Unit Plan

Solar System Unit
5th Grade
Kim Roedema and Emilee D’Angelo

Title: The Solar System Unit 5th Grade
Overview: In our unit, we are going to teach our students about The Solar System. We will
begin with the galaxies, then proceed to the Sun, the stars and the constellations. In the next
week, we will instruct on the Earth, Moon and Sun and the planets, including a guest speaker and
our culminating activity.
Culminating Activity: In our Culminating Activity, students create their own planet through
using all that we have learned so far. They will both create the visual representation of their
planet, and write about it. They will describe how to get to their planet, what they encounter on
the way and what their planet is like. Through this project based learning activity, students will
further research planets while also displaying their knowledge about the planets, Earth, Moon,
Sun, and stars as well as discussing the travelling methods of getting to the planet.
Content and Essential Question:

● Standards:
ESS1.A: The Universe and its Stars 3-5
● The sun is a star that appears larger and brighter than other stars because it is closer.
Stars range greatly in their distance from Earth.
ESS1.A: The Universe and It’s Stars 6-8
● Earth and its solar system are part of the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of many
galaxies in the universe.
ESS1.B: Earth and The Solar System 3-5

● The orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around Earth, together with the
rotation of Earth about an axis between its North and South poles, cause observable
patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length and direction of
shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the
day, month, and year.
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System 6-8
● The solar system consists of the sun and a collection of objects, including planets,
their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the sun by its gravitational pull
on them.
● Essential Questions:
Big Question: What is it like outside of our planet?
Are there other solar systems besides ours?
What other planets and objects exist in our solar system and how are they different from
Earth?
How do the Earth, Sun and Moon interact with each other?
Rationale: Our objectives from the standards generally consist of: Students will be able to
identify and describe our galaxy. Students will be able to contrast the sun as a star. Students will
be able to understand what a constellation is and be able to recreate them. Students will be able
to explain and create Earth’s revolution and rotation. Students will be able to describe the phases
of the moon and recreate them. Students will be able to distinguish the planets and name each in
order. Students will be able to describe how to travel in space.
This unit is important to teach students what exists outside of our planet. On a day to day basis, it
is important for students to know how both the seasons and night and day occur through the
Earth, Sun and Moon. From a larger perspective, our Earth may be compromised one day due to
losing resources or destruction, making it important to know what other possible planets exist as
well as why we can’t leave our planet without certain equipment and transportation. As a result
of this unit, students will understand how vast and large space is and how small Earth is in the
scope of it. Teaching about this topic is also a great way to inspire children to pursue an interest
or career in Physics or Space.
Visual Representation:
Initiatory Activities: Our unit’s hook is introducing the solar system as generally as possible,
exposing the students to how large our solar system really is. We will ask the students to simply
respond to “what do you think of when you hear “space”? And create a graphic organizer from it.
On-going Activities: Throughout the unit we will have an interactive word wall which we will
be adding vocabulary to each day.
Assessment: For our vocabulary pre-assessment, we have a vocabulary knowledge rating scale
pictured below. For the formative assessments:
● Day 1: Students will complete the emoji exit ticket showing what they learned about
galaxies.
● Day 2: Students have to complete an exit ticket where they describe:
○ What’s one thing you learned today about the Sun?
○ What’s one thing you learned today about the stars?
○ What’s one thing you have a question or are confused about?
● Day 3: Students will create their own constellations out of toothpicks and marshmallows.
● Day 4: Students will create a 3D model showing that they understand Earth’s rotation and
revolution.
● Day 5: Students will be able to create a diagram of the phases of the moon with oreos and
with drawing.
● Day 7: Students will be challenged to know the planets in our solar system and the order
they are in from the sun.
● Day 8: Students will write something that “stuck” with them on two post it notes: one to
see what they remember and liked most.
Day 9 and 10: For our summative assessment we will have a culminating activity that is also
considered to be project based learning. Students will be answering the question: what makes a
good planet? They will be required to answer the questions:
● Where is your planet?
● What do we pass on the way to your planet if we were traveling to it? Describe
everything you see such as: other planets, stars/constellations, sun and moon.
● What transportation did you use to get to your planet?
● What does your planet look like?
● What size is your planet compared to the other planets?
● What is the climate like on your planet?
● What life forms, if any, are on your planet?
● Does your planet have a moon(s)?
Resources:
● Universe Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7zaCmfUL2A
● Kids Discover Magazine
● Sun Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrS3Ye8p61Y

● Constellations Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sZ15SUeS9w
● Many Moons by Remi Courgeon
● Order of planets : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd_EIdZrvaU
● https://solarsyste
m.nasa.gov/planet
s/overview/
Vocabulary:
Tier 2:
-orbit
-rotate
-revolve
-axis
-spaceship
Tier 3:
-constellation
-telescope
-galaxy
Vocab pre-assessment:
vocab knowledge scale
Vocab-post assessment: culminating activity writing
Lesson Plans:
Day 1-Together
1.Title or Topic of the Lesson and Grade Level: The Solar System
2. Lesson Essential Question(s): How big is our Earth in the solar system? What else is in the
solar system? What is a galaxy?

3. Standards:
ESS1.A: The Universe and It’s Stars: Earth and its solar system are part of the Milky Way galaxy,
which is one of many galaxies in the universe.
4. Learning Objectives and Assessments:
Learning Objectives Assessments
Students will be able to explore space and the Students will complete questions from the
galaxies within space. guided notes as they rotate around the
stations.
Students will be able to identify and describe Students will complete the emoji exit ticket.
our galaxy.
5. Materials:
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7zaCmfUL2A
● White board and markers
● Computer and Projector
● Kids Discover Articles
● Guided Notes
6. Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge:
Students have learned about the layers of the Earth in a brief Youtube video; otherwise,
no prior knowledge.
7. Lesson Beginning:
First, to activate their prior knowledge we will ask the students: What do you think about
when you hear the word “space”? We will have space written on the board and as they answer,
they will come up one at a time and add to the graphic organizer on the white board including all
their ideas until they have written all of their thoughts.
8. Instructional Plan:
After we create the graphic organizer on the board, we will show them a 5 minute video
of space on the SMARTboard which shows just how small Earth is comparison to our solar
system. After it’s over, we will tell them to write their reaction to the video it in their science
journal in a brief paragraph. When they are done writing, we will discuss some ideas and
questions that they had from the video. We will then learn about the galaxies through stations.
We will explain to students that they will be rotating with their table in each of the stations
around the room. We will have the Kids Discover article broken down into pages for each station
where they will have guided notes about each section. They will write quotes and ideas from the
article on their notes sheet. They will have 5 minutes at each station. Once they are finished
rotating to each station they will retreat back to their seats where we will debrief the stations and
move on to our closing.
o Differentiation:
For ELL and ESL students we will have notes already made and distributed. We will sit
with the students who will have more difficulty.
o Questions:
What is a galaxy? What is our galaxy called? Are there other galaxies besides our own?
o Classroom Management:
We will break students up into groups based on their friends and their learning styles. We
will have materials at each station and explain the instructions before they move. We will have a
timer and use the whole class method to gather their attention to rotate stations.
o Transitions:
We will have a timer to rotate stations. We will be introducing stars in our lesson’s
resources, transitioning students to tomorrow’s lesson topic.
9. Closure:
We will begin our interactive word wall including the new words we learned today. We
will discuss their meaning and how we can remember them as we add them on the wall. We will
distribute an emoji exit ticket where students pick how they feel about each of the covered
topics. We can use this as an assessment to see what the students understand/need help with for
the next day.
Kids Discover Galaxies Notes

Use quotes from the article in your answers!
Star Studded Galaxies
The Milky Way’s central plane looks like___________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________.
What is a galaxy?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________.
How are we able to see galaxies in the universe?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________.
The Milky Way Merry-Go-Round
How long does one complete circle around the center of the Milky Way take?
__________________________________________________________________________.
What blocks our view from seeing the nucleus or center of the Milky Way?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________.
Draw the Front View of our Galaxy. Draw a Side View of Our Galaxy.
A Galaxy is Born
What is the HST and what does it do? ___________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________.
How do galaxies get their shape?
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
Through the Looking Glass
What is the biggest difficulty for observing galaxies?_________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________.
Where are most telescopes located? Why?________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________.
Emoji Exit Ticket
I understand what a galaxy is.

😎 😎 😎
It is _______________________________________________
___________________________________________________.
I understand how to see galaxies from Earth.
😎 😎 😎
You see them________________________________________
___________________________________________________.
I know about the galaxy we live in.
😎 😎 😎
We live in the __________________________________.
Day 2-Emilee
1.Title or Topic of the Lesson and Grade Level: 5th Grade Sun and the Stars
2. Lesson Essential Question(s): What is the difference between the sun and the stars?
3. Standards: ESS1.A: The Universe and its Stars
4. A. Learning Objectives and Assessments

Students will be able to compare the sun as a Students will be able to describe what they
star. learned about stars and the sun in a venn
diagram and through their exit ticket.
5. Materials:
● Whiteboard, markers
● Science notebooks, pencil
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrS3Ye8p61Y
6. Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge: Students were shown a short clip about the
layers of the Earth and have learned about space in previous years.
To start, we will make a graphic organizer about what they know about the sun using a
web on the whiteboard. We will write “Sun” on the board and as students answer, they will come
up and write things they already know about the Sun as well as more things that they’d like to
know.
After the organizer, then we will be showing them a short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrS3Ye8p61Y. In this video, they learn a little about what
stars are and how the sun is specific star called a yellow dwarf (the most important star to us on
Earth). They will take notes about the video in their notebook as we watch it on the
SMARTboard. After the video, we will talk about some things we learned about stars and the sun
from the video. Then, we will as a class, have students take turns reading an article about the sun
and stars. We will ask them to read it again independently and highlight important information
about the sun and stars that they learn while reading. We will ask them to think about the
differences between sun and stars while they highlight. They will then move to the rug and create
an venn diagram comparing the sun and the stars about what we learned from the video and
article.
o Differentiation:
For students who did not get enough information from the video, they can watch it again
on their chrome books.
o Questions:
How does the sun compare to the stars? What do we know about space?
We will call tables one at a time to come to the rug for the venn diagram. We will have
students distribute materials. We will have the video pulled up on the Smartboard so we can
easily transition from the graphic organizer introduction.

●
o Transitions:
We will remind students when we play the video that after we will take notes about it on
the carpet so they will be ready.
9. Closure:
To close the lesson, we will continue our interactive word wall with the new vocabulary
by adding the new words and reviewing the previous day’s words. Then, they will move them
back to their seats where they will complete an exit ticket in their notebooks. These questions
will be pulled up on the SMARTboard for the students to see. They will answer with quotes from
the article they read today:
What’s one thing you learned today about the Sun?
What’s one thing you learned today about the stars?
What’s one thing you have a question or are confused about?
After they complete their exit ticket, we will as a class create our Sun, Earth, Moon chart.
Students will say things they learned today about the Sun and we will add them to the chart.
We will then explain their homework assignment: They will have to go outside at night and
observe the stars. We will ask them to take notes on:
How many stars they were able to count in 2 minutes?
Were some brighter than others? Did they shine in different colors?
Draw a picture of some of the patterns of stars you saw.
Day 3-Kim
1.Title or Topic of the Lesson and Grade Level: Constellation 5th grade
2. Lesson Essential Question(s): What is a constellation?
3. Standards: ESS1.A: The Universe and its Stars

4. A. Learning Objectives and Assessments:
Students will be able to describe what a Students will be writing their observations
constellation is. about constellations on post it notes.
Students will be able to recreate Students will create their own constellations
constellations. out of pretzel sticks and marshmallows.
5. Materials:
● Pretzel sticks
● Marshmallows
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sZ15SUeS9w
Students learned about the sun as a star and what stars are in the previous days.
We will have questions posted around the room to review their homework from the night
before. We will give each student 3 post it notes to write their answers to each of their homework
questions that they gathered by looking at the stars. We will have a discussion about what
everyone noticed about the stars by discussing each posted question and the post-its on it.
We will then show students some famous constellations and have a discussion about
which we have seen or not seen before. We will keep these constellations up on the board as
students will be recreating them themselves. We will give each table a different constellation and
have students recreate them with pretzel sticks and marshmallows as a group. When they are
finished, all the students will walk around and view the other group’s constellations one at a
time. When they move back to their seats, we will discuss them, comparing them to the original
picture.
o Differentiation:
Students are using physical movement to make constellations themselves.
o Questions:
What is a constellation? What are the names of constellations we look for at night?
Students will help distribute materials. We will have a limited/constant amount of
materials for the constellation making activity per table. We will give each group 5 minutes to
make their constellations.
9. Closure:
● We will continue our interactive word wall including the new words we learned today
and review the previous day’s words. As a wrap up, we will have a discussion asking
students: What is a constellation? Name some constellations we learned about today. We
will have a formative assessment check of having them do a thumbs up or down about if
they feel they understand constellations.
Day 4-Emilee
1.Title or Topic of the Lesson and Grade Level: 5th Grade Earth’s Revolution and Rotation
2. Lesson Essential Question(s): How does the Earth create seasons and day and night?
3. Standards:
ESS1.A: The Universe and its Stars

ESS1.B:
4. A. Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to explain and create Students will create a 3D model showing that
Earth’s revolution and rotation. they understand Earth’s rotation and
revolution.
5. Materials:
● Paper plates
● Paper
● Fasteners
● Crayons
● Scissors
● Markers
The day previous, students learned about the stars and constellations. We will continue
by looking at the Earth, Sun and the Moon together.
We will begin by asking students, “Do we know how many days are in a year?” and “Do
we know how many hours are in a day?” We will write these questions on the board and write
each of their different answers as they are spoken. Once we get all their guesses, we will circle
and say the correct answer and we will ask them: “Do we know why this is?”. We will explain
that today, we are going to learn about the reason why.
● We will have students come to the rug with their notebooks. We will have the above
chart copied onto the white board there. We will have them draw the diagrams in their
notebooks as well as teaching them about the Earth’s rotation and revolution verbally.
● We will have them move back to their seats and show them a simulation of the Earth
revolving and rotating on the SMARTboard. https://www.edumedia-
sciences.com/en/media/216-sun-earth-moon
● We will then ask them “What do you notice about the simulation?” and “Which of the
planets revolve around each other?”
● After we establish that the Earth moves around the sun and the Moon moves around the
Earth, they will create models of the Sun, Earth and Moon using fasteners and paper
plates. They will color the planets and then cut them out and fasten them together so they
can see their movement. We will have a sample made for them to refer back to.
o Differentiation:
For students who don’t understand the notes, we will play them a video afterwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l64YwNl1wr0
o Questions:
How many stars they were able to count in 2 minutes? Were some brighter than others?
Did they shine in different colors? Draw a picture of some of the patterns of stars you saw. What
are you noticing about the rotation and revolution in the simulation?
We will call a table at a time to have them put on their post it notes. We will have
students distribute materials.
o Transitions:
Students will be introduced to the moon in their models they create; this will be a
transition to the next day’s lesson on the moon.
9. Closure:
We will continue our interactive word wall including the new words we learned today
and reviewing the words from the previous days. After students create their model, they will
write in their journals explaining what the Earth, Sun and Moon are doing and their relationship
which we will collect to check for understanding. As a class we will continue to fill out our Sun,
Earth, Moon Characteristics anchor chart for the Earth portion. Students will say things that they
learned about the Earth as we add them to the chart.
Day 5-Kim
1.Title or Topic of the Lesson and Grade Level: The Moon’s Phases 5th Grade
2. Lesson Essential Question(s): What are the phases
of the moon? What causes the moon to have phases?

3. Standards: ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System
Students will be able to describe and recreate Students will be able to create a diagram of
the phases of the moon. the phases of the moon with oreos and with
drawing.
5. Materials:
● Oreos
● Paper plates
● Many Moons by Remi Courgeon
● Moon Phase Story
6. Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge: Students have created a model the
previous day which shows the moon rotating around Earth.
We will begin the lesson by reading students “Many Moons” by Remi Courgeon which
tells them about the phases of the moon in a fun way. We will stop to note the phases of the
moon as we read.
● After the book, we will ask students to remember phases that we learned from the book.
We will write them on the board as they also write them in their notes. We will then teach
them the moon phase story so that they can remember the order of the phases:
Moon Phase Story
New Moon — A girl earns a new job . . .
Waxing Crescent — where she is asked to wax the crescent.
First Quarter — Her boss is pleased so she earns her first quarter.
Waxing Gibbous — Her next job is to wax the gibbous.
Full Moon — Again, the boss is pleased, so she earns her first full paycheck.
Waning Gibbous — Then she gets lazy. She begins to wane the gibbous.
Last Quarter — So the boss says, "You're fired. This is your last quarter. Finish the job and
leave."
Waning Crescent — She wanes the crescent before leaving . . .
New Moon — to find a new job.
● We will have students write this in their notebook and challenge them to tell the story to
their partners.
● Once students know the story well, we will have students create the model of the moon
phases with oreos. They can eat the cream that will not be used for each phase.
● We will walk around checking that they have the correct order and representation. Once
we check them off , we will have students draw the model in their notebook under the
moon story.
o Differentiation:
We will have copies of the story for students so they can see and hear it. We will have a
model for students who don’t understand so they can create the oreo diagram.
o Questions:
What are the phases of the moon? Why are there phases of the moon?
We will have the amount of Oreos needed per student already grouped. We will have pre-
selected students to distribute materials. Students can eat the oreos after the draw it in their
notebook.
o Transitions:
We will call tables to the rug one at a time.
9. Closure:
We will continue our interactive word wall including the new words we learned today
and reviewing previous days words. We will close the lesson by having a discussion about the
moon. We will ask students to turn and talk with their table to share what they learned about the
Moon. We will complete our Sun, Earth, Moon Characteristics anchor chart for the moon portion
by having students each say something that we will add to the chart.
Day 6-Together
1.Title or Topic of the Lesson and Grade Level: Grade 5 Guest Speaker
2. Lesson Essential Question(s): What can we learn from a solar system expert?
3. Standards:
5. Materials:
● Smart board
6. Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge: Students will be familiar with multiple
components of our solar system from prior days in the unit.

7. Lesson Beginning: We will introduce Professor AJ Richards from TCNJ as our guest speaker
and tell them what we will be learning about.
8. Instructional Plan: Profesor Richards will be giving a presentation about
o Differentiation:
o Questions:
o Transitions:
9. Closure: After Professor Richard’s presentation, the students will be asking him remaining
questions they have about our solar system, or anything he has addressed.
Day 7-Emilee
1.Title or Topic of the Lesson and Grade Level: The Order of the Planets 5th Grade
2. Lesson Essential Question(s): What other planets are in our solar system? What order do
these planets go in?
their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the sun by its gravitational pull
on them.
Students will be able to name each planet in Students will be challenged to know the
our solar system, in order. planets in our solar system and the order they
are in from the sun. Students will recall and
add new vocabulary to our interactive word

wall.
5. Materials:
● Planet song
● Whiteboards
● Markers
● Computer and Projector
● Planet Pneumonic Sheet
● Notebook
● Scissors
Students learned about the Earth, Sun and Moon so far in our unit.
We will ask students, “Can you name all the planets?”. We will as a class write down all
the planets on the board as students say them. We will then have a challenge as a class to see
who can put them in the right order first on their whiteboards. Once they think they have the
order correct they raise their hand. We will check their board once they raise their hand and the
winner will win a prize. We will allow students more time to figure out the planets in order
before we write the correct order on the board for them to copy in their notebooks.
● We will play them this planet song on the SMARTboard to help them know the planets in
order. They will have the order in front of them, from our lesson introduction to refer
back to as we sing it as a class. We will play the song again and sing it as a class.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd_EIdZrvaU
● After the song, we will then teach them a mnemonic device to give them a different way
to remember the order and pass out the mnemonic cut out. We will say the sentence
followed by each planet as another way to remember it and have the name of the planet
under each flap. We will show them our cut out as an example.
o Differentiation: We are providing our students with a song and a mnemonic device to
remember the order of the planets in our solar system and a visual representation of each.
o Questions: What are some planets we can name? Do we know the order of the planets?
o Classroom Management: We will have students raise their hand for us to check when they get
the planets in order. We will explain the rules of the challenge before we begin.
9. Closure:
After we learn the planet order, we will repeat the challenge on the white boards to see
how many people can get the order of the planets. We will ask a few students to explain which
method they used to remember and sing both the song and say the pneumonic device as a class.
We will then review the words on our interactive word
wall.
Day 8-Kim
1.Title or Topic of the Lesson and Grade Level: Planet Exploration 5th Grade
2. Lesson Essential Question(s): What are the other planets of our solar system like?
their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the sun by its
gravitational pull on them.
Students will be able to distinguish each Students will complete the planet sort activity
planet from each other. including the planet’s characteristics,
appearance and location. Students will
complete the table about each planet.
5. Materials:
● Chrome books
● Planet Sort
● Scissors and Glue
● Planet Graphic Organizer
Planet:
Size (Diameter)
Atmosphere
Surface
Features
Distance from
the Sun
Ability to
support life
Orbit around
the sun
Number of
Moons
Temperature
Students the day previous learned about the order of the planets.
We will begin the lesson by reviewing the planets in order through the song and the
pneumonic device to assess what they remember and transition into further exploration of the
planets.
● Students will use their chromebooks to individually research and explore the planets
online through this website from NASA: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/overview/
● While they research, they will complete the table below about each planet.
● Once students finish, they will complete a planet sort where they have to cut and glue
what the planet looks like, what order it’s in and characteristics about it onto the correct
planet.
o Differentiation:
There are two different planet sorts, one that splits the planets so it is easier to match the
characteristics and one that is all the planets together.
o Questions:
Do we remember the planets in order? What are some characteristics about each planet?
We will have students distribute materials to the class.
o Transitions:
At the end of the lesson, we will collect both the table and the planet sort.
9. Closure:
● We will continue our interactive word wall including the new words we learned today
and review the previous words. We will then distribute the planet sort for homework. We
will explain that students will have to match the planet picture and characteristics of it to
the correct planet.

Day 9-Together
1.Title or Topic of the Lesson and Grade Level: Journey to Planet ME 5th Grade
2. Lesson Essential Question(s): What makes a good planet?
3. Standards: ESS1.A: The Universe and It’s Stars: Earth and its solar system are part of the
Milky Way galaxy, which is one of many galaxies in the universe.
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System: The solar system consists of the sun and a collection of
objects, including planets, their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the sun by its
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System: The orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around
Earth, together with the rotation of Earth about an axis between its North and South poles, cause
observable patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length and direction of
shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day, month,
and year.
The sun is a star that appears larger and brighter than other stars because it is closer. Stars range
greatly in their distance from Earth.
Students will be able to describe the order of Students will be completing the requirements
the planets. we have listed for them in an outline and the
graphic organizer.
Students will be able to describe planets’, Students will be completing the requirements
stars’, earth’s, sun’s and moon’s we have listed for them in an outline and the
characteristics graphic organizer.
Students will be able to describe how to travel Students will be completing the requirements
in space. we have listed for them in an outline and the
graphic organizer.
The outcome will be our culminating project/project based learning, the planet that they create.
We will be looking for evidence that the students have retained information about our solar
system, as well as have the ability to refer back to their notes/resources.
5. Materials:
● All notes/resource from previous days
● Design Your Own Planet worksheet (to sketch)
● Journey to Planet ME outline
● Graphic organizer sheets
Students learned about each of the planets, earth, sun, moon and stars in our galaxy.
We will explain the project to students to begin this day by showing our example and
going over the Steps for the Project and the Questions that they need to answer.
8. Instructional Plan: .
● Students will draw their planet and name it. We will walk around and guide them as they
work, if needed. When they finish and we give them the OK, they will begin their outline
for the writing piece. They will research planets, or look at their worksheets/notes from
the unit and decide what they want their planet to be like by filling out the outline.
o Differentiation:
For students who need help, we will circulate the room and give them examples. We are
allowing all students the opportunity to refer back to the resources we have used in the unit,
including videos, mnemonic devices, songs, notes, etc.
o Questions:
What did we learn about space? Do you have any questions about the project?
We will have students distribute materials.
9. Closure:
● We will do a thumbs up seeing what level everyone is at and then prepare them for
working on the project the next day.
● If they don’t finish the outline, it becomes their homework because they have to complete
their project for the next day.
Day 10-Together
1.Title or Topic of the Lesson and Grade Level: 5th Grade Journey to Planet ME
2. Lesson Essential Question(s): What makes a good planet?

3. Standards: ESS1.A: The Universe and It’s Stars: Earth and its solar system are part of the
Milky Way galaxy, which is one of many galaxies in the universe.
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System: The solar system consists of the sun and a collection of
objects, including planets, their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the sun by its
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System: The orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around
Earth, together with the rotation of Earth about an axis between its North and South poles, cause
observable patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length and direction of
shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day, month,
and year.
The sun is a star that appears larger and brighter than other stars because it is closer. Stars range
greatly in their distance from Earth.
Students will be able to describe the order of Students will be completing the requirements
the planets. we have listed for them in an outline and the
graphic organizer.
Students will be able to describe planets’, Students will be completing the requirements
stars’, earth’s, sun’s and moon’s we have listed for them in an outline and the
characteristics. graphic organizer.
Students will be able to describe how to travel Students will be completing the requirements
in space. we have listed for them in an outline and the
graphic organizer.
The outcome will be our culminating project/project based learning, the planet that they create.
We will be looking for evidence that the students have retained information about our solar
system, as well as have the ability to refer back to their notes/resources.
5. Materials:
● All notes/resource from previous days
● Design Your Own Planet worksheet (to sketch)
● Journey to Planet ME outline
● Graphic organizer sheets
Students learned about each of the planets, earth, sun, moon and stars in our galaxy.
We will ask that the students to take out their outlines. We will walk around the room and
check their outlines and give them the go to begin their writing.
● Students will work on their writing about their planets throughout the whole class,
making sure to address all questions on the outline/graphic organizer that they have.
o Questions:
What is your planet like? What did you like about the other planets?
We will give students 5-7 minutes to walk around the room, depending on how long the
students need to finish their writing.
o Transitions:
We will check students’ work as they finish and ask them to place their projects around
the room.
9. Closure:
● Students will participate in a museum walk around the room to see each other’s planets.
We will have a discussion about some things we liked about other people’s planets and
comparing them to each other.
Journey to Planet ME
Imagine you are an astronaut traveling to your planet from Earth...
Questions to answer in your project:
● Where is your planet?
● What do we pass on the way to your planet if we were traveling to it? Describe
everything you see such as: other planets, stars/constellations, sun and moon.
● What transportation did you use to get to your planet?
● What does your planet look like?
● What size is your planet compared to the other planets?
● What is the climate like on your planet?
● What life forms, if any, are on your planet?
● Does your planet have a moon(s)?
Steps for the Project:

1. Name your planet.
2. Draw a picture of your planet. Include the color, any or rings or moons it has and
it’s texture.
3. Research ideas for your planet from looking at other planets.
4. Create an outline of your journey’s story.
5. Create an outline of your planet’s characteristics.
6. Write your journey to your planet including your planet description.
Outline for Planet ME

Question: Answer
Where is your planet?
What do we pass on the way to your planet if

we were traveling to it? Describe everything
you see such as: other planets,
stars/constellations, sun and moon.
What transportation did you use to get to your
planet?
What does your planet look like?
What size is your planet compared to the other

planets?
What is the climate like on your planet?
What life forms, if any, are on your planet?
Does your planet have a moon(s)?
Design Your Own Planet Rubric

- +
Describes how to get to

planet.
Mentions planet’s size,

color, texture.
Mentions moons or rings

the planet has, if any.
Describes what they pass on

the journey to the planet
including specifically the
sun, moon, planets and
stars.
Describes what life forms

are on the planet.
Mentions the planet’s

climate.
Mentions transportation
needed to get to planet.

Unit Plan

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Unit Plan

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Solar System Unit

Kim Roedema and Emilee D’Angelo

Content and Essential Question:

galaxies in the universe.

ESS1.B: Earth and The Solar System 3-5

○ What’s one thing you have a question or are confused about?

they are in from the sun.

see what they remember and liked most.

● Kids Discover Magazine

● Sun Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrS3Ye8p61Y

● Many Moons by Remi Courgeon

● Order of planets : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd_EIdZrvaU

solar system? What is a galaxy?

4. Learning Objectives and Assessments:

Learning Objectives Assessments

galaxies within space. guided notes as they rotate around the

● White board and markers

● Computer and Projector

● Kids Discover Articles

6. Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge:

their ideas until they have written all of their thoughts.

move on to our closing.

with the students who will have more difficulty.

resources, transitioning students to tomorrow’s lesson topic.

the next day.

Kids Discover Galaxies Notes

Star Studded Galaxies

The Milky Way’s central plane looks like___________________________________________

How are we able to see galaxies in the universe?

The Milky Way Merry-Go-Round

What is the HST and what does it do? ___________________________________________

How do galaxies get their shape?

Through the Looking Glass

What is the biggest difficulty for observing galaxies?_________________________________

Where are most telescopes located? Why?________________________________________

Emoji Exit Ticket

I understand what a galaxy is.

3. Standards: ESS1.A: The Universe and its Stars

4. A. Learning Objectives and Assessments

Learning Objectives Assessments

star. learned about stars and the sun in a venn

diagram and through their exit ticket.

● Science notebooks, pencil

After the organizer, then we will be showing them a short video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrS3Ye8p61Y. In this video, they learn a little about what

on their chrome books.

easily transition from the graphic organizer introduction.

the carpet so they will be ready.

the article they read today:

What’s one thing you learned today about the Sun?

What’s one thing you learned today about the stars?

What’s one thing you have a question or are confused about?

observe the stars. We will ask them to take notes on:

How many stars they were able to count in 2 minutes?

Draw a picture of some of the patterns of stars you saw.

2. Lesson Essential Question(s): What is a constellation?

3. Standards: ESS1.A: The Universe and its Stars

4. A. Learning Objectives and Assessments:

Learning Objectives Assessments

constellation is. about constellations on post it notes.

constellations. out of pretzel sticks and marshmallows.

6. Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge:

Students are using physical movement to make constellations themselves.