Space Concepts:

• The planets, moons, and asteroids orbiting the Sun make up our solar system.
• The first four planets are the solid, inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
• The next four planets are the gaseous, outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
• Distant Pluto is a very small solid planet.
• All planets revolve around the Sun and rotate on their own axis, while the entire solar system circles the Milky Way in a counterclockwise motion.

Vocabulary:   solar system     planet      moon       axis      orbit      rotate     *asteroid *revolution     *rotation

Read: Lots of Science Library Book #6.
(Adobe Acrobat Reader Required - Click here to download)

Activities:

The Solar System – Graphics Organizer

Focus Skill: recording data
Paper Handouts:   12 sheets of 8.5" x 11" paper a copy of  Graphics 6A–J
(Adobe Acrobat Reader Required - Click here to download)
Graphic Organizer: Make a 10 Tab Book, using the directions on page 5. Glue Graphic 6A, the Sun,
on the first tab on the left. Glue Graphics 6B–J on the remaining tabs in the correct order.

The Sun – Graphic Organizer

Focus Skill: research, organizing information
Paper Handouts:   Solar System Tab Book a copy of  Graphics 6K–L
(Adobe Acrobat Reader Required - Click here to download)
Graphic Organizer: On the Sun page of the Solar System Tab Book, glue Graphic 6 on the left side. Label the parts of the Sun, using information from the Lab Book. Glue Graphic 6L on the right side. Fill in the information about the Sun using Lots of Science Library Book #4.

 

 

 

 

Fruity, Seedy Planets

Focus Skill: illustrating a concept
Activity Materials: grapefruit    large orange     two plums      three peppercorns     two peas     index cards
Activity: Write the name of each planet on an index card. Arrange the items in the following order and place the correct index card next to it.

Peppercorn – Mercury	Large orange – Saturn	Pea – Venus
Plum – Uranus	Pea – Earth	Plum – Neptune
Peppercorn – Mars	Peppercorn – Pluto	Grapefruit – Jupiter

Observation Questions: Which planet is the largest? How many Earths do you think it would take to make one Jupiter? How many Mercurys do you think it would take to make one Saturn?

Distances From the Sun

Focus Skill: measuring, illustrating a concept
Paper Handouts:  a copy of  Graphic 6M
Activity Materials: basketball tape measure
Activity materials used in the Fruity, Seedy Planets activity
Activity: Place the basketball Sun at the end of a large field or parking lot. Use the chart of Graphic 6M to create a model of the Solar System.

 

My Monster Named Zanet – Story and Graphic Organizer

Focus Skill: memorizing information
Read the poem: Hungry Space Monster by Dinah Zike

I imagine a monster whom I call Zanet, Whose favorite snacks are moons and their planets! My monster’s as fierce as Godzilla or worse. He spends his days traveling the Universe. He is seeking a delicious, crunchy treat, But in outer space there isn’t much to eat. So this monster gets hungrier every day. If he doesn’t eat something, he’ll waste away. He’s too small to eat galaxies or their stars But to him, the planets look like candy bars. Help! Our Solar System comes into his view! He’s eating the planets and all their moons, too! To remember the order of each planet, Memorize this nine word phrase about Zanet: My Very Empty Monster Just Swallowed Up Nine Planets.

Paper Handouts:   8.5" x 11" sheet of paper      a copy of  Graphics 6N
(Adobe Acrobat Reader Required - Click here to download)
Graphic Organizer: Make a Half Book. Glue Graphic 6N on the cover. Inside, write/copy this
humorous mnemonic to remember the planets in order from the Sun:
My Very Empty Monster Just Swallowed Up Nine Planets

My – Mercury Very – Venus Empty – Earth Monster – Mars Just – Jupiter Swallowed - Saturn Up - Uranus Nine - Neptune Planets - Pluto

Experiences, Investigations, and Research
Select one or more of the following activities for individual or group enrichment projects. Allow your students to determine the format in which they would like to report, share, or graphically present what they have discovered. This should be a creative investigation that utilizes your students’ strengths.

	1.	To get an idea of our solar system’s size, investigate Voyager 2’s journey through our solar system and beyond.
	2.	Use the Internet to investigate the discovery of other "solar systems" in our galaxy. Use what you learn to compare and contrast our solar system with another solar system.
	3.	Define "heliocentric" and describe a heliocentric solar system.
	4.	Hypothesize as to why all the inner planets are solid and the outer planets are gaseous.
	5.	http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
	6.	http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html