the earththe sunThe Solar System

Your class has volunteered to host a Space Odyssey for the third graders in your school. Your teams only have four weeks to prepare for your roles as junior astronomers. Your group's assignment is to create a center and an oral presentation consisting of activities, photo/poster displays, and a summary report that will teach others about the Solar System.

The Task

Working in groups of four, use resources such as the Internet, books, magazines, videos or interviews with local astronomers to discover answers to the following questions.

Questions

  1. How are the earth and moon alike? Different?
  2. How are the earth and sun alike? Different?
  3. What do the orbits made by the earth and the moon around the sun look like?
  4. What are the phases of the moon? How long does it take for the moon to rotate around the earth? What do the eight phases of the moon look like?
  5. What is moonlight?
  6. What is a lunar eclipse? Solar eclipse?
  7. What happens to spinning tops or bouncing balls in space? Why?
  8. What is an astronomer?
  9. How does one become an astronomer?
  10. What is a planetarium?
  11. What are constellations? What useful purpose do they serve?
  12. Name the planets in the solar system? What is the correct position of each planet? What is an easy way to remember the names of the planets in their correct positions?
  13. What are three or more characteristics peculiar to each planet?
  14. Which planet is the most impossible place for an earthling to visit? Why?
  15. Which planet would be most like the earth? Why?
  16. What objects other than the planets and the sun exist in our solar system?
  17. What are constellations? What useful purpose do they serve? What mythical purpose do they serve?
  18. What are satellites? How do relay satellites send signals back to Earth?

Resources

Included below are Internet sites you may find helpful. They may simplify your search for answers to the questions above, or provide good browsing if you are simply interested in outer space.

  1. Views of the Solar System
  2. StarChild: A learning center of young astronomers
  3. Quest:NASA K-12 Internet Initiative
  4. Hot Topic: First Planet Discovered Outside Our Solar System
  5. Astronomy 101 at Dekalb College
  6. Astronomy Picture of the Day's Educational Links
  7. Athena, Earth and Space Science for K-12
  8. Clementine
  9. Dr. Odenwald's ASK THE ASTRONOMER: FAQ page
  10. Dr. Odenwald's ASTRONOMY RESOURCE HOTLIST
  11. Earth
  12. Eclipses
  13. Future Shuttle Missions
  14. Hotlist Space Science
  15. HST Images of the Solar System
  16. Index of /pub/astronomy
  17. Kids Web - Astronomy and Space
  18. The Nine Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System
  19. Our Solar System
  20. Phases of the Moon
  21. Reference Data
  22. Solar Images Received (Real Time)
  23. The Astronomy Cafe
  24. The Image/Poetry K-12
  25. The Moon
  26. The Nine Planets Glossary
  27. Views of the Solar System
  28. What's a Planetarium?
  29. Science and Oddities: Space

The Process

To accomplish this task:

  1. First, your team will need about 10 minutes to review the questions listed above.
  2. Then decide which questions each team member will be responsible for researching. To save time, you might want to divide up the number of questions for each group member to research.
  3. Next, you will need to agree on a date when all members must be finished with their research, and meet with the group and compile the information into a report.
  4. Finally, you will need to decide how your team will demonstrate what you have learned(ie.- Hyperstudio stack with voice and animation, slide presentation, or experiments).

Learning Advice

Once you have decided how to present information on the Solar System, check with your teacher to determine whether your projects can be reasonably created in the time given. (Perhaps your teacher has scheduled a class meeting to find out what each team plans to do, to prevent from repeating an activity.)

Conclusion

Congratulations, junior astronomers! By this time, your teaching team should be able to compare and contrast our planet and sun to other planets and star systems. Your presentations should clearly demonstrate how objects in the solar system move, and explain how we are able to learn about the universe. How does what you've learned relate to a career in astronomy? How can this activity be extended?

This page written by Julia Deevers and Margaret Ware. Assistance by Holt Kernodle.Last updated June 11,1997.

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