Elementary Education

4th Grade

 

UNIT TOPIC: Solar System

 

LESSON TOPIC: Basic Planet Exploration

 

LESSON OBJECTIVES:

• Students will be able to describe the order of the planets and name each one.
• Students will be able to describe information about each planet.

 

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUES:

• Computer time
• Individual work
• Presentations

 

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:

• http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/media/services/thechildrensuniversityofmanchester/flash/earthandbeyond_c.swf (“Explore the Planets”)
• http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/space/what-is-a-planet/#planetary-lineup.jpg
• Individual notebook for each child
• “Explore the Planets” worksheet
• KWL chart
• Writing utensils
• Computers
• Computer printer paper for presenting
• Crayons

 

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES:

It is important for students to learn about the solar system because they need to know about the world around them. The solar system and planets are apart of science, so moving forward to higher learning and more complicated information, students need to know the basics. The information they will learn in this lesson is very simplistic, but will allow them to see the differences between our planet and the ones around us.

 

PROCEDURE:

1. The teacher will introduce the topic, saying that the class will be going on an adventure through space to explore the solar system.
2. Students will fill out a KWL chart on information about the Solar System. At this time, they will fill in the columns  of information they already know about planets and information they want to know about planets.
3. The class will go online to the “Explore the Planets” website, where they will fill out a  worksheet as they explore.
4. Students should click on each planet to learn a little bit of information about them, filling out the worksheet as they go along. As they proceed through the website, students will also learn about the order of the planets, and a fun mnemonic to remember them. They will also be asked to come up with their own, to help them connect more personally.
5. At the end of the interactive website, students will take a brief quiz to demonstrate their knowledge thus far. They will be able to use their worksheet on the quiz, using it as a  reference to look back at.
6. Students will print their results at the end, showing the teacher their completion and participation in the activity.
7. After that activity, students will choose a planet to delve into deeper. They will go to the  National Geographic kids website, recording information that they learn or find interesting in their notebook. Kids should work individually on this assignment.
8. Following that, students should make a small poster on a piece of computer paper, with a picture of their planet and a few facts they want to share with the class. The teacher should specify that they want at least 5 facts, the atmosphere and environment of the planet, and a drawing of what it looks like.
9. Students will be encouraged to share their poster with the class, demonstrating their knowledge.
10. At the end of the lesson, students should fill in the column on the KWL that describes their learned information.
11. The teacher should collect the KWL chart and the handout they filled in while online, included the quiz completion page. The teacher could collect the posters or hang them up on the wall for all the students to see, and potentially parents if a conference or visit is coming up.

 

ADAPTATIONS FOR  DIFFERENT LEARNERS:

My lesson plan can be adapted to fit a lot of different types of learners. Students that are non-native speakers could be paired with students who speak fluent English, helping them to  translate word-for-word. Similarly, struggling  readers could be paired with stronger students that could read the information out loud as they are going through the activity.  Because students are primarily working alone on this lesson, if students needed to be buddied  up, they should be allowed to go in the back of the room, or some place where they would not be a distraction for the rest of the class.

 

EVALUATION:

• Students will be able to describe the order of the planets and name each one.
• This standard will be evaluated based on the worksheet students will hand in at the end of the lesson. Teachers should check more for completion and effort, rather than accuracy, as this activity was more for learning and knowledge  acquisition than a summative assessment.
• Students will be able to describe information about each planet.
• This standard will be measured based on the posters that students will present at the end of the lesson. Students should be graded by their completion of the  specified instructions of what should be included on the poster.

The biggest concern I have about teaching this lesson is the possibility that a student will ask us a question about a planet, or the solar system in general, and I won’t know the answer. At this point, I would probably turn it into a research opportunity where the student could go back and find out the answer for themselves.