Katie Oller

4th Grade: Science

Science Unit Plan- 8 Days
Purpose: The purpose of this unit plan is to introduce and familiarize students with the
organization of the solar system including the size and order of the planets. Students will also be
able to understand the relationship between the Earth, the Moon and the Sun including causes for
seasons, phases of the moon and relative size comparisons of the three. Students will also
demonstrate knowledge of rotation and revolution of the Earth and why this causes seasons.
Objectives: The eight objectives for the entire unit to be covered:

Given a video on the solar system, students will correctly answer 9 out of 10 of the
questions on the worksheet. Students will successfully create an acronym with a
partner to remember the order of the planets with a partner with 100% accuracy.
Students will correctly order planets from the sun on their foldable and correctly
identify which planets are terrestrial and which planets are gas giants with 100%
accuracy.
Students will be able to correctly identify the size comparisons between the Sun,
Earth and Moon. Students will correctly describe how the moon affects the tide with
80% accuracy.
Students will correctly act out each movement (rotation, revolution and day and
night) of the Earth through a Simon Says game played with the class with 80%
accuracy.
Students will correctly identify the causes of the moon and the phases of the moon
with 85% accuracy.
Students will correctly identify the causes of the moon and the phases of the moon
through a whole class activity with 95% accuracy.

SOLS:
Science 4.7: The student will investigate and understand the organization of the solar
system. Key concepts include:
a. The planets in the solar system
b. The order of the planets in the solar system
c. The relative sizes of the planets.
Science 4.8: The student will investigate and understand the relationships among Earth,
the Moon and the Sun. Key concepts include:
a. The motions of Earth, the Moon and the Sun
b. The causes for Earths seasons

c. The causes for the phases of the Moon

d. The relative size, position, age and makeup of Earth, the Moon and the Sun
e. Historical contributions in understanding the Earth-moon-sun system
Unit Evaluations: During the unit, one quiz will be given to ensure that students comprehend the
material taught during the unit. Lesson adjustments will be made depending on student scores as
a whole. After the entire unit, a test including multiple choice and short answer will be given to
assess student knowledge of the unit. Other grades will be given over the course of the unit to
assess student understanding.
Materials for entire unit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5bVZTpVxy4
Computer
Promethean Board
Solar Systems worksheet (attached)
http://utahscience.oremjr.alpine.k12.ut.us/Sciber06/6th/moon/html/rotate.htm
Scissors
Glue
Colored pencils
Worksheet with pictures of planets (attached)
http://www.outerspaceuniverse.org/what-are-the-colors-of-the-9-planets-in-oursolar-system.html
22 pre-cut sheets of blue construction paper (medium)
22 pre-cut sheets of yellow construction paper (large)
22 pre-cut sheets of white construction paper (small)
22 pre-cut and tied strings
Paper
Pencil
Oreos
Napkins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkvlrWpsnuQMoon log sheet
Black construction paper

Day 1: Planet Review

I.

Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to review the various planets in our solar
system, including their order from the sun and relative sizes.
SOL: Science 4.7 The student will investigate and understand the organization of the
solar system. Key concepts include:

II.

a. The planets in the solar system

b. The order of the planets in the solar system
c. The relative sizes of the planets.
Objective: Given a video on the solar system, students will correctly answer 9 out of
10 of the questions on the worksheet. Students will successfully create an acronym
with a partner to remember the order of the planets with a partner with 100%
accuracy.

III.

Procedure:
Introduction: To begin this lesson on the solar system, I will ask students to tell me
anything that they have already learned about the planets that they can remember. As
students are sharing, I will be writing the information on the board in list form similar
to a KWL chart (visual and auditory).
Development: After students have shared information, I will then move on to a brief
review video about the planets. Before students watch the video, a worksheet will be
passed out that has information from the video for them to fill in as they are watching.
Once the video is completed, students will switch papers with partners to grade and
answers will be reviewed from the video (visual and auditory).
For advanced students, two bonus questions will be at the end of the worksheet that
they are able to complete. Students that are struggling will receive a worksheet with a
word bank. Students with IEPs will receive shortened assignments and will receive
individual instruction for the directions from a teacher in the room.
Summary: Once the worksheets have been completed and corrected, students will be
paired into groups of two or three (depending on seating arrangements). Students will
be challenged to work with their partners to come up with an acronym to help
remember the planets order from closest to the sun to farthest away (NOT including
Pluto). Students will be given five minutes to create this acronym and write it down.
After they are finished, students will share with the entire class what acronym their
group created to help them remember the planet order (kinesthetic).

IV.

Materials:
Promethean board
Computer
Solar System Worksheet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5bVZTpVxy4
Pencil

V.

Evaluation Part A: During the introduction, I will be informally assessing which

students have more prior knowledge of planets and which students have little prior
knowledge on the topic based on how much or how little they share. Worksheets from
the video will be collected, but not used as a grade. This informal evaluation will be
used to see which students were paying attention while the video was playing.

VI.

Evaluation Part B:
Did the students meet your objectives?

How do you know?

Did your lesson accommodate/address the needs of all your learners?

What were the strengths of the lesson?

What were the weaknesses?

How would you change the lesson if you could teach it again?

Name: _________________________

The Solar System

1. The _________________ is the only star in our solar system.

2. There are _____________ planets in our solar system.
3. _________________________ is the hottest planet of our solar system.
4. Earth is the ___________ planet from the sun.
5. Earth is the _____________ biggest planet of the solar system.
6. It takes ___________________________________ to revolve around the sun.
7. Earth has _____ moon(s).
8. It takes ____________________________ to revolve around the earth.
9. Comets are balls of ___________________ and ____________________.
10. We live in the _____________________________________________ galaxy.

BONUS! Can you name all 8 planets in order? (From closest to the sun to farthest)

Name: _________________________

The Solar System

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

The _________________ is the only star in our solar system.

There are _____________ planets in our solar system.
_________________________ is the hottest planet of our solar system.
Earth is the ___________ planet from the sun.
Earth is the _____________ biggest planet of the solar system.
It takes ___________________________________ to revolve around the sun.
Earth has _____ moon(s).
It takes ____________________________ to revolve around the earth.
Comets are balls of ___________________ and ____________________.
We live in the _____________________________________________ galaxy.

BONUS! Can you name all 8 planets in order? (From closest to the sun to farthest)

Word Bank
Eight

Venus
Milky Way

Third
24 Hours

365 Days
Sun

Rock
Fifth

Ice
Moon

Name: _________________________

The Solar System

1.
2.
3.
4.

There are _____________ planets in our solar system.

Earth is the ___________ planet from the sun.
Earth is the _____________ biggest planet of the solar system.
It takes ___________________________________ to revolve around the

sun.
5. It takes ____________________________ to revolve around the earth.
6. We live in the _____________________________________________

galaxy.

Word Bank
Eight

Third

365 Days

Milky Way

24 Hours

Fifth

Day 2: Inner and Outer planets/Foldable

I.

Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to create a foldable reviewing the planets and
their order from the sun. In addition, students will learn the definition of a gas giant
and a terrestrial planet and be able to identify which planets are terrestrial and which
are gas giants.
SOL: Science 4.7 The student will investigate and understand the organization of the
solar system. Key concepts include:
d. The planets in the solar system
e. The order of the planets in the solar system
f. The relative sizes of the planets.

II.

Objective: Students will correctly order planets from the sun on their foldable and
correctly identify which planets are terrestrial and which planets are gas giants with
100% accuracy.

III.

Procedure:
Introduction: To begin the lesson, I will introduce two new vocabulary words to the
students: terrestrial and gas giant. After explaining the vocabulary words and writing
the definition on the board, I will then ask students to think about which one Earth
might be. We will share our answers with each other and defend answers if needed.
I will write on the board which of the 8 planets are terrestrial, and which of the 8 are
gas giants (visual and auditory).
Development: Students will be asked to take out scissors, glue and colored pencils for
the next activity. They will be handed a black sheet of construction paper, and a sheet
with all the pictures of the planets that are labeled. Once all students have received
their materials, they will be asked to draw a picture of the sun at the top center of the
black sheet of construction paper and label it sun. After this, I will direct their
attention to the front of the classroom to the promethean board where I will have a
website pulled up with descriptions of the colors and make up of each of the eight
planets. I will ask one student to read the description of the first planet closest to the
sun, Mercury. After the student has read the description, the students will find
Mercury on their worksheet, cut it out, color it the correct color, and paste it on the
correct spot on their black construction paper. After each student has finished, we will
move on to the next planet, Venus, following the same procedure. These steps will be
repeated for all 8 planets. Students will then go back and label each planet as
terrestrial and gas giant along with each planet name (kinesthetic).

For advanced students that finish their activity early, I will provide a solar system
word search that they can complete while they are waiting for other students to wrap
up. Students with IEPs will receive shortened assignments and will receive individual
instruction for the directions from a teacher in the room.
IV.

Materials
Black construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Colored Pencils
Worksheet with pictures of planets (attached)
http://www.outerspaceuniverse.org/what-are-the-colors-of-the-9-planets-inour-solar-system.html
Promethean board
Computer

V.

Evaluation Part A: I will formally assess students using the activity that they created
during the lesson. When assessing, I will look to ensure that students have the planets
in the correct order, the correct color and have labeled the planets name and
terrestrial vs. gas giant correctly.

VII.

Evaluation Part B:
Did the students meet your objectives?

How do you know?

Did your lesson accommodate/address the needs of all your learners?

What were the strengths of the lesson?

What were the weaknesses?

How would you change the lesson if you could teach it again?

Rubric for Day 2 Foldable

Planet Order

5 points

3 points

Planet order
is completely
correct. (All
8 planets)

Planet order
is partially
correct. (At
least 4 of the
planets)

1 point

Planet order
is not
correct.
(Less than 3
of the
planets).
Terrestrial vs. Student has
Student has
Student did
Gas Giant
correctly
partially
not correctly
identified all identified the identify the
of the planets planets as
planets as
as terrestrial terrestrial or terrestrial or
or gas giant
gas giants.
gas planets.
(all 8
(At least 4 of (Less than 3
planets).
the planets)
of the
planets).
Planet Color Student has
Student has
Student has
correctly
partially
not colored
colored the
colored the
the planets
planets color. planets color color
(All 8
correctly. (At correctly.
planets).
least 4 of the (Less than 3
planets).
of the
planets).

Day 3: Comparing the Sun, Moon and Earth

I.

Purpose: The purpose of this lesson will be to demonstrate the size comparison of the
Earth, the Moon and the Sun. Students will also learn to describe the motions of the
sun, Earth and Moon and how the Moon affects the tide.
SOL 4.8 The student will investigate and understand the relationships among Earth,
the Moon and the Sun. Key concepts include:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

The motions of Earth, the Moon and the Sun

The causes for Earths seasons
The causes for the phases of the Moon
The relative size, position and makeup of Earth, the Moon and the Sun
Historical contributions in understanding the Earth-moon-sun system.

II.

Objective: Students will be able to correctly identify the size comparisons between
the Sun, Earth and Moon. Students will correctly describe how the moon affects the
tide with 80% accuracy.

III.

Procedure:
Introduction: To begin this lesson, I will ask students when you look up at the sky,
which do you thing is bigger? The sun or the moon? I will collect responses and
have students justify their answers to each other until an agreement is come to. I will
then tell students Sometimes they look like they are the same size, but actually the
sun is bigger! The suns diameter is about 400 times greater than the moon. What
does the word diameter mean? I will let students define the word before asking
Why does the sun look bigger than the moon if the diameter is so much larger? I
will then explain that the sun is about 400 times farther away from Earth than the
moon, which is why they look about the same size when we look into the sky
(auditory).
Development: For the next portion of the lesson, students will be given one piece of
blue string that is tied together at the ends, circular sheets of blue construction paper,
yellow construction paper and white construction paper. Students will be instructed to
label the white sheet moon, the yellow sheet sun and the blue sheet Earth. Once
students are finished labeling, they will direct their attention to the front of the room
where I will demonstrate how the world rotates and revolves around the sun using the
same three circular sheets. After, I will use the blue string to put around the Earth to
represent the tides. I will explain that the moon has a gravitational pull that pulls the
tides and the earth up, which cause high tides on the top and bottom of the Earth, and
low tides on the sides of the Earth. I will explain that when the sun lines up besides
the moon, it creates extreme high tides and is called a solar eclipse. When the sun

lines up on the other side of the earth from the moon, it also causes extreme high tides
and is called a lunar eclipse (visual and auditory).
Summary: To wrap up the lesson, I will ask students to turn to a partner and explain
the concept to their partner using the three sheets of construction paper and the string
to represent the tides (kinesthetic). After explaining, students will take out a sheet and
write a few sentences to explain how the tide works and how the moon and sun
affects it.
Students that are struggling can be paired up with advanced students if they still do
not grasp the concept after explaining to a partner. Students with IEPs will receive
shortened assignments and will receive individual instruction for the directions from a
teacher in the room.
IV.

Materials
22 pre-cut sheets of blue construction paper (medium)
22 pre-cut sheets of yellow construction paper (large)
22 pre-cut sheets of white construction paper (small)
22 pre-cut and tied strings
Paper
Pencil

V.

Evaluation Part A: I will formally assess student knowledge using the sentences they
wrote about how the moon and sun affects the tides. Adjustments will be made to
lessons depending on student scores as a whole.

VI.

Evaluation Part B:
Did the students meet your objectives?

How do you know?

Did your lesson accommodate/address the needs of all your learners?

What were the strengths of the lesson?

What were the weaknesses?

How would you change the lesson if you could teach it again?

Day 4: Rotation and Revolution

I.

Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is for students to be able to describe and
demonstrate the movements of the Earth. Students will be able to correctly identify
what rotation means and what it causes, and what revolution means and what it
causes.
SOL 4.8 The student will investigate and understand the relationships among Earth,
the moon and the sun. Key concepts include:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

The motions of Earth, the moon and the sun

The causes for Earths seasons
The causes for the phases of the moon
The relative size, position and makeup of Earth, the moon and the sun
Historical contributions in understanding the Earth-moon-sun system.

II.

Objective: Students will correctly act out each movement (rotation, revolution and
day and night) of the Earth through a Simon Says game played with the class with
80% accuracy.

III.

Procedure:
Introduction: To introduce this part of the unit, I will review with the students what
was covered from day 3 about rotation and revolution. I will call on two students to
get up and physically demonstrate what rotation and revolution of the Earth looks
like. After the two students demonstrate, I will call two different students to the front
of the classroom. I will ask one student to act as the sun while the other will act as the
Earth. I will ask the student who is the Earth to both rotate and revolve around the
sun. While the student is doing this, I will explain what causes the seasons and point
to what areas on Earth are experiencing summer and winter and what parts of the
world are in day and what parts are in night (visual, auditory and kinesthetic).
Development: Once this part of the lesson is completed, I will ask all students to get
out of their seats and form a circle around me to play a game of Simon Says. The
game will be played the same as regular Simon says, but will require students to
apply their knowledge of rotation and revolution to successfully play. During the
game, I will act as the sun and each student will be the earth. I will call out for
students to revolve, rotate, be night time (facing away from the sun) and day time
(facing toward the sun). Depending on how much time remains, multiple Simon Says
games will be played (kinesthetic).
Summary: After the game is completed, students will go back to their seats and take a
quiz on the material covered the past few days.

For advanced students, they will have the option of working on the solar system word
search if they have finished the quiz quickly. Students that are struggling will be
allowed to use dictionaries to help with any vocabulary they cannot remember from
the unit. Students with IEPs will receive shortened assignments and will receive
individual instruction for the directions from a teacher in the room.
IV.

Materials:
Quiz
Pencils

V.

Evaluation Part A: I will informally assess students during the Simon Says game in
addition to a formal assessment when grading the quizzes to assess for understanding.
Adjustments will be made depending on the scores of students as a whole.

VII.

Evaluation Part B:
Did the students meet your objectives?

How do you know?

Did your lesson accommodate/address the needs of all your learners?

What were the strengths of the lesson?

What were the weaknesses?

How would you change the lesson if you could teach it again?

Day 5: Moon phases

I. Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is for students to learn why the moon has phases
and to learn what each phase of the moon is called.
SOL 4.8: The student will investigate and understand the relationships among Earth, the
moon and the sun. Key concepts include:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

The motions of Earth, the moon and the sun

The causes for Earths seasons
The causes for the phases of the moon
The relative size, position and makeup of Earth, the moon and the sun
Historical contributions in understanding the Earth-moon-sun system.

II. Objective: Students will correctly identify the causes of the moon and the phases of
the moon with 85% accuracy.
III. Procedure:
Introduction: To begin the lesson, I will ask students what the only source of light in our
solar system is (the sun). I will explain that as the moon moves around the earth, our
perspective changes of it and can change the shape of the moon as we see it. Sometimes
we see just the unlit face of the moon when the moon is between us and the sun, and that
is called the new moon. But sometimes we see the moon half illuminated and half dark.
We call that first quarter. I will then explain to students the vocabulary associated with
the moon phases which are as follows: crescent, gibbous, waxing and waning (auditory).
Development: I will then draw a diagram on the promethean board that has a picture of
the sun and the earth and the moon in each of its phases that are labeled. After I have
labeled the diagram, I will then play a moon phase song from YouTube that explains each
phase of the moon and its name (visual and auditory).
Summary: After the video has played, I will then assign homework for the students which
will be to go outside and draw a picture of the moon that night. This picture will then be
used during the next days lesson.
IV. Materials:

Promethean board
Computer
Moon log sheet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkvlrWpsnuQ

V. Evaluation Part A: I will informally assess students during the lesson because there will be no
formal assessment available. I will assess depending on questions and levels of participation
during the lesson.

VII. Evaluation Part B:

Did the students meet your objectives?

How do you know?

Did your lesson accommodate/address the needs of all your learners?

What were the strengths of the lesson?

What were the weaknesses?

How would you change the lesson if you could teach it again?

Name: ___________________________
Directions: Go outside tonight and draw a picture of what the moon looks like.

Day 6: Moon Phases

I. Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is for students to learn why the moon has phases
and to learn what each phase of the moon is called.
SOL 4.8: The student will investigate and understand the relationships among Earth, the
moon and the sun. Key concepts include:
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.

The motions of Earth, the moon and the sun

The causes for Earths seasons
The causes for the phases of the moon
The relative size, position and makeup of Earth, the moon and the sun
Historical contributions in understanding the Earth-moon-sun system.

II. Objective: Students will correctly identify the causes of the moon and the phases of
the moon through a whole class activity with 95% accuracy.
III. Procedure:
Introduction: To begin the lesson, I will briefly review the information we covered the
day before on moon phases. I will ask a series of questions to the students to refresh their
minds about the phases of the moon before beginning the activity for this lesson
(auditory).
Development: After reviewing the phases of the moon with the class, I will move on to
the Oreo moon phase activity. Each student will be given one Oreo and a napkin, and will
be instructed to open their oreo down the middle. I will go to the front of the classroom
and call out phases of the moon for them to create on their Oreo. The white part of the
Oreo cream will represent the moon. I will walk around the room to look at various
students Oreos before moving on to a different phase of the moon. At the end of the
lesson, students will be allowed to eat their Oreo (kinesthetic).
Summary: To close the lesson, I will ask students to pull out their moon log and trade it
with someone else. The student that they trade their paper will have to log what phase of
the moon they think the moon is in as drawn on their partners paper and turn it in once
they have completed it.
Students that are struggling will be provided a sheet that labels each of the phases of the
moon for the Oreo activity. Students with IEPs will receive shortened assignments and
will receive individual instruction for the directions from a teacher in the room.
IV. Materials:

Oreos
Napkins

V. Evaluation Part A: I will collect and formally assess students using the moon log sheet that
they got from their partner. I will look to see that each student correctly identified the phase of
the moon from their partners homework the night prior.
VII. Evaluation Part B:

Did the students meet your objectives?

How do you know?

Did your lesson accommodate/address the needs of all your learners?

What were the strengths of the lesson?

What were the weaknesses?

How would you change the lesson if you could teach it again?

Day 7: Review
I. Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to review the material covered in this unit before test
day.
II. Objective: Students will answer questions on review jeopardy with 75% accuracy.
SOLS:
Science 4.7: The student will investigate and understand the organization of the solar
system. Key concepts include:
d. The planets in the solar system
e. The order of the planets in the solar system
f. The relative sizes of the planets.
Science 4.8: The student will investigate and understand the relationships among Earth,
the Moon and the Sun. Key concepts include:
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.

The motions of Earth, the Moon and the Sun

The causes for Earths seasons
The causes for the phases of the Moon
The relative size, position, age and makeup of Earth, the Moon and the Sun
Historical contributions in understanding the Earth-moon-sun system

III. Procedure: Students will get into two large groups to play a Jeopardy game created to review
the information on their test for the unit.
IV. Materials:

Jeopardy game
Computer
Promethean board

V. Evaluation Part A: I will informally assess students by watching who gets correct answers and
incorrect answers on the jeopardy game. Lesson adjustments will be made depending on student
understanding as a whole.
VII. Evaluation Part B:

Did the students meet your objectives?

How do you know?

Did your lesson accommodate/address the needs of all your learners?

What were the strengths of the lesson?

What were the weaknesses?

How would you change the lesson if you could teach it again?

Day 8: Test
Students will complete a test on the material covered during the entire unit.