OBJECTIVES:
Students will explain how the parts of the solar system affect our
lives.
(* Recognize that the solar system is composed of the earth and eight
other planets.
*Most of the objects in the universe are separated by vast space and
enormous
distances.)
RELATION TO MISSOURI FRAMEWORKS:
Science K-4 V. Universe A. Characteristics
of the Universe
1. Earth is not alone in the universe. Enormous distances
separate most of the objects in the universe.
CONTEXT:
Grade Level: 2-4
Groups of 15- 25 for StarLab presentation
PREREQUISITE:
Students should have some knowledge of the solar system and understanding
of a planet. Students should know the names of the 9 planets.
MATERIALS:
StarLab Portable Planetarium
Solar System & Galaxy Cylinder
Arrow pointers
Red flashlight for reading
Tape of quiet “space music”
PROCEDURE:
1. Introduce students to our spaceship (The StarLab) and explain the
directions for entering and remaining on board.
2. As students enter turn on tape and using the flashlight instruct
students where to sit.
3. Turn off the sidelights and give students time for their eyes to
adjust to the darkness.
4. During eye adjustment time, discuss the solar system. What
is in the center of our solar system? What is the sun? Is the sun the biggest
star or the closest star to earth?
5. Now turn off the music and turn on the Solar System and Galaxy Cylinder.
6. Adjust the latitude to 60 degrees.
7. Turn on the rotator. Ask students what we call the path that
a planet makes around the sun? What other objects do we find
in our solar system?
8. Stop the rotator when the sun is in a position that students can
see it easily. Using the pointer, say: “Look up and find the pointer.
Now follow the pointer.” Aim pointer to the sun and ask students to identify
it. “ We are going to begin our journey here on the sun—the center of our
solar system.”
9. The rotator will be turned on as we travel to each planet.
It will be stopped when the planet we are visiting is in a location that
is visible to everyone.
10. Aim pointer to Mercury and ask students to recall what the name
of the planet closest to the sun is. Then point out Mercury.
“Our first stop is Mercury.” Ask students to compare the size of
Mercury to the size of the sun. “ The 4 inner planets (or the first 4 planets
from the sun) and Pluto are small and rocky.”
11. Inform students that Mercury is the second smallest planet in the
solar system. Ask if anyone knows what the smallest planet is called?
12. Point to Venus and say: “The 2nd planet that we will visit is called________________.
Venus is the 4th smallest planet in the solar system. It is slightly
smaller that the earth. It is sometimes called earth’s twin.
Venus is the brightest object in the sky.
13. Who can tell me the name of the 3rd planet from the sun?
Earth!”(Use pointer to show the earth and each planet as we compare it
to the earth). “ If you will look up and follow the pointer
you will see the earth. We know a lot about the earth.
Let’s compare the size of the earth to Venus. Who can tell me what
we would say to do that. Yes, earth is bigger than Venus. What
about Mercury…the sun? Do you know any other planet that earth
is larger than?”
14. Point to Mars and say: “As we approach this next planet if
our spaceship was in color we would notice that it is red. Does anyone
remember the name of the red planet? Yes Mars is the 4th planet from
the sun. Compare it to the earth is it larger or smaller? So
earth is larger than 4 other planets.”
15. “Let’s continue our journey. (Point to the asteroid belt). Fasten
your seatbelts and get ready for a rocky ride as we pass through the asteroid
belt. The millions of asteroids that we are passing through separate
the inner planets from the outer planets. Asteroids are bits of rock
in space. Most asteroids are located here in the asteroid belt.”
16. “Now that we are through the asteroid belt we will continue our
journey on to the outer planets. There are 5 outer planets.
The first 4 are all giant gas planets. (Point to Jupiter).
The first gas planet that we have come to is
___________________. Look at Jupiter and let’s compare
it to the other 4 planets that we have visited. How would you compare
the size of Jupiter to the inner planets? Now let’s compare it to
the sun?”
17. “As we continue our journey we are about to witness a beautiful
sight. As we approach our next planet we notice the rings that surround
this planet. Who can tell me what planet is famous for its’ rings?
These rings are made of ice. Now look at the size of the actual planet
of Saturn. Is it larger or smaller than Jupiter? Yes Jupiter
is the largest planet and Saturn is the 2nd largest. We decided that
the earth is the largest of the inner planets so let’s compare it to Saturn.
Is the earth larger or smaller than Saturn?”
18. “Look at the next planet that we are coming to. If we could
see in color we would notice that it is blue and it appears to be tipped
on its side. Who can tell me the name of the 7th planet from the
sun? Let’s compare Uranus to the 2 other gas planets that we have
visited. Is it larger or smaller than Jupiter…….than Saturn?
It is the 3rd largest planet.
19. The next planet we see is also blue. It is the 8th planet
from the sun. It is___________________. Is Neptune larger
or smaller than Uranus? Neptune is the 4th largest planet but it
weighs more than Uranus. There are 4 planets that are larger than
the earth.”
20. “We must now turn on the turbo jets because we have a long way
to travel. We are now speeding towards the last planet in our solar
system. It is also the smallest. Who can tell me its name?
It is smaller than 7 of the moons in our solar system. Pluto appears
to be lying on its side like Uranus. The equator on Pluto points
straight up and one of the poles point right at the sun.”
21. “Before we return to earth let’s look at the distance of the planets
from the sun and each other. This is not the actual distance because
the solar system is so large we have to use smaller distances to represent
the real ones. We have to turn the cylinder so I need
everyone to close your eyes. If you don’t this could make you dizzy
and feel bad. (Turn the latitude to the equator). Look up and
find my pointer. Now follow it. The circle represents the sun.
The first circle is _______________. You will notice that it is quite
close to the sun.”
22. (Use pointer to point to Venus)”We move out just a little and we
find Venus.”
23. (Use pointer to show the next planets). “We move a little further
and find the earth.”
24. “Now a little further and here is Mars. The inner planets
are not evenly spaced but are closer together and closer to the sun than
the outer planets.”
25. “Next we come to Jupiter. Look at the distance from the sun.”
26. “Here is Saturn, look at the distance from Jupiter to Saturn.”
27. “Notice the distance increases as we come to Uranus and then Neptune.”
28. “Lastly we arrive at Pluto. Look how far it is from the sun.”
29. “We are going to do an activity outside on the playground to help
you see the distances that each planet is from each other.”
30. “We will now return to the earth. Today we have visited the
9 planets in our solar system. We have discovered that the largest
planet is _____________ the smallest is ___________. The closest
planet to the sun is _____________ and the farthest from the sun is__________________.
Each planet has a different size and is a different distance from the sun.
There are 4 planets smaller than the earth and 4 planets larger than the
earth.”
31. “We will now exit the spaceship and do an activity page that we
review what we learned today.”
32. Students will complete the ”And the Winner is” activity page.
33. The next science class time we will do the activity to look at
the distance the planets are from each other.
REFERENCE:
1. http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/intro.html
2. http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov
3. http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov: 80/planets/
4. Solar System unit from Conceptual Physical Science For the Elementary
Classroom Notebook (Central Methodist College class)
5. Kern, Dr. Ernest L. KSAM –Earth-1st Edition Science A Living Solar
System—And Beyond (page 408)
EXTENSIONS AND/OR ADAPTATIONS:
After exiting the dome students will complete the “And The Winner Is”
sheet. During the next science class time I will conduct an activity in
which we will have circles in correct dimensions to represent the size
of the planets and we will go outside and using an appropriate scale step
out the distances between the planets.
CONTENT BACKGROUND:
The solar system is made up of the sun (which is at the center), 9
planets, their moons, asteroids, meteoroids, and comets. The planets,
moons, asteroids, meteoroids and comets orbit the sun. The 4 inner planets
(Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) and Pluto are small, rocky planets.
The other 4 outer planets are large, gas planets.
The planets are unevenly spaced. The 4 inner planets are close
to the sun and to each other. The 5 outer planets are far from both
the sun and each other.
The solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy.
APPENDIX:
“And the Winner is……………”Activity sheet