Teaching About the Solar System

I just started one of my all-time favorite units to teach for science- the solar system! In this post, I will show you how I engage my students at the start of the unit (setting the stage for learning), integrate reading and writing, and use a variety of different learning modalities (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile).

I have a great way set the stage for learning, and build anticipation and excitement about the unit solar system science unit. Prior to starting your unit, place an astronaut trainee letter (an official letter from NASA!) in a special star stamped manila envelope. You won’t believe how excited your students will be when they come to school and find them on their desk! From here on out, students are astronaut trainees and I (formerly known as the teacher) am now their crew captain-very official, with a name badge and all!

I have such a hard time fitting in science with all the other subjects that I have to teach. One strategy that I use is integrating reading and writing with my science topics. Here is one idea of how I incorporate reading strategies when teaching about the different constellations. I begin by asking the students to think about what they already know about constellations. This prior knowledge is called a child’s schema- and it includes all their prior experiences about the topic. All my students, or should I say, junior astronauts, use their schema (brain file!) to share what they already know about constellations.

 

All junior astronauts must learn to work with other junior astronauts- very important here on Earth and in outer space! Students work in groups to write acrostic poems and present their them to the class.

Crew captains will definitely have the attention of their junior astronauts when they begin the next lesson with these yummy looking Milky Way bars on display!

***Important Update*** Since writing this email a few years ago, my district adopted a strict no-food policy. We must have permission slip with parent approval for every food item we use in school. I recommend that you check your district’s food policy and get parent permission if needed, prior to use any candy or gum with your students!

  

Astronauts in training must know about how the Moon orbits the Earth and how the Earth orbits the Sun! In this hands-on, concrete approach to teach this concept, students manipulate the Moon orbiting Earth and Earth orbiting the Sun.

To keep things interesting, I passed out some Orbit gum as students were hard at work!

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4. Crazy about constellations
Young astronauts begin by sharing their schema about constellations. As they read more about constellations, their schema expands. Young astronauts then make their own constellations- which makes a beautiful bulletin board display. This file includes many colorful posters- make sure you have a color printer available! Please see the preview for some images of this file!! :)Included:
– Resources for introducing schema to your young astronauts
– 13 posters of constellations to print and display
– Crazy about Constellations flip book (Students connect the stars to form the featured constellation)
– Writing template and art project idea for students to write about a constellation they learned about (makes a great bulletin board display!)Constellations featured in file:
– Ursa Major
– Ursa Minor
– Hercules
– Cygnus
– Cassiopeia
– Perseus
– Canis Major
– Canis Minor
– Draco
– Orion
– Pegasus
– Cephus
– Andromeda5. Exciting Eclipses
A fun and interactive way to learn about the difference between the solar and lunar eclipse!