Mission: Solar System

Introduction

Good morning explorers,

We've just received a new communication from Mission Control and your mission, should you choose to accept it, involves researching any one planet in our solar system.

This mission is very important because learning about the different planets in our solar system helps us to understand more about our own planet Earth.

Space exploration has helped us discover many new things from disease cures, to new computer technology, to your memory foam bed!

Science, curiosity, and the need to think, study and explore our surroundings is how we have built our civilization.

You may choose any two people to help you complete your mission. Be sure to help each other out along the way and work together as a team.

You have two weeks to complete your mission.

Good luck!

Task

Now that you've picked your planet and your team, it's time to start exploring. So strap yourselves into that rocket ship in your imagination and get ready to blast off!

But before you leave, you and your team need to formulate a hypothesis to answer the following question:

"Could humans live on your planet?"

While your team is visiting the planet, you'll need to answer the following questions in order to help you test your hypothesis.

How much will you weigh on your planet?
What is your planet made of?
What is the most unique thing about your planet?
How cold/hot does it get on your planet?
What is the distance from Earth to your planet?
Is there any water on your planet?

Once you've answered all these questions, your team needs to put together a PowerPoint presentation to show the rest of your class. The presentation should have the following information on the slides:

Slide 1 - Introduction: Tell us what planet you chose and your hypothesis.
Slides 2-7 - Answer the questions: Be sure to include pictures and reference where you found the answers. Some of the questions will require you to use your math skils to find the answer. If you need help, just ask your teacher or an adult.
Slide 8 - Summary: Include your favorite fact about your planet and whether or not your hypothesis was correct.

Process

Now that you know what to do, here's how to do it!!!!!

Once you have your teammates picked, talk to each other and pick one of the planets from our solar system to study.

Next, work together to formulate a hypothesis (which is a scientific word for give it your best guess) to answer the question, "can humans live on your planet?". Keep in mind some of the basic things that humans need to live are water, oxygen, food, and shelter (a place to live).

So when you're trying to guess think to yourself, "does my planet have..."

Once you've decided on your hypothesis, write it down - you'll need it later for your presentation.

Next comes the fun part, learning about your planet! The easiest way to do this is by looking online. The internet is full of great websites to help answer the questions about your planet. You can use any website that you find, but here are some great ones to get you started:

Whatever site you decide to use, always be sure to get a teacher or your parents' permission before going online.

As you find the answers, be sure to write them down along with the website where you found the answers because you'll need this information for your presentation.

Now that you've done all your research, you're practically an expert on your planet and it's time to see if your hypothesis was right. Remember, it's okay if your hypothesis was wrong, that's how we make scientific discoveries - by testing hypotheses and retesting until we get things right. The most important thing is to learn and do your best!

The final step is to take everything you learned and put it together in a presentation that you'll show to the rest of your class. For this, you'll need a computer with PowerPoint (ask a teacher or parent for help).

The presentation should have eight slides with the following information:

Slide 1 - Introduction: Tell us what planet you chose, why you chose it, and state your hypothesis.
Slides 2-7 - Answer the questions: Be sure to include pictures and reference where you found the answers. Some of the questions will require you to use your math skils to find the answer. If you need help, just ask your teacher or an adult.
Slide 8 - Summary: Include your favorite fact about your planet and whether or not your hypothesis was correct.

Evaluation

Here lies the grading scale

or rubric for this quest!

SECTION ONE:

Planet of choice is well researched

(30 Points)

Planet of choice is moderately researched

(20 Points)

Planet knowledge is minimum

(15 Points)

SECTION TWO:

All questions are answered

(25 Points)

About half of the questions are answered

(20 Points)

Few questions are answered

(10 Points)

SECTION THREE:

Sources are available

(25 Points)

Presentation as a whole is well put together

(20 Points)

Presentation looks "thrown together"

(10 Points)

Tally up the Grand Total!! (100 at best!):

Total from Section One:

Total from Section Two:

Total from Section Three:

Grand Total From all Three Sections:

Conclusion

Now that you have traveled across time and space to your planet of choice, it's time to bring that rocketship back back home to Earth!!! Your fellow astronauts are eagerly waiting to hear all about your discoveries!

Please present your findings to your classmates using the Power Point you have prepared. Before and after your presentation, make sure your listening skills are ready for your other classmates' presentations. You worked hard on yours, and so did they!

After your presentation, please be prepared to answer the following: