I will ask the students about their findings and what are the
differences between their observation in the daytime and their observation at night. I will then
answer any questions they have about their findings. I will ask them questions as well. I will
then ask if any of the students though to write down planets, comets and other celestial objects
in the sky for both times of the day. I will explain to them that even though they are not visible to the eye
sometimes, they are always there in the sky.

Expansion: Going on with my objects in the sky idea, I will have the students in their
groups to find and research in books different objects that are in the solar system. Each
group will be given a paper with one object from the solar system on it. As a group the
students will list characteristics about the object that they find from the book. After fifteen
minutes the students as a group will explain what they found about their object to the rest
of the class.

Lesson Summery:
To review what the class learned, I will have a circle the word puzzle with the objects scrambled
around to help them identify the objects. Also the students will have quick reviews daily about
what they learned

Lesson Evaluation: I will evaluate the students by using a test of probe for the objects in the solar system.
Their test will be ten objects from the sky and they will have to list at least one characteristic with that object