5E Lesson Plan Presentation - The Solar System

Engage

As a class, have the balls that have been collected laid out on a table for the students to observe. Students will be asked to sort the balls out in a variety of ways (smallest to largest, lightest to heaviest, etc.) While the students are organizing the different balls, have them pick up each one and feel the varying sizes and weights. Then when all students have had a turn manipulating the balls, Ask questions about them. Questions such as: Which object was the heaviest? Which object is the biggest? Is the heaviest and the biggest the same one? What about smallest and lightest? Can anyone tell me how many times bigger is the largest ball from the smallest? These questions will get the students thinking about how the different planets in our solar system are different sizes.

Differentiated Instruction

I feel that this assignment varies in many different ways that it does not need differentiating instructions. There are different aspects of this lesson that make it so every students can participate.

Students with a disability will be paired or grouped with students that can assist them in any way that they need.

Safety Considerations

Discuss with the students that even though the objects that are being used are in fact balls, they are not to be thrown around or played with. Objects like the baseball can cause major injuries or break things.

Materials

1. Several balls varying in sizes from small to very large (different size balls such golf ball, baseball, softball, soccer ball, etc.

2. Tablet/iPad for each group of students.

3. Facts printed out on strips of paper. (http://www.hometrainingtools.com/media/reference/SolarSystemSize.pdf)

4. Index cards.

5. Sheets of construction paper

6. Coloring utensils

Elaborate

As a class with the construction paper, have the students make a diagram of the solar system (this can be each group makes their own or it could be a one big piece of construction paper where the class work on it together, assigning different portions to each group). On the diagram students will add facts that they have found about the solar system. This will make a fun project for the students and it will show off the information that they have learned about the different aspects of the solar system.

Explore

Let the students know that the work that they just did is a little like what scientists do when classifying each of the planets. There are many different classifications that take place when it comes to the planets. They can be sorted by size, distance from the sun, and weight. Ask students to name the different planets that are in our solar system (Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and Jupiter). From there we can sort them out from smallest to largest. Students will need to decide which of the balls is representative of which planet. Inform students that if Earth was a (.) then the sun would be the size of a tennis ball. Now sort the class into smaller groups (4-5 students per group) and give each group their own balls to sort. Students will need to then choose a form of how they are wanting to organize their own planets (size, weight, etc.).

The Solar System

5th Grade

Standards

5-ESS1-1. Support an argument that the apparent brightness of the sun and stars is due to their relative distances from the Earth. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to relative distances, not sizes, of stars. Assessment does not include other factors that affect apparent brightness (such as stellar masses, age, stage).]

Common Core State Standards Connections:

ELA/Literacy -

RI.5.1

Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. (5-ESS1-1)

RI.5.7

Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently. (5-ESS1-1)

RI.5.8

Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s). (5-ESS1-1)

RI.5.9

Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably. (5-ESS1-1)

W.5.1

Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information. (5-ESS1-1)

Mathematics -

MP.2

Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (5-ESS1-1)

MP.4

Model with mathematics. (5-ESS1-1)

5.NBT.A.2

Explain patterns in the number of zeros of the product when multiplying a number by powers of 10, and explain patterns in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10. Use whole-number exponents to denote powers of 10. (5-ESS1-1)

Elaborate

Now having more knowledge about the solar system and how each planet compares to one

another, have the students break back into their groups and research more about the solar system. The teacher can give the students the option to pick or assign each group something different to research from this list.

1. How far apart are each of the planets from the sun?

2. How far is Mars from Earth?

3. How big is the sun?

4. How big is the sun compared to other stars in our solar system?

5. Why is a planets mass different than its weight?

This is where the index cards come into play. Have students write down facts that they find along with websites just in case they want to revisit it.

A few different sites that the students can go to include:

• NASA Solar System Exploration: Planets - http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/

• The Size of Our World - http://www.hometrainingtools.com/a/solar-system-size-lesson-plan

• All About Astronomy - http://www.zoomwhales.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/

Explore

5E Lesson Plan Presentation -

The Solar System

While the class is sorting, the teacher will go around passing out the strips of paper with the facts written on them. When the sorting is complete students will review their facts and then one at a time will share their facts with the class. After the facts have all been shared, have students talk with a neighbor about how they discuss whether or not the objects that they chose was a good representation of the planets or not. What did they get wrong? How would they fix it? After a short time bring the students back together as a class and have one students from each pair share what they figured out. Remind the students that the objects that they have used are just to help give an idea about the sizes and their differences.

Cole J Hebdon

EED/420

3/21/2016

Alan Brainerd