The Solar System - A Scientific Discovery
In this 4 week course, students will learn all about the solar system, including the sun, moon, planets, and space travel.
Maria Ramirez, M.A. Elementary Education
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(281)
What's included
8 live meetings
6 in-class hoursClass Experience
In this course students will learn all about the Solar System! Students will be engaged in a multitude of learning facets including group discussion, individual think time and sharing, sketching, writing, and creation of ideas, visual content, experiments and viewing scientific video clips. Here is the breakdown by topic: Week 1: What is the Solar System Students will learn about the eight planets that travel around the sun and make up our solar system through non-fiction read aloud texts and science videos. Students will learn that the sun is a gigantic star that is at the center of our solar system and that it produces all of the energy used on Earth. They will learn the vocabulary words: planet, solar system, sun, star, asteroid, meteoroids, comet, orbit, dwarf planet, revolution, axis, rotation Students will create a solar system memory game that will be a fun and engaging way to practice all of the planets they learned about. Students will have the opportunity to do a sun experiment after class in order to observe the amazing strength of the sun. Week 2: The Planets Students will learn about the inner rocky planets including Mercury, Venus, Earth, & Mars. They will learn the vocabulary words: terrestrial, crust, atmosphere, craters, greenhouse effect, habitat zone, moon Students will learn about the outer gas planets including Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, & Jupiter. They will learn the vocabulary words: gas giant, density, tilt, geyser Students will complete a picture and fact sort comparing the rocky planets to the gas planets. Week 3: The Moon Students will learn that the Moon is part of our solar system and the second brightest object in the sky. Students will learn how the tides movement are caused by the gravity from the moon on the oceans. Students will learn about the Moon phases that occur over a month including new moon, crescent moon, first quarter moon, gibbous moon, and full moon. They will learn the vocabulary words: astronomer, telescope, waxing, waning, solar eclipse, lunar eclipse Students will create a moon journal and observe the moon daily. Week 4: Space Travel Students will learn about the first time people sent a rocket into space, a dog into space, and a person into space. They will learn about Sputnik, Laika the dog (1st living thing to go into space), Yuri Gagarin (1st person in space), Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin (1st moon landing). Students will learn all about gravity and what is needed for space travel. They will learn the vocabulary words: gravity, experiments, capsule, spacecraft, lunar model, lunar roving vehicle, space shuttle, space station, space probes Students will follow the engineering design process to plan and create an object that can travel to space.
Learning Goals
Students will learn all about our solar system including our planets, the sun, and the moon. Students will be able to tell the difference between the rocky planets and the gas planets. Students will learn all about the moon and each phase that occurs over a month. Students will learn about space travel and the important factors that astronauts have to learn and master before completing space missions.
Other Details
Supply List
There will be various hand outs that will need to be printed prior to specific lessons. Students will need pencils, coloring materials, and paper. There may be additional materials needed if students partake in the hands on engineering activities that will be used to extend the learning outside of the classroom for homework. These materials will include glue, tape, construction paper, cardboard etc.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined January, 2020
5.0
281reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
I have taught this Solar System Unit for many years in classrooms and have been intrigued by my students' excitement to learn the true facts about it. Over the years, I have continued to update and change these lessons to make them more student driven, hands on and exciting for students. I have found that after learning a scientific topic, students love engaging in a hands on approach in order to demonstrate their learning. Reviews
Live Group Class
$120
for 8 classes2x per week, 4 weeks
45 min
Completed by 73 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 6-9
1-10 learners per class
