Introduction
Welcome explorers! Today, you're going to go on an exciting mission through the solar system to learn awesome facts about the planets and outer space! When you get back to Earth, you're going to make a travel brochure to tell everyone why we should visit your favorite planet!
Task
Your task is to go through these resources and take notes on everything you learn about each planet. Then, you're going to get in your assigned groups and make a travel pamphlet to show the rest of the class why we should all visit your group's planet!
Process
Step 1 - Blast Off!
Watch this video to meet each planet! Outer Space: "We are the Planets," The Solar System Song by StoryBots | Netflix Jr (youtube.com)
Step 2 - Exploration
Visit this website: All About the Planets | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids
Explore this site by watching videos and reading the facts about each planet. Make sure to take good notes on your planet fact sheet for Ms. Morris since she has to stay back at the space station! (A worksheet with fill-in-the-blank and open-ended questions would be provided at the beginning of the class to guide the students through the website and help them take good notes).
Step 3 - Solar System Scavenger Hunt
Use the planet fact sheet Ms. Morris gave you to find the answers to this planet scavenger hunt! (Questions would include: Which planet is closest to the Sun? Which planet is the coldest/hottest? Which planet is the largest/smallest? etc.)
Step 4 - Welcome Back!
Now that you're back and you know everything about our solar system, get in your groups and start sharing facts about your planet! (assigned groups will be put on the board and a blank template of a brochure will be handed to each group for them to fill out with information)
Fill out your brochure with your group with the facts you learned up in space to present to the class! Make sure you're being neat so the whole class can see what you're talking about and use colors that represent your planet!!
Evaluation
Students will be evaluated on:
Completion of notes sheet that was given to them at the beginning of the class (20 pts.)
Completion of the scavenger hunt (20 pts.)
Completion of their travel brochure (40 pts.)
Group presentation and enthusiasm when presenting (20 pts.)
Conclusion
Congratulations on finishing your mission! You have now learned all about the planets in our Solar System and convinced the rest of the class that we should visit your planet! Now that you're back, which planet was your favorite to visit?
Credits
Teacher Page
You can guide the students through each process to ensure that work is being done in a timely manner.
Encourage reading articles and watching videos to help learn about topics and find their own research (rather than giving it al to them in a lecture).
Give students creative freedom to design their brochures the way they want but labeling where specific information should go and allowing them to fill it out may be beneficial to them.