Lesson Plan Subject Area: Science Grade Level: 4th Grade Lesson Name: Earth and its Neighbors

State Curriculum Standards Addressed: Understand the fundamental concepts, principles and interconnections of the life, physical and earth/space sciences Course Delivery Mode: Hybrid Time Allocation: 1 week Number of Students: 20 Ability Level: The students should be familiar with the concepts of volume of mass. Know that mass is not the same as weight and that because something is big, it does not mean that it is heavy. They need to know that the planets revolve around the sun and that the sun is the center of our solar system. Students also need to be able to use power point to create a presentation. For those whose expertise in PowerPoint is low, they will have the option of presenting their project on a poster board. Learning Objectives: After this lesson the students should be able to comprehend the immensity of the solar system, compare one planet to another, the earth to the sun, the sun to other stars, etc. Step- by- Step Procedure: 1. Students will break into pairs and choose something to research about the solar system. 2. They can choose a theme related to the learning objectives, for example: How far apart is each planet from the sun, for example, how far is Venus from Earth How big is the sun compared to other stars in our solar system

Interesting facts about one of the planets Have students break into pairs or groups of no more than 3

Learner Products: The students will be divided into pairs or groups of no more than 3. Each group will produce a small PowerPoint presentation using their laptops about the topic chosen and will present their PowerPoint to the whole class. Adaptations for Special Learners: The teacher will assist special learners and provide lower level materials on the subject. Resources: Styrofoam balls of different sizes to represent the planets. Students will use the NASA website solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/ Kids site for Kids Astronomy http://www.kidsites.com/sites-edu/space.htm , and the website All about astronomy, http://www.kidsastronomy.com Diverse learners can also use lower level books on planets and astronomy from the library, and can present a simpler (modified) project to like a model, a poster board or a summary of the topic assigned to their group. They must tell the teacher in advance what their chosen method will be and the teacher should facilitate materials for their project. Student Assessment: How will you know that the students have met the learning objectives? You will need to create the actual assessment here or provide a link to assessment here. We will be informally assessing the students as we walk around and listen to their conversations and observe them researching and making their projects. Students will have to answer questions from the teacher and peers about the topic they are presenting to ensure that they understand the material and can explain it without citing verbatim from their presentation. Each group will receive a grade based upon their presentation and the answers given by its members at the time of presentation. At the end of the solar system unit students will be assessed using the following quiz: SOLAR SYSTEM QUIZ

1. What is the closest planet to the Sun? 2. What is the name of the 2nd biggest planet in our solar system? 3. What is the hottest planet in our solar system? 4. What planet is famous for its big red spot on it? 5. What planet is famous for the beautiful rings that surround it? 6. Can humans breathe normally in space as they can on Earth? 7. Is the sun a star or a planet? 8. Who was the first person to walk on the moon? 9. What planet is known as the red planet? 10. What is the name of the force holding us to the Earth? 11. Have human beings ever set foot on Mars?

12. What is the name of a place that uses telescopes and other scientific equipment to research space and astronomy? 13. What is the name of NASAs most famous space telescope? 14. Earth is located in which galaxy? 15. What is the name of the first satellite sent into space? 16. Ganymede is a moon of which planet? 17. What is the name of Saturns largest moon? 18. Olympus Mons is a large volcanic mountain on which planet? 19. Does the sun orbit the Earth? 20. Is the planet Neptune bigger than Earth?

Quiz Answers:

1. Mercury 2. Saturn 3. Venus 4. Jupiter 5. Saturn 6. No 7. A star 8. Neil Armstrong 9. Mars 10. Gravity 11. No 12. An observatory 13. Hubble Space Telescope 14. The Milky Way Galaxy 15. Sputnik 16. Jupiter 17. Titan 18. Mars 19. No 20. Yes