BLAST OFF INTO STUDYING THE SOLAR SYSTEM WITH YOUR STUDENTS AND SUPERCHARGE THEIR COMPUTER SKILLS.
EXPLORE THE PLANETS!
Starry Night Planet Mobile
Start your unit on the solar system by bringing the planets into your classroom! Divide the class into planetary teams to build a supersized solar-system mobile. Each two- or three-student group can research a planet and build a papier-mache model. Give each team index cards and send them onto the Internet to learn about their chosen planet. A good place to start is The Nine Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System (www.nineplanets.org). Ask each team to record the basic stats on the planet they are researching--size, distance from the sun, composition, and unique geography, as well as interesting facts. Then for the models, use round balloons, expanded to different sizes, and cover them in a simple papier-mache mixture. For an example, see the papier-mache globe project (www.enchantedlearing.com/crafts/globe). Students can decorate their planets using paint, glitter, and even pebbles or sand. String a clothesline across your classroom and have each team hang its planet. Groups who finish early can make asteroids or comets to further bring the solar system to life.
Invite your students to admire their classroom mobile and brainstorm out-of-this-world vacations. Students can form investigative teams as they head into a new planet expedition and design travel brochures. You can give them a worksheet from Interplanetary Scavenger Hunt (www.esc6.net/ tiftrain/student/harvey/planets.html) to guide their research, then send them to Solar System Exploration (http://solarsysrem.nasa.gov), where your future space travelers will find detailed information about the planet they have chosen. Students can our their creativity to work and include their new knowledge in a brochure for an imaginary trip to the unknown. Suggest the brochure be folded into thirds (in MicroSoft Word, set page layout to "landscape" then insert a three-columned table) then, they can cut and paste amazing images and exciting facts into their documents. Ask them to brainstorm about fun activities that will bring the tourists flocking! Activities might be hang-gliding through the gas storms of Jupiter or hiking through the canals of Mars. Students can hone their presentation skills and share their brochures with their classmates by describing the "Perfect Planet Getaway," while dressed up as extra-terrestrial aliens from another planet!
Planets In All Shapes and Sizes
Use the metric system to put the planets into proportion! Help your students understand the vast size and scale of the solar system with metric math conversions. Have them visit the NASA spacekid's solar-system tour (spacekids.hq.nasa.gov/osskids/animate/mac.hrml) to learn the diameter of each planet in kilometers. For example, Mercury's diameter is 4,878 km. Then with a pencil and paper or the Measuring Units Conversion Table (www.french-property.com/ref/convert.htm), students can convert from kilometers to meters. (In meters, Mercury's diameter is 4,878,000). To make these numbers more personal, suggest that students measure their own height in inches and then convert the result to meters.
Planets, Gods, and Goddesses
Explore the myth behind each planer's name and introduce your students to the world of Greek and Roman mythology. Travel to the Roman Empire (www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/ jo/roman/planets.hrm) and find out why the Romans named the planets after their most important gods. Brainstorm with your students and make a list to compare the personality of each Roman god with the qualities of each planet. For example, does the fiery red planet Mars have any of the same qualities as the Roman god of war? Encourage your students to create a poster for each planet that includes some of their findings and illustrations from the myths. To go a step further, they could compare the Greek and Roman versions of the myths at the Encyclopedia Mythica site Interplanetary Time Capsule
Captivate your students by listening to the actual recordings of Earth sounds that were carried in a time capsule by spacecraft Voyager! Listen to the "Message of the Universe" at The Voyager Project Home Page Then, ask your students to create, in groups, their own sound time capsule. They can record sounds that reflect our lives in the new millennium, such as television news reports, conversations, traffic noise, or music. For each speech, song, or sound, have them record the five Ws: who said it, what they said, where and/or when it is from, and why they chose it. Each group makes a tape to play and present to the class. For a writing connection, encourage students to imagine the possible reactions of aliens or space travelers who hear their recordings. What would the aliens have to say about us?