Transcript 5th Grade Solar System Project Pathfinder

5th Grade Solar System Project
Pathfinder
Shoshana Gordon Ginsburg
Solar System Project
Students will make a poster with facts about the
earth and the solar system. The poster must:
• Include a drawing of the solar system, with the
sun, planets, asteroid belt, and at least one moon
other than Earth’s moon, all labeled
• Define and explain what planets have in common
that makes them different from the other objects
in the solar system
• At least three facts about non-Earth planets
• The back of the poster should contain citations
for all sources used
DC Standards
Students will be introduced to Space Science: Students
should have an appreciation for our solar system and
the concept that there are other similar and dissimilar
systems in space.
Students will be introduced to Earth Science: Students
should relate to the earth as a planet in our solar
system.
5.5.1. Describe the Earth as part of a system called the
solar system, which includes the sun (a star), planets,
comets, asteroids, and many moons.
5.5.2. Recognize that the Earth is the third planet from
the sun in our solar system.
Standards for the 21st Century Learner
• 1.1.1 Follow an inquiry-based process in seeking knowledge
in curricular subjects, and make the real-world connection
for using this process in own life.
• 1.1.8 Demonstrate mastery of technology tools for
accessing information and pursuing inquiry.
• 1.4.2 Use interaction with and feedback from teachers and
peers to guide own inquiry process.
• 2.1.2 Organize knowledge so that it is useful.
• 2.2.4 Demonstrate personal productivity by completing
products to express learning.
• 3.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to
organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways
that others can view, use, and assess.
What Is This?
This is a pathfinder. It will guide you through
library resources about the solar system so
you can find information for your poster.
Library resources include:
•Books
•Databases
•Websites
•Videos
Don’t forget that Pluto was declared a dwarf planet in 2006 – this
means that older resources may be out of date!
Books
“Sun, Moon, and
Stars: A Cosmic
Guide” by Emily
Sohn and Adam
Harter
“Planets, Stars,
and Galaxies: A
Visual
Encyclopedia of
Our Universe” by
David Aguilar
“The Solar System”
by Howard Trammel
Here are some books that
might be good resources for
your project. Look through
the shelves at the library for
more!
Relevant Dewey numbers
for this project include:
Astronomy 520
Planets 523.4
Solar System 523.2
Databases
The library has access to databases, which are
computerized collections of reference
material.
Recommended databases for this project are
Exploring Nature, Science Power, and the
Scholastic New Book of Popular Science.
In Exploring Nature, go to “Level One” and look for
the information about space, which is listed in the
category “Planet Earth”. This database has some
introductory information about the planets.
Open this database. What area to you
think will have the most information for
this project? Read or listen to any
sections you think will be relevant. Some
of the sections I found particularly useful
were Outer Space, Stars and Galaxies, The
Solar System, and The Sun and The
Planets.
New Book of Popular Science
In addition to the main encyclopedia entries,
this database has news articles and science
projects. Feel free to explore this database if
you want more information about your
project.
Websites
• The Internet Public Library - http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/
This site can be used in two ways – either you can do a search using
your own keywords, or you can look through their lists of resources. If you
go to “Math & Science”, then “Air & Space” and finally “Astronomy” you
can find some cool websites that might be helpful and interesting!
• Yahoo! Kids Directory http://kids.yahoo.com/directory/Science-and-Nature
Here is another place with useful lists of resources, mostly listed in
the category “Astronomy & Space”.
Websites
• BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/
This British site has great information and photographs about space.
Sadly however, most of the video clips will not work in the US.
• Nine Planets - http://nineplanets.org/
As an guide to the solar system, this site has a lot of useful
information. There is a special section just for kids, but feel free to look
around the regular site, as well. There are lots of images and sometimes
even video clips.
• Views of the Solar System - http://www.solarviews.com/eng/
This site has great images and movies of objects in space. While the
content might be a little difficult, I totally recommend looking at the
images created and digitized here.
Images
Looking for images to make your drawing
better? Welcome to the Planets has official
photos from NASA that can be downloaded
for your use.
Remember to cite! With photos, it can be hard to find
enough information so write down what you can.
NASA. Jupiter Full Disk. Welcome to the Planets.
Accessed 24 April, 2011.
http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/images/full/jupiter/
jupiter.jpg.
Videos
Discovery Education is a
great place to find
educational videos.
Here is one about the
planets that I found.
There are lots of
interesting movies on
this subject that you
might want to watch,
such as “Journey to the
Edge of the Universe”
from National
Geographic or IMAX
movies like “Hubble” or
“Space Station”. They
can be purchased
online.
A Closer Look at Space: The Planets. 100% Educational
Videos, 2004. Video. 22 April 2011.
<http://www.discoveryeducation.com>.
Keywords for Further Searching
Want to do more searching on your own or
explore more areas of the sites discussed
here? Here are some suggested search terms
for this project:
Solar System
Space
Star
Sun
Galaxy
Planet (and the names of
specific planets)
Moon
Astronomy
Citations
Make sure you keep track of where your
information came from!
Noodletools is one resource you can use to help
with citing.
Some of these resources have information on
them about how to properly cite them. It is
fine to copy their preferred citation formats, if
provided.