Exploring the solar system

1. Exploring the solar system By Marisa Agostinelli

2. TOPIC WEB Listening to/reading a story and reference books, labelling pictures,writing or completing descriptions Arts and crafts Language Science Making a poster of the solar system The solar system Identifying the planets and their characteristics Drama ICT Maths Acting out a story Using the internet to do research on planets Classifying the planets according to their size

3. The project • Class 5 • Children aged ten • Time : 3 weeks • Subjects involved : English, science, Italian • Organisation: whole class, groups, pairs • Language focus: scientific vocabulary (black words), present simple. • Materials: pictures of the solar system and planets, charts, cardboard, colours, rice or sand for the activities.

4. Main learning Aims • To develop an understanding of how knowledge is created, evaluated, refined and changed within science. • To support the development of a positive disposition to learning. • To strengthen students' understanding within science through doing research and exploring basic scientific concepts.

5. Science learning objectives • Name the planets • Describe some characteristics of each planet • Compare the sizes of the Sun, and some planets • Locate the planets on a sky chart.

6. Procedure • Step 1 Draw a big sun on the blackboard and write the title : “ The solar system”. Start with a brainstorming activity. Ask the children what they already know about the sun and the solar system. Ask :. What do you know about the solar system? What do you know about the sun? How many planets can you name? What is the sun made of? What are the planets made of?

7. Step 1 Use an overhead projector to show the picture of the sun and of the planets. Ask:”How many planets are there in our solar system?” 

8. Step 2 Focus the children’s attention on the planets. Ask: Can you name the planets? Give them the English translation: The planets are (in order, from the Sun, outward): Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto was considered the ninth planet until August 2006, when the International Astronomical Union reclassified it as a "dwarf planet."  

9. Before showing the pictures of each planet preteach some new words in order to help children understand what you are going to say: “ huge ball, super-hot gas, spinning ball, clouds of poisonous gas, sand, solid, rings made of pieces of rock”. Start with the sun. Ask : What do you know about the sun? Listen to their ideas. Say : The sun is a star in the milky way. It’s a huge ball of super-hot gas. Follow the same procedure to introduce the planets.

10. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, and second smallest planet in the solar system. It’s very hot. Its diameter is 40% smaller than Earth. Venus is similar to Earth in size, mass, density and volume. It has no oceans and has clouds of poisonous gas. Venus has a high surface temperature of about 482° C. You can sometimes see Venus in the night sky.

11. This spinning ball is our home. It’s a huge ball of rock. Do you know its name? It’s the Earth ! Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun at a distance of about 150 million kilometers. It takes 365.256 days for the Earth to travel around the Sun and 23.9345 hours for the Earth to rotate a complete revolution. Its diameter is only a few hundred kilometers larger than that of Venus. Earth is the only planet in the solar system known to have life. visit this website to show animations of the Earth: http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earth.htm

12. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is called the red planet: it has got red rocks and sand. The average recorded temperature on Mars is -63° C with a maximum temperature of 20° C and a minimum of -140° C. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and is the largest one in the solar system. It is not solid. It’s only heavy gas. Jupiter has got about 16 moons. Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and is the second largest in the solar system . It is the most beautiful planet in the solar system. There are rings made of pieces of rock and ice around it. It rotates very fast on its axis. Its day is 10 hours, 39 minutes long, and it takes 29.5 Earth years to revolve around the Sun.

13. Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and is the third largest in the solar system. It has at least 22 moons Uranus and Neptune have got blue-green clouds of gas. Neptune is the outermost planet of the gas giants. It’s sixty times bigger than the Earth. Neptune orbits the Sun every 165 years. It has eight moons.

14. Step 3 After having shown the pictures and talked about the planets hand out a photocopy of the information you gave and say: In this worksheet you will find information about the planets in our solar system. As you read, I want you to give an answer to these questions:Which is the biggest planet? Which is the smallest? Which is closest to the sun? Which is the farthest away from the Earth? Which planets are hot? Which planets are cold? Which planets are very similar?Help the children in their task by providing them with a chart to be filled in.

15. Step 4 Divide the pupils into small groups. Give a big piece of black cardboard to each group. Ask them to draw their own version of the planets and to glue onto each of them some rice or sand which must be coloured according to the characteristics of the planets. Then ask them to label each planet and to write a short description underneath. At the end, the children can take turns to show their solar system to the rest of the class and their posters can also be displayed.

16. Step 5 Literacy – creating a poem Explain: Let’s write together a five line poem. The first and fifth lines have one word. The second line has two words, the third line has three words, and the fourth line has four words. The first line is the title. The second line describes the title. The third line expresses an action. The fourth line expresses feelings and the last line refers to, or is a synonym of, the title.Stick a picture of a planet onto the board, for example : The Earth Write the first line Earth Ask the children to read the description of the planet and to find words which can be used to make a poem. Earth Venus’s neighbour Large spinning ball My home sweet home Life!

17. Step 6 Storytelling and drama session Emergency Landing by Louise Cooper readapted version “ Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking”,says the captain. “ We have an engine in trouble, so we have to make an emergecy landing. Please don’t be afraid. Sorry for the inconvenience”. “ What time is it?” asks one of the passengers : “ I don’t want to be late for dinner!” “ Oh, it isn’t late, don’t worry about that!” says the passenger in the next seat to him. They look outside through the window. “ Where are we?” asks a passenger to the steward. “ Sorry Sir. I don’t know. That’s a new place. Look there are oceans and rocks and …” “ Oh, yes I see. There are also strange high boxes on the ground and… What are those small metal boxes moving down there?” “ I don’t know. Small metal boxes with creatures inside!”. Before carrying on with the story ask the children some questions : • Where are the passengers? • What part of the day is it? • What can the passengers see? • Where are they landing? • What kind of place is it? • What do the local inhabitants look like? • What language do they speak?

18. Story part two “ The steward laughes and waggles four of his six antenae. “ Don’t worry” he says “ We have got powerful weapons!”. The passengers look out through the windows and see a little blue and green world. It is called Earth. “ We are landing now.” says the steward “ Please fasten your seat belts and enjoy the new world !” Suggestions : Tell the children the story more than once, then ask them to split into small groups, take the role of the characters and act out the story. Then ask them to draw their own spaceship and the aliens from the story. Ask them to imagine they are leaving for a trip to a planet. They should invent the name of the planet, describe its characteristics and decide what to put in their suitcase.