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Content Based Unit [CBU]
The Solar System
Milky Way Galaxy
Solar System
Submitted to Deborah Morse
By Eitan Bar
August 2010
The S lar System
Rationale for Teaching a 9th Grade Class
We live on a tiny and wonderful planet. However, it is somewhat an insignificant blur
bluish tiny point at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. We belong to the human race
and share this precious blue planet with endless of other different species of life. Our
planet boosts with life and although we fight and kill each other frequently, most of us
cherish life more than anything else.
XHumans were clever enough to invent insurance. We insure everything; starting
from our homes, cars and body, however we have no insurance for our dear planet,
there is no other alternative, yet. RO We humans are explorers. It is in our blood, in
our genes. We have already explored every little corner of our planet and we make
use of our natural resources without any long term planning. Problems such as global
warming and demographic issues start to pop up and a small volcano on a distant icy
island can turn our daily life into a nightmare. Combining the aforementioned features
leads to one conclusion; humans should try and reach other planets. The closest and
reachable planet to establish our next home t is within the solar system which contains
a number of planets. In order to succeed in this great journey of our race we should
gather information, as much as possible and get to know our neighboring planets. A
good starting point will be to know the names of the planets and few interesting facts
about them. Well, we should also take better care of the one we have! BTW,
hasn’t it already been ascertained that we can’t support life on any of the
planets we know of in our solar system?
Nowadays the students are exposed to an enormous amount of information which is
easily accessed by a finger click. It seems that sometimes they just get lost in this
soup of information and have difficulties distinguishing between important facts of
life and the “background noise” in which they are so immersed in. They are so
focused in the small daily details that they miss the big picture and the right
perspective. I believe that it is better that one knows what goes on out there, beyond
the clouds. The more they know about our close neighboring planets and the future
possibilities the more they will become aware of their lives on Earth and cherish
them.
People have been watching the stars ever since. Ever since when? Not so long ago
many of them worshiped the sun and the moon ascribing them God- like
characteristics. They didn’t know much about them; however they identified their
periodical behavior. They have been watching them with their eyes and encountered
them each and every day. Galileo, a very clever man who lived at the beginning of
what? between the 17th to 18th centuries, is known to be the inventor and first builder
of an astronomical telescope. The telescope wide opened the eyes of the astronomers
and enabled us/people/scientists to see deeper and deeper into space. Thanks to
Galileo, his followers, and the development of new technology, the knowledge we
have today about the solar system and the universe is enormous. I would like to
expose the students to a small fraction of this exciting field and let them be aware of
the magnificence of space.
I love looking at the sky at night and being able to understand where we humans
float in space upon this magnificent rhapsody which is called Earth. I would like to
share some of my personal knowledge and enthusiasm with the students and open
new frontiers for them. This is a great opportunity to teach English through a very
interesting field of knowledge. The natural interest the students might have in the
content will help me strengthen their English skills.
Cognitive Map
Physics
Classical
Observation of
celestial objects with
naked eyes
Astronomy
Mathematics
Engine technology
Computer science
Material science
Modern
Use of a variety of optical
instruments and advanced
technological methods
(spectroscopy, radio
telecopy and other)
Space exploration
Robotic
Stars
Few planets
Earth’s moon
Cosmic eventseclipses, aurora
Archaeology –
Stonehenge
and similar
structures.
Constellations,
zodiac and
Astrology.
Paganism and
celestial
objects.
Different kinds of stars
All planets + dwarf planets
Other planets’ moons
Asteroids and comets
Super novas and nebulas
Galaxies
Universe – deep field
exploration
Black holes
Satellites
Space ships
Robotic
surface
vehicles.
Manned
Man on the
moon
project.
International
space station.
Space
shuttles.
Future
missions to
Mars.
- An Outline -
The Solar System
Where no man has gone before… (Star Trek)
1. Terminology.
A. stars
B. Planets
C. Dwarf planets
D. moons
E. Solar system
F. Galaxy
G. Universe
2. The Solar System.
A. Position within the Milky Way galaxy.
B. Names of planets.
C. Order of planets around the sun.
D. Inner planets (solid) and outer planets (gaseous) - characteristics.
3. Comparison between Earth and Mars.
A. Dimensions.
B. Different features [temperature, atmosphere composition, existence of water].
C. Up to date unmanned missions.
D. Future planned manned missions.
The Solar System – Content Outline
The Solar System is the name that was given to the collection of celestial bodies that
contains the Sun (which is a star by definition) and eight planets (which Earth is one
of them) that orbit the sun regularly. In ancient times, people gazed at the night sky.
They observed thousands of spots of light which kept their position and also few dots
of light that changed their position. They named those dots of light – planets, meaning
wonderers. Eitan – they mean wAnderers, which is a whole different thing.
They named those dots of light after Roman gods such as Jupiter, Mars, Mercury,
Venues and Saturn. They didn’t know much about them except of their movement in
the night’s sky.
At the beginning of the 17th century, Galileo Galilee, a very talented scientist,
managed to build the first astronomic telescope (1609) after he placed a couple of
convex and concave lenses at both sides of a metal tube. Soon enough he and his
colleges again – I think you mean colleagues here had started looking at the sky.
With the great magnification that the new instrument enabled, astronomers could spot
details that they couldn’t have observed before. Step by step, more and more
information was gathered and eventually 3 more planets were discovered. Uranus
was discovered in 1781, Neptune in 1846 and finally the smallest of them all, Pluto,
which was recently downgraded to a dwarf planet, was discovered in 1930. Four
dwarf planets except Pluto were discovered in recent years.
Except of the planets and dwarf planets that orbit the sun, the Solar System consists of
other kinds of celestial bodies such as asteroids (relatively small rocky bodies) and
comets. There’s a huge belt of asteroids which is positioned between Mars and Jupiter
and there are comets that occasionally can be seen in the night’s sky because of their
gaseous tail which is formed during their voyage through space while orbiting the sun.
As science and technology developed, new scientific methods and new instruments
were invented. One of the biggest achievements of human kind was to land upon
Earth’s moon. Men first landed on the surface of moon in 1969. The efforts and
financial investment of the American government were immense. The technological
tools that were specifically designed for that mission paved the way for many other
developments.
What is a star?
A star is a celestial body that produces light. Its radius can range from few dozens of
kilometres (neutron stars) to practically billions of kilometres (Mu Cephi star, a red
giant, 1.4 billion km in diameter). The emitted light is produced via thermonuclear
fusion which occurs at the core of the star. This process in very energetic and large
quantities of energy leaves the surface of the star in the form of light and heat. Stars
differ largely in their physical features such as dimensions, luminosity, mass, density
and also their chemical composition.
The nearest star to Earth is the sun. It is an insignificant star among billions of other
stars; nevertheless it is the most important star for us, humans. It is the source of life.
It supplies the light hence the energy needed for the development of vegetation and
sustains the process of photosynthesis. It is responsible for Earth’s climate and creates
the right conditions for water evaporation and the formation of rain clouds and water
cycle. It holds Earth in a fixed orbit that maintains the range of temperatures so that
all kinds of living species can survive.
Source: http://starmatt.com/gallery/astro/ic1396.html - Mu Cephi star
What is a planet?
A planet is a celestial object that orbits around a star. The force which holds the
planet in orbit around its star is the force of gravity. Planets have round shape. It is so
because of their own gravity that pulls them into a spherical shape. Planets differ from
stars by not producing light by any kind of nuclear processes. Being non-lightemitters, planets are quite hard to spot. They can be seen only by the fact they reflect
the light of the sun. The two most distant planets in the solar system, Uranus and
Neptune, were discovered only in the 20th century due to their very pale light
reflection. There was a great disputation over the definition of the term planet after
the discovery of several Pluto-like objects in recent years thanks to the advanced
technology. The International astronomical union, IAU, had finally published its
definition (2006) and it is hereby quoted:
The IAU therefore resolves that planets and other bodies in our Solar
System, except satellites, be defined into three distinct categories in the
following way:
(1) A "planet"1 is a celestial body that: (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b)
has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so
that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has
cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
(2) A "dwarf planet" is a celestial body that: (a) is in orbit around the Sun,
(b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces
so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape2, (c) has
not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.
(3) All other objects3 except satellites orbiting the Sun shall be referred to
collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies".
Footnotes:1 The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
2
An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into
either “dwarf planet” or other categories.
3
These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most TransNeptunian Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.
The IAU further resolves: Pluto is a "dwarf planet" by the above
definition and is recognised as the prototype of a new category of transNeptunian objects.
The above citation is adopted from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_definition_of_planet
What is a moon?
A moon (or a natural satellite) is a celestial body which orbits around a planet. Until
the beginning of the 17th century and the invention of the telescope, only one moon
was known, Earth’s moon (or Luna in Latin). Galileo was the first man to discover
Jupiter’s 4 biggest moons. Since that occasion hundreds of moons had been
discovered by astronomers within the limits of the solar system.
The Milky Way galaxy
What is a galaxy?
A galaxy is a collection of stars, cosmic dust and gaseous matter that circle around a
massive gravitational centre. The sun and planets of the solar system are only a tiny
fraction of the Milky Way galaxy. Our galaxy is 100,000 light years in diameter, an
inapprehensible big number. The smallest galaxies contain millions of stars while the
largest ones contain hundreds of billions of stars. Our universe is nowadays known to
contain billions of galaxies. A proof for this was achieved by the Hubble space
telescope in 1995. Scientist aimed the space telescope towards an insignificant,
seemingly empty and dark spot in the night’s sky. The telescope camera continuously
shot that dark small area for over a week without ant interruption in order to achieve
long exposure. Afterwards the data was processed and the result was astonishing.
More than 3000 galaxies were revealed in the picture. Galaxies of all kind of shapes
and characteristics appeared in the photo. This image “opened up” the universe in
front of us and proved that our universe is much richer in matter than anything we
could have imagined before.
The planets of the Solar System. [Brief information]
The following table presents major features of the eight planets of the Solar system:
Name
Ordinal
Average
Planet’s
Cycle
No. of
number
distance
diameter
time
moons
from the
from sun
[km]
[year]
sun
[m- km]
Inner
Mercury
First
58
4,878
0.24
0
planets
Venus
Second
108
12,104
0.62
0
Earth
Third
150
12,760
1.00
1
Mars
Fourth
228
6,790
1.88
2
Outer
Jupiter
Fifth
770
142,800
11.86
63
planets
Saturn
Sixth
1427
120,536
29.46
61
Uranus
Seventh
2871
51,118
84.01
27
Neptune
Eighth
4497
49,528
194.79
13
Planet Mercury
Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System and the closest to the sun. Because
of its closeness to the sun, its surface temperature rises up to 400 degrees Celsius and
it lacks any atmosphere. It has the shortest orbit around the sun and one orbit lasts
around 88 days. It is hard to spot without a telescope as it is so close to the sun. It can
be spot just before sunrise or just after sunset. It has been known for ages and records
of it were found in Babylonian scripts. The Babylonians and Greeks believed there
were actually two stars and the named them differently. Only in the 4th century A.D,
astronomers understood it was the same star and the Roman name of Mercury became
common. It is the less explored planet in the Solar System because of its position near
the sun. However great efforts were made to map its surface and collect data. The first
mission took place between 1974 and 1975 by NASA’s Mariner 10 spacecraft. The
following mission still continuous by the Messenger space craft which was launched
by NASA in 2004. The space craft is about to enter an orbit around Mercury in 2011
and finish the mapping of its surface.
Planet Venus
Venus is the second planet from the sun. It resembles earth in diameter and density;
however other features are extremely different. The Roman’s named it after their
beloved goddess of beauty – Venus, probably because it was and still is the brightest
body in the night’s sky. It is covered with a dense layer of sulphuric clouds that reflect
very well the light of the sun. It is the hottest planet in the solar system even though it
is not the closest to the sun. This phenomenon occurs due to its highly dense
atmosphere which consists mainly of carbon dioxide gas. The high concentration of
the CO2 gas is responsible for a radical green-house effect which keeps the surface
temperature very high. At least a dozen of exploration missions to Venues were
executed by the Americans and the Soviets. The first interplanetary mission was
headed by the soviets towards Venus, probably because it is the closest planet to
Earth. Most of the space probes didn’t reach the planet’s surface due to the extreme
atmospheric pressure that is 100 times than of Earth’s. The atmosphere is poisonous
and can’t sustain human life.
Planet Earth
Earth is the third planet from the sun. It is home for us humans and for other
thousands of species of life. It is a dynamic planet with a sophisticated ecosystem. It
is the only planet in the Solar System to have liquid water because of its convenient
range of temperatures. Its orbit around the sun lasts 1 year and it rotates around its
axis within one day. It has a strong magnetic field and its atmosphere is rich with
oxygen. Due to its atmosphere it is relatively well protected from meteorites and its
surface is almost “crater-free” unlike Mercury. However there were some great
impacts in the past and one of them is believed to extinct the dinosaurs about 65
millions years ago. Thanks to that ancient extinction we exist today. The human race
is in race for its existence thus develops space technology rapidly. However the vast
distances and the hostile environment of outer space still pose a huge barrier in front
of manned space exploration and settlements. There is no doubt that human kind will
achieve the technology required for interplanetary manned missions, it is just a matter
of time and budget. Meanwhile the human race is at the mercy of heaven.
Planet Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and the second closest to Earth. It is relatively
small in comparison with Earth, about half of Earth’s diameter. The Roman god of
war, Mars, is the source for its name as his reddish appearance in the sky resembled
somewhat the colour of blood. Mars and Earth share some similar features such as the
length of the day which is almost identical and also the change in seasons due to the
fact both planets have almost the same tilt angel. Mars has no liquid water upon it;
however there are large quantities of icy water, especially at its poles. Mars is the
most explored planet in the solar system and enormous budgets are invested in its
research. It is considered to be the most suitable place for human colonisation in the
solar system. The major problem is lack of oxygen and also radiation and low
temperatures, however a great deal of efforts are invested in order to come up with
suitable long term solutions. NASA already has started working on a long term
project of landing men on Mars. The optimal forecast for such an event lies far as 25
years into the future. There are still many problems to overcome and the great
distance is somewhat difficult to abridge for a manned mission with nowadays
technology.
Planet Jupiter
Jupiter is the “giant” of the solar system. It is 11 times bigger in diameter than Earth
and it is 1300 times bigger in its volume than Earth. Its mass is 2.5 bigger than the
mass of all the other planets of the solar system combined together. It is a completely
different world than Earth. It is a world of gas that is held together by immense power
of gravity. Jupiter’s atmosphere is composed of 71% hydrogen, 24% helium and 5%
of other different light elements. Jupiter can be spotted easily with naked eyes during
the night however its unique patterns were discovered only after the invention of the
telescope. It has a large number of moons (63) of which some of them have very
strange patterns. Europa, the second largest moon of Jupiter is an icy world.
Measurements indicate that liquid water is present under the icy surface. Some
speculate that there is a possibility to find forms of life in this under terrain sea,
however there is no evidence for this. There are future plans to send a space probe to
check this issue. Few space crafts had flown by it in the past and captured many
detailed photos. Only one space probe was sent into its atmosphere. This probe made
measurements for about 1 hour before it was crushed by the immense pressure. The
“red eye” which is easily spotted even with an armature telescope is a huge storm that
has been blowing upon Jupiter for centuries.
Planet Saturn
Saturn is best known for its magnificent planetary rings which consist mainly of ice,
dust and small rocks. There are 9 rings. Few theories regarding the origin of the rings
were developed however none of them was proved. Similar to Jupiter, its neighbour, it
is classified as a gas giant. It is the sixth planet from the sun. Because of its distance
from the sun, it takes Saturn almost 30 years to complete one circle around the sun. Its
gaseous composition somewhat resembles Jupiter’s and contains a mixture of
hydrogen and helium.
Saturn was “visited” several times by unmanned space crafts. High resolution pictures
were sent to Earth and lots of data was collected.
Planet Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun. It also possesses a Roman god name.
Although it was around for many millions of years and it is somewhat visible to the
naked eye (blurred), it wasn’t considered a planet until late 1781. In that year it was
officially declared as a planet after it was observed carefully by astronomical
telescopes. It was the first time in history that a new planet was found by a telescope.
Because of its very slow orbit around the sun (84 years), it was mistakenly considered
to be a star. Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system. It is very far from the sun
thus its temperature is about 50 degrees Kelvin which is -223 degrees Celsius. Uranus
also possesses a set of planetary rings similar to Saturn; however they are much
darker in appearance and they seem to be in a vertical position when observed from
Earth. Its bluish hue (or cyan) is formed due to high concentration of methane gas in
its upper atmosphere. The only time it was approached was in 1986 by the voyager 2
space craft on its way towards Neptune. It managed to produce high resolution
pictures, to discover 10 new moons and to make some measurements. It took Voyager
2 almost ten years to reach Uranus, however in cosmic scale this distance is nothing.
Planet Neptune
The eighth and last planet from the sun is Neptune. It is called after the Roman god of
the sea (former Poseidon by the Greeks). Differently than the other planets, Neptune
was rather found after its existence was calculated mathematically. Astronomers
observed some kinds of distortions in Uranus orbit and speculated there was another
object which was responsible for that phenomenon. However it was finally found only
in 1846. It is quite similar to Uranus in composition. Neptune also has a bluish hue,
similar to Uranus, due to the presence of methane in its upper atmosphere. Being the
most distant planet from the sun influences its temperature which is very low.
Nevertheless it is not as low as Uranus’ temperature due to internal high energy
source which is not yet clear to scientists. Neptune also has a set of planetary rings
which were photographed by Voyager 2 space craft in 1989. Voyager’s approach was
the only exploration attempt of this remote planet. Similar to the “red eye” storm of
Jupiter, Neptune has also an “eye” of its own, a powerful storm with extremely rapid
winds of up to 2000 km per hour.
Dwarf Planets
This category was added recently by the international astronomical union (IAU). The
major “victim” was the once considered planet – Pluto. Pluto was discovered only in
1930 and since than till 2006 it was considered the ninth planet of the solar system. In
the late 20th century 2 more celestial bodies similar to Pluto in dimensions were
found. These new findings led the astronomical union to create the new category. So
far, this category consists of 5 dwarf planets: Pluto, Eris, Ceres, Haumea and
Makemake.
ILOs – Intended Learning Outcomes
1. SWBAT list at least 6 out of the 8 planets of the solar system and 2 dwarf
planets.
2. SWBAT sequence the planets, at lest 6 of them, by the right order from the
sun.
3. SWBAT define the terms: sun (star), moon, planet, solar system and galaxy.
4. SWBAT compare and contrast the different features of planet Earth with
planet Mars (Atmospheric composition, diameter, distance from the sun)
Central questions
These are no central questions I ever approved! There are never
more than two! I would think they would be:
What is the solar system?
Why is it important for us to know about it?
1. What is Earth and where is it located?
2. What celestial objects exist in our near surroundings?
3. What lies beyond the stars which we can observe with our naked eyes at
night?
4. What means exist for space exploration and why are we so keen to explore it?
Course outline
Activity
A reading passage regarding
the planets of the solar system
which contains numeric facts
and general features. The
students will scan the text for
specific information and also
read it for profound
understanding.
Nine Planets song. Students
listen to a song in which they
follow up (identify and mark)
the names of the planets and
verify/correct their order from
the sun.
Listening to a debrief of a
team of astronauts prior to
their mission to planet Mars.
On a large piece of paper
attached to the wall, groups
will create an appealing
advertisement as if they
represent a tourist space
agency.
Compose a short poem in
which the 5 new words will
be integrated
Chain story- incorporates new
vocabulary and knowledge
into an improvised plot that
takes place in the solar
system.
ILO
Skills
Scanning
and reading
1,2
Listening
1,2
Listening
4
3
3
4
Writing
English Objective
Swbat scan for the names of
the planets, their diameters
and position relative to the sun
(make use of ordinal numbers)
Swbat recognize the names of
the planets and their ordinal
sequence from the sun.
Swbat listen for specific
information (numbers) and
write it down correctly
according to the factual
numbers that they hear on a
recorded debrief.
Swbat synthesize new
vocabulary into different
context
Writing
Practice the use of new
(Homework) vocabulary within a poem
context, Hots, rhyming.
Free interpretation. Swbat
speaking
freely interpret a plot while
making use of facts about
Earth, Mars and the solar
system.
I don’t really see the connection here. Your whole unit is a scientific
one – all about them learning the names of the planets, defining
terms, gettting them to see the differences – and then y ou move to a
sort of literature thing. Why not get them to do what you really want
which is to analyze whether or not these planets are inhabitable?
Why not get them to practice more in learning the names – like
inventing games etc?
Teaching the unit
Why isn’t this in your course outline?
In order to evaluate the students’ knowledge, a pre-test was given after a brief
presentation of the subject.
Full name: ____________________
Class: ___________
May 9th, 2010
The Solar System – Check your knowledge!
Instructions:
Please match the names of the planets from the “planet bank” to the
schema of the Solar System.
Planet “Bank”
8
Earth, Neptune, Mars, Venus, Mercury,
7
Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus
Planet 1 ___________________________
Planet 2 ___________________________
6
SUN
Planet 3 ___________________________
1
Planet 4 ___________________________
5
2
3
Planet 5 ___________________________
Planet 6 ___________________________
4
Planet 7 ___________________________
Planet 8 ___________________________
Fianl Quiz
Full name: ____________________
Class: ___________
May 11th, 2010
The Solar System – Check your knowledge!
8
7
Planet 1 ___________________________
Planet 2 ___________________________
Planet 3 ___________________________
6
SUN
Planet 4 ___________________________
1
Planet 5 ___________________________
5
2
3
Planet 6 ___________________________
Planet 7 ___________________________
4
Planet 8 ___________________________
1. What kind of planet Pluto is? Name one more of his
kind________________________________________________________
2. What is a star, give an example? __________________________________
3. What is a galaxy? In which galaxy do we live? ______________________
____________________________________________________________
4. What is a moon? ______________________________________________
5. Which planet is bigger, Earth or Mars? ____________________________
6. How long is a Martian year [days]? __________and Earth’s? ___________
7. How much oxygen [%] exists on Mars? ______and on Earth? __________
Reading activity
The Solar System
The Sun is the only star in the solar system. It is located at the centre
of the system and all the planets circle around it. The gravity force of
the sun (remember Newton’s apple?!) is the reason why Earth and the
other planets revolve around the sun year after year.
Our planet is called Earth and it’s the third planet from the sun. It looks blue if you
look at it from outer space because it has blue oceans. The oceans are 70% of earth’s
surface; the other 30% is land. It is indeed a beautiful planet. Our planet is only one
out of eight planets that circle around our sun. Earth has a diameter of 12,760 km.
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun and the largest one in the solar system. Jupiter
is so huge in comparison with Earth that only it’s famous “Red Eye” powerful storm
is much larger than Earth itself. Jupiter is 142,800 km in diameter. Jupiter is next to
Mars which is also known as the “Red Planet” because it appears red in the night’s
sky. Mars is the most interesting planet today and most of the exploration efforts are
focused on it. This is because people think that it is possible to reach Mars and live
there. The Americans have already sent two spaceships and also a special robot-car
that actually drove on the surface of Mars. Mars is 6,790 km in diameter.
The first planet from the sun is called Mercury. Because Mercury is so close to the
sun (“only” 60 million Km), the temperature on its surface is so high that there is no
water and no life. It is as hot as 400 degrees Celsius at ground level, yet a NASA
spaceship [Mariner 10] approached it and explored it in 1975 and a second spaceship
[Messenger] went there in 2008. It is 4,878 km in diameter.
The eighth planet from the sun is called Neptune. Neptune looks blue and it is very
cold and covered with ice. It is number four in size with a diameter of 49,528 km.
Many years Pluto was considered to be the ninth planet from the sun and the most
distant in the solar system. It was also the smallest. However, with the development of
new technology, some other objects similar to Pluto were found. Astronomers
reclassified Pluto and now it is considered only a “dwarf planet.” One other dwarf
planet is Makemake which is located beyond Pluto’s orbit and is ¾ of Pluto’s size.
The sixth planet from the sun is called Saturn. Saturn has beautiful rings that surround
it and give it a unique look. It is the second largest planet at 120,536 km in diameter.
There is a planet which is located between Saturn and Neptune and is called Uranus.
Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun. It is the coldest of all planets (–224 °C) and
is 51,118 km in diameter.
Finally, the second planet from the sun is called Venus. Venus is similar to Earth in
size but it is much closer to the sun, so it also has high temperatures and life is
impossible on it. The Americans and the Russians sent 5 spaceships (with no crew) to
land and explore this planet. It is 12,104 km in diameter.
* A4 pictures of the planets were presented during this activity.
Post reading activity: Now, after you have read the text regarding the planets:
1. Write down the names of the planets according to their position relatively to the sun and complete the missing ordinal numbers:
1st (first)
2nd (
) 3rd(
) 4th(
) 5th(
) 6th(
) 7th(
) 8th(
)
SUN
Solid
Gaseous
2. Write down the names of the planets from the largest to the smallest:
The biggest:
Diameter =
[km]
Diameter =
[km]
Diameter =
[km]
Diameter =
[km]
Diameter =
[km]
Diameter =
[km]
Diameter =
[km]
Diameter =
[km]
Write down the names of the dwarf planets that appear in the text:
____________
______________
Mnemonic device:
During the lesson the students were taught a new strategy to help them remember the
order of the planets of the solar system:
It is called a mnemonic device. The principle that rules this strategy is the fact that the
human mind can easily remember “chunks “of information rather than separated
objects. So the order of the planets was integrated into a sentence which is quite easy
to remember. Each first letter in each word also represents the first letter of a planet’s
name.
Venus
My
Mercury
very
Mars
educated
Saturn
mother
Earth
just
Jupiter
Neptune
served
us
noodles.
Uranus
“Cosmic riddle”
It was handed to the students at the end of the first lesson [laminated little cards].
Find out what’s wrong with this picture!
…and the answer is: Mars is missing!
Indeed we can see eight celestial objects (excluding the sun which is partially shown),
however the last one is Pluto which is not a planet anymore and the fourth one (which
is Mars) is absolutely missing.
THE SONG OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM (well… Pluto is just a dwarf…isn’t it?)
Well you got nine, nine, nine. Sing it one more time.
Yeah, you got nine, nine, nine. Look at how they shine.
When you got
Nine planets in the solar system
Some are so darn small you might have missed them
Like my favorite one, that’d be Pluto
It’s so alone and far away
You want to put it in your pocket for a rainy day and sing
Nine planets in the solar system
If we had to name them all
We just might miss one or two or maybe three let’s wait and see
Mercury, well it’s too hot
Is Venus cold?, It’s just so not
Some people say Mars has got Martians and I guess they got a point
But Earth’s got weird people too
Well you got nine, nine, nine. Sing it one more time.
Yeah, you got nine, nine, nine. It’s almost a crime.
When you got
Nine planets in the solar system
If we had to name them all
We just might miss one or two
Maybe three or four. Let’s name some more.
Jupiter, well it’s not small at all
And Saturn with its rings, it’s not like a ball at all
Neptune and Uranus should hardly detain us
When Pluto’s just right down the hall
Well you got nine, nine, nine. Sing it one more time.
Yeah, you got nine, nine, nine. It’s almost a crime.
When you got
Nine planets in the solar system
Some are so darn small you might have missed them
Like my favorite one, that’d be Pluto
It’s so alone and far away
you want to put it in your pocket for a rainy day
Take it out every once in a while and say
That’s a mighty nice planet that I got,
Why yes it is
Listening Activity II (about 4.5 minutes, self recorded)
Good morning astronauts! You are the best team in the world.
You were chosen to the most adventurous and also dangerous mission that man has
ever gone to, a space mission to planet Mars. That’s right, your heading to planet
Mars. I know you are very excited before this great journey begins, however, before
you go there you should know some important details regarding planet Mars and how
it is different from our planet –Earth.
The First thing you’d better know is that Earth is about 90 million kilometres from the
sun while Mars is about 150 million kilometres from the sun, so now you can
understand how far Mars actually is. It is simple Mathematics, it’s 150 million minus
90 million, and the answer is 60 million. Yes, 60 million kilometres separate between
Earth and Mars and it will take you around 6 months to get there, you heard correctly,
6 months, half a year, 180 days- you name it, but surely you will have to get along on
the spaceship during this long period of time.
Second important thing you should know is that the day on Mars is longer by 40
minutes than the day on Earth, that’s right, just 40 minutes. While the length of a
whole day on Earth is 24 hours, the day on Mars is 24 hours and 40 minutes, so as
you can see, the day on both planets is very much alike.
Third important data regards the size of Earth and Mars. Earth is 12,760 kilometres in
diameter while Mars is only 6,790 kilometres in diameter, so Earth is much larger
than Mars. Hey you, that’s right, you with the broken helmet, did you get that? You
weren’t listening. I’ll repeat once again- 12,760 kilometres for Earth and 6,790
kilometres for Mars- please write that down.
The fourth fact you’d like to know is that a whole year on Earth is 365 days but a year
on Mars lasts much longer- it is 687 days, almost double. Because the Martian year is
so long, as I have just mentioned – 687 days, each season is much longer on Mars
than on Earth.
The fifth interesting fact you’d like to know is where on Mars you are going to land
with your spaceship. So, you’re going to land near the highest volcano on Mars,
actually it is the highest volcano in the solar system, it is called Olympus Mons and it
is 23 kilometres high, much higher than any mountain on Earth. The highest volcano
on Earth is just 10 kilometres high, it is called Mauna Loa and it is located in Hawaii.
The sixth and last crucial fact regards the atmosphere of mars. It is poisonous for
humans. It contains 95% CO2 (carbon dioxide) and no oxygen. In order to cope with
95% CO2, you have to use oxygen masks. Earth has 21% of oxygen in its atmosphere
and almost no CO2. Having 21% of oxygen makes life possible on Earth.
There is much more information you need for your mission, but for now it is enough.
I wish you good luck and may you return in peace (one piece please).
While listening to the astronauts’ debrief, the students have to fill in the
table below with the numbers which they occasionally hear. The activity
is planned to be redundant enough so the students will have the
opportunity to succeed.
9th grade – listening activity
Earth vs. Mars
Instructions: Listen to the information at the astronauts meeting and fill
in the table with all the numbers you hear:
Parameter
Distance from the sun
Length of day
Planet’s diameter
Length of year
Highest volcano height
% CO2 (carbon
dioxide) in atmosphere
% O2 (oxygen) in
atmosphere
Earth
Mars
million km
hours
million km
Hours
minutes
km
km
days
days
km
km
%
%
%
%
Astronomical definitions in a nutshell [taken out of a dictionary].
Star
Astronomy. Any of the large, self-luminous, heavenly bodies, as the sun, Polaris, etc.
Planet
Astronomy.
a.
Also called major planet. any of the eight large heavenly bodies revolving about the
sun and shining by reflected light: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune, in the order of their proximity to the sun.
b.
a similar body revolving about a star other than the sun.
Moon
a.
The earth's natural satellite, orbiting the earth at a mean distance of 238,857 miles
(384,393 km) and having a diameter of 2160 miles (3476 km).
b.
any planetary satellite: the moons of Jupiter.
Solar System
a. Often Solar System The sun together with the eight planets
bodies that orbit the sun.
and all other celestial
b. A system of planets or other bodies orbiting another star.
Galaxy
Astronomy.
a.
a large system of stars held together by mutual gravitation and isolated from similar
systems by vast regions of space.
b.
(Usually initial capital letter ) Milky Way.
An example of a short poem which makes use of the above words and has a rhyme
pattern:
My planet is Earth
It’s my place of birth
I like its moon so much
I raise my hand to touch
Our galaxy is so wide
You really need a good guide
So, get into rhythm
And visit the solar system
Don’t forget to play your guitar
While you pass near a star
Second writing activity
On the basis of the defined terminology and the example of a short poem which were
presented in class, the students were asked to compose short poems of their own as
homework.
Speaking activity
The last activity of the unit was a chain story which takes place in the Solar System.
The story was commenced by me in this manner:
In the year 2525, Gizmo, a very intelligent police robot of the galactic police force
was sent to planet Mars in order to investigate a case of murder… it was a
complicated case and the first clue was found on planet Mars… to be continued.
Final quiz
By the end of the last lesson the students were given a similar test to the pre-test
which was given to them on the first lesson except of two differences; first, the names
of the planets weren’t listed on the form so the students had to rely solely on their
memory and the mnemonic device strategy that they have just studied and secondly, I
added some questions to reflect the ILOs. This time, those who attended all the
lessons made it quickly, confidently and quite successfully.
Student’s Feedback Form
Activities
The order of the planets relative to the
sun(reading and listening)
Numeric facts of Earth and Mars (listening)
Definitions of solar system’s related terms
(reading)
The galactic tourist agency group work (writing)
The investigation of a murder that occurred on
Mars by a police robot (speaking)
Questions
Did you enjoy learning about the solar system?
Did you learn new information during the unit?
Do you feel you would like to learn some more
about this topic?
Will you share your new acquired knowledge
with your friends and family?
What was your over all experience of the unit?
1
2
3
4
5
Evaluation and Reflection
Reflection I
May 9th – first lesson – 6th hour.
I came early to school today. I wanted to absorb the atmosphere. I feel I don’t spend
enough time at school and I want to feel the rhythm of it. I was a bit confused. I
thought I need to teach on fifth hour, but I was wrong, it was the sixth hour. Sunday is
not my regular day at school and I am not familiar with the schedule of this day.
However, during the hours I spent at school, I observed other lessons. While I was
observing, I thought about my CBU and whether I chose wisely to start over with the
informative reading passage at the first lesson. The more I got closer to the sixth hour,
the more I felt some inconvenience. I chose not to change anything and go with the
plan. I stepped into the class with a great feeling that I am going to teach my students
some valuable knowledge through material that interests me- the Solar System. It took
them some while to enter the class, they were heavily breathing after a sports lesson
that took place in the lower building. They entered the class with great fatigue and I
couldn’t start the lesson for at least 5 minutes as more students came in lately.
Eventually, I told them we’re going on a tour into space, emphasizing the word space,
which in my opinion is a superb word that encompasses mystery and greatness just in
its sound. I wrote the names of the planets on board and elicited some information
from the students. They were tired and not very focused and I had to make some
stunts in order to get them focused. The subject was very interesting but indeed the 6th
hour is quite problematic. If I get these late hours next year, I will think what can be
done to help the students maintain their focus and benefit something from the lesson. I
know they like me a lot, however it’s not sufficient and I should maybe have thought
of some activity to loosen them up a bit… but I didn’t. I had so many methodologies
to follow up in order to fulfil the goals of this unit. I also had to check their
knowledge, so some short while after the presentation of the names of the planets and
after we pronounced together the names of the planets in chorus, I pulled out the small
quiz I have prepared and told them to fill in what they know, “please don’t guess” I
told them, if you don’t know, just write “I don’t know”. I told them it wasn’t a test, it
is just to help me evaluate how to teach them the new material. Some of them didn’t
like it at all and were bitter, they in a way didn’t anticipate to be tested by me. Many
of them don’t like being surprised and have difficulty to admit that they don’t know
something. I had to check their baseline knowledge according to the instructions;
however I didn’t feel good about it. I must confess that it was the first test I gave my
students this year, so maybe deep inside me I felt it shouldn’t have been done this
way. I collected the sheets; many of them were just blank. They had to order the
planets according to their general knowledge. Many of them didn’t have the slightest
clue; others knew the order more or less, so indeed there are huge gaps of general
knowledge in this class. I proceeded as planned. Those who knew what I was talking
about were interested and followed the lesson. There were few students that this
material just didn’t appeal to them and they weren’t focused. Now I told them they
have just met our neighbours in the solar system – the seven planets(without Earth),
but we have forgotten the most important STAR (on board) in the solar system…
some of them answered the Sun. The sun is the heart of the system and the entire
planets orbit around it, each one in its own pace. I drew a rough schema of the solar
system on board and without the proper name of each. I told them that it is most
common to relate to the planets according to their position relatively to the sun. I told
them that our home planet-Earth is the third from the sun and I wrote 3,3rd and third
next to the third circle in the schema. We moved together from planet to planet on the
board and I called students to the board to fill in the ordinal numbers next to the
schema and practiced the pronunciation of the ordinal numbers and the names of the
planets as we proceeded. Than I told them that in order to get to know our
neighbouring planets we will have to read the latest gossip at the back page of THE
Sun magazine… only a few understood the humour. I told them that each planet is
special and unique and they are very different one from the other. I instructed them to
look for the proper names of the planets (capitalized!) the ordinal numbers and the
diameters of the planets-scan for information – I also explained graphically on board
what is a diameter. Afterwards, I handed two handouts and let them scan and read for
10 minutes to complete the assignment. I advised them to mark the specific details
they were looking for with a marker. They had to figure out the right order of the
planets and also to order them from the largest to the smallest. At this point many of
them were engaged with the work, however I had about 4 students that were off track
and just didn’t want to do anything. I rapidly grouped those 4 around me and lead
them through the text. After they have finished I asked them to tell me, without
looking at their pages, which is the seventh planet? Which is the second planet? They
had a problem with that and had to check their notes, so now I offered them a way to
memorise the order and put on board the sentence- My very educated mother just
served us noodles. At first they laughed because they didn’t see any connection, but
after I had shown them how easily the order of the planets can be derived out of this
sentence, they liked it. They started improvising other versions of the sentence with
words in Hebrew.. ( ‫נקניקיות‬for the n at the end). At the last minute of the lesson I
handed them with small laminated colourful cards which I have prepared. I told them
to take a close look at it at home and try to figure out what’s wrong with the picture.
Actually it was a small riddle in which you can see eight planets but the last one is
Pluto and the fourth one, which is Mars, is missing. I told them we’ll talk about it
tomorrow morning. When I drove back home, I felt on the one hand that some how I
have managed to teach them what I wanted to teach them, however I didn’t feel
satisfied. I believe that I took it too personally because I like this subject so much, so
of course everyone else should also like it. But this is B.S as I truly know, so I must
stop this habit of taking things too personally, that won’t help me! It’s good to have
personal interest in a subject. On my behalf, when ever I have a personal interest in a
subject I also share the knowledge more naturally and enthusiastically.
Reflection II
May 10th- Reflection- Double lesson
I was excited to start the lesson and really waited for it. The lesson on Monday is a
double one, so I figured out we can have a great learning session together. The
troubles started already early in the morning. It was such a hot day, 38 degrees
Celsius, that everyone at school looked so miserable including me. The airconditioners didn’t function at all and the 7th grade students were nervous and
agitated. I hoped that the 9th graders will take it easily, but the minute they entered the
class, I saw their red cheeks and sweaty faces so I anticipated some class management
problems. I drew out the laminated card and waved it up high above my head and
quickly went to the middle of the class to draw their attention. Some of them followed
me with their eyes and one of them shouted that he knows the answer. I asked if he
was the only one to know, and than about half of the class told they knew the answer.
So, I asked the first student to stand up and tell us the answer. He told it was Mars.
Mars was missing from the picture. While he was talking, a constant buzz was
evolving in class, half of the class was complaining about the heat, they were thirsty,
they asked to open the windows and the door, but it didn’t help, there was no wind,
the air just stood heavily and sticky. I told them that on Mercury and Venus it is much
hotter and we’re lucky to be the third planet from the sun, otherwise we would all be
barbecued. I asked them to recall the sentence I taught them yesterday and some of
them remembered it. I wrote it on the board and than I told them I’m going to play
them a cute song about the solar system and I asked them to mark down the names of
the planets in the song and to try and follow the rhymes and the tone. I handed them
with a paper with the words of the song and played it loudly via my laptop. Some of
them giggled, they liked the sound of it. Others looked at me as if I just fell of the
moon. Three girls joined in at the refrain and sang along. During the song I went
around the class and tried to extinguish the “fires”. On the one hand it was a happy
song so it helped some of them to forget about the heat and focus upon the lovely
melody. Others weren’t paying much attention and I needed to give them the” stare”
in an attempt to calm them down. After the song was over I asked them to take a look
at the names of the planets they have just marked and asked them to tell me what was
wrong with the order of the planets. They immediately spotted that Mars was
mentioned before Earth, which is the other way around, Earth is the third and Mars is
the fourth from the sun. I asked them to use the ordinal numbers when they answer the
question. Neptune and Uranus also switched places in the song, but it took them a
while to figure that out. Than I went through a transition phase in the lesson, I picked
up a table in the middle of the class and set on it. I asked them why do they think
Mars is such an interesting planet and why does NASA invest so much money in its
exploration. Why don’t invest the money here on planet Earth? Few students wanted
to answer and spoke of an alternative to Earth. Some of them switched to Hebrew and
I let them. I told them that some people think that in planet Mars lies the future of the
human race and that we should seek for an alternative for our species because Earth is
vulnerable and we must find a second place which we can develop, you can never
know what will happen…It is scientifically proved that the great dinosaurs were
extinct due to a collision between an asteroid and Earth 65 millions years ago. It was
an asteroid of only 10 kilometres in diameter but because of its velocity, it hit Earth
with an intensity of a billion nuclear bombs. So now, we’re going to listen to a
meeting between the astronauts on the Mars mission and their guide. Before they go
to a totally new place they should learn a lot of facts about Mars. The guide will tell
the astronauts interesting facts about the planet, actually numbers. I wrote on the
board the number 1000 and asked them to pronounce it loudly, than I 12,000 and
asked them to say it. After I wrote 100 and than 700 and they pronounced it. Than I
wrote the number 12,700 which is a combination of the numbers they have just
pronounced and asked them to pronounce it, some of them had difficulties as it is a
long string so I repeated it twice. I handed them with the sheets and asked them to
listen to the numbers that the guide tells the astronauts about Mars and Earth, so that
at the end they will have 5 different new facts about Mars and Earth. At this point
they were already much more focused. I played the recording and went through the
class to figure out whether the recording was clear enough from a distant seat. The
sound was reasonable, but I must buy a new set of loudspeakers and a new
microphone in the near future, I must minimise the background noises, it is difficult
enough for the students even without any background noise. The length of the
recording was about 4.5 minutes and I planned it to be redundant. I went around the
class and glimpsed at their tables. Some of them were doing well, some of them had
mistakes, they wrote different numbers and some didn’t write anything. After it was
done, they asked me to play it once again. I told those who finished to check
themselves and those who didn’t do anything, that they have a chance to complete it
now. After the second time, we checked it briefly and I asked them to keep the tables
in their notebooks. After that, I let them go out for five minutes to refresh and drink
even though they have no break during a double lesson. The heat was just horrible.
They came back and I immediately started a group work. I wanted to try that out and
see what I can learn from the experience. I wrote five words on the board: moon,
planet, star, solar-system, and galaxy. Why did I write them in this way? Some
figured out they where written by the order of their size. From the smallest to the
largest. I gave them a very short explanation about our galaxy, The Milky Way. Why
it is called like that. How big it is. How much we already know about it and how
many stars similar to our sun exist only in the Milky Way (aprox. 250-400 billions
stars). I told them that the way people travel today from one country to the other with
great ease; probably people will do the same in the far future and will travel from
planet to planet in our galaxy. It is just a matter of time and technology and as we can
see our race seeks for new technology all the time. I asked them to imagine they were
tourist agents of the future and write down advertisement of an inter-galactic space
agency. I divided them into five groups. Each group got a large A1 paper with few
Lord Pens. One word had been already written in advance on each paper; Moon,
Planet, Star, Solar System and Galaxy. They were asked to write an advertisement
that will be attractive and to write down what they will offer the tourist when he
arrives at the destination. I gave them about 10-15 minutes to plan and design it and
went over all the time to help them establish their ideas. The idea was to make them
think creatively, write in English and focus around the word they were given. Two
groups managed to create a meaningful poster and wanted to present them to the class.
I glue-taped both posters on the board and asked the groups to present their ideas.
The three other groups didn’t manage to produce any significant outcome although I
tried to help them with ideas. One of those group drew a very nice solar system
schema, but didn’t write down anything and the remaining two group just didn’t have
any inspiration and did nothing.
Later:
I must think it through again. How can I improve this kind of activity? I think it was a
too open activity for them and for the English level they posses. Probably I should
have brought them ready made slogans and several concrete ideas to help stimulate
their minds. I should think about it, they really need help, they give up so easily and
just say “we don’t know or we don’t understand or we can’t do that and so on. I would
try this kind of activity as I believe it is beneficial to the students. It can have a good
volume as they work the idea together in a group. They have to translate the idea into
reality while cooperating with each other. However something was missing, an
initiator or something similar. It seems they don’t believe in their capabilities and tend
to be leaded instead of leading themselves. It is somewhat connected to the learning
atmosphere in the classes and the fact that many of them seem to have lost interest in
the studies. I will do my best to let them trust themselves and to be aware of the
possibilities of knowing a language such as English. If they will be aware of the
benefits of the language they will be much more cooperative and will want to expand
their knowledge actively and I hope to see less and less passive behaviour as I
encountered along the year.
Reflection III
May 11th- reflection
The last lesson was planned to leave them with a good sensation. I knew I had to
evaluate their new acquired knowledge, but I wanted them to feel good about the
whole experience. The air conditioners were once again working and it was the
second lesson, so at last I had good starting conditions. I started the lesson by calling
the third group from yesterday and they have presented their idea. After that I wrote
on the board the “famous” sentence- My Very Educated Mother Just served Us
Noodles. They were “singing” the names of the planets at the right order. I just told
them to pay attention to the fact there are two Ms , one for Mercury and one for Mars,
but they should keep in mind that the second M is for Mars because it is Earth’s close
neighbour, while the other M is for Mercury which is the planet closest to the sun.
I told them that yesterday they made significant efforts to create nice posters around
certain given words. Now I wanted to present them with the definitions of the words
so that they will actually gain the knowledge and know what the definition of a moon
is and how it is different from a planet and a star. I also wanted to show them how
they can easily be creative by playing with the words. I handed them the sheets with
the definitions of the words and mentioned I have taken them out of the Internet from
www.dictionary. Com which is great English to English web dictionary site and I
recommend them to use it as much as they can. This site has a function that
pronounces the words in a very clear and accurate manner, so whenever they
encounter a word they don’t know how to pronounce, they just have to type it and the
computer will pronounce it for them- great thing! We went through the definitions, I
chose 5 students and each one got to read one definition aloud to the class. They had
some questions especially regarding the size of the galaxy. I didn’t want to confuse
them with lots of data, so I just told them that in space we measure the distance with a
unit that is called “light-year” which is the distant light passes in one year – a very big
number (in fact there are other more scientific units for cosmic measurements).
Afterwards I read them the little poem I wrote at the bottom of the handout and than
two students asked to read it too, so they read it aloud. I showed them how I managed
to use the five words we have just went through their definitions in the poem. As I
cancelled the project I had in mind about a mission to Mars because of logistic
problems with the computer class, I thought it will be nice to give them a small
assignment to write a similar poem at home for next week. So I assigned them with
this one and only homework assignment and asked them to bring it over for next
Monday. After that part I decided to take them to an imaginable journey into space. I
told them that I know a robot by the name of Gizmo. Gizmo is a very intelligent robot
that investigates a case of murder that happened some where in our solar system. I
will start the story and each of them has to contribute at least one sentence to the plot.
They may use all the names of the planets they have just learned and also make use of
the different facts about Earth and Mars in order to enrich the plot(I hanged the big
table with the comparison between Mars and Earth on the board, the one they have
completed during the second listening activity in order to help them). I started the
story in this manner: In the year 2525, Gizmo, a very intelligent police robot of the
galactic police force was sent to planet Mars to investigate a case of murder…. It was
a very complicated case and the first clue was found on the summit of the highest
mountain on Mars- The mighty Olympus Mons. Gizmo operated its double turbo
rocket engine and with in a few minutes it was already near the summit…to be
continued…
I must say I cherish those moments, the class was somewhat electrified. All the
students were attentive and followed my words eagerly. I felt that they lack these
kinds of activities. Four students continued the plot one after the other; however the
last one actually killed the robot and exploded it into small pieces. I had to intervene
and create gizmo’s twin robot-brother that immediately replaced him in duty. Three
more students continued the plot and that was it. I couldn’t get the rest of them to
speak. They were interested in the activity but lacked the confidence to speak English.
Some of them wanted to continue in Hebrew but I refused. I told them there’s no
sense for Hebrew in this kind of activity. I concluded the story with several sentences
of my own and I felt I did something great but I should return home and think it over
in my mind. Those who didn’t speak actually listened to their friends and I found out
actually who were the verbal stars of the class. It took less than 10 minutes but it was
just great.
Having them in good mood, I told them I would like them to write the quiz I gave
them two days ago once again but without the names of the planets and with few
added questions. I handed the quizzes and this time I felt they were ready and
accepted it calmly. I read them the questions so that they would feel confident. They
wrote it silently and than the bell rang.
By the door I handed them with the feedback forms and asked them to bring them
completed for the next lesson.
Later: Indeed the speaking activity was great but it lacked the volume and because the
class is so heterogeneous, many students just don’t speak. I don’t know, maybe
they’re to shy to open their mouths or they are not used to speaking English and to
improvise. Maybe I should have brought them some aids in order to ease the task.
Maybe I should have prepared small cards with a general idea or a drawing or a
picture and each student would have got one card. He or she would have had to relate
to the card and develop the idea into a sentence or two. The next one would have had
to relate to the previous idea and his own card and come up with a continuation to the
plot. Maybe this would have been easier than a fully opened task as they were given.
Regarding the use of web dictionaries; they are great and the students must be
exposed to them. They are very user friendly and if I had an over head projector in
class I would certainly have demonstrated the use of them. The way the students use
their Facebook and other cool applications, they can use and benefit from the web
dictionaries. I would certainly expose my students to it (English-English).
ILOs’ Evaluation
Here is the list of the ILOs of the unit.

SWBAT list at least 6 out of the 8 planets of the solar system and 2 dwarf
planets.

SWBAT sequence the planets, at lest 6 of them, by the right order from the
sun.

SWBAT define the terms: star (sun), moon, planet, solar system and
galaxy.

SWBAT compare and contrast the different features of planet Earth with
planet Mars (Atmospheric composition, diameter, distance from the sun)
The basis for the evaluation was the data collected through the pre-test, post-test and
my impressions during the process of teaching. Unfortunately the data is based only
upon 10 students (6 boys and 4 girls) who were present all along the unit and fully
completed all the activities, the tests, and filled in the feedback form.
The table below presents the data of the tests’ results.
Student
Pre test results[%]
Post test results[%]
Student 1
0
92
Student 2
0
26
Student 3
0
8
Student 4
25
92
Student 5
37.5
92
Student 6
75
92
Student 7
75
100
Student 8
75
100
Student 9
100
100
Student 10
100
84
48.75
78.6
Average grade
On the whole, this table shows an immense improvement. The level of knowledge
with in the context of the unit’s content has increased dramatically.
Let’s take a look at each ILO:
1st ILO:

SWBAT list at least 6 out of the 8 planets of the solar system and 2 dwarf
planets.
This ILO was a major success. All the students except two (with the poorest results)
scored the maximum score in the first section of the final quiz hence they internalised
very well the names of the planets. Taking into account that 3 students that failed the
pre-test did so well in the final test and 3 more improved their score dramatically, is
indeed an achievement. The 2 students with the highest grade in the pre-test also got
the maximum score in this section. I believe this ILO was easily achieved because of
the multiple repetitions of the names of the planets in many activities and also the fact
that the names are somewhat strange to the students and don’t resemble anything,
contributed to this success. The second part of this ILO was also a great success. Most
of the students had previous knowledge about Pluto. They knew it was a planet and
most of them knew it was a remote one; however they didn’t know anything regarding
its reclassification into a dwarf planet. This fact was easily remembered by them as it
turns Pluto into a unique sort of planet (even though today it has 4 “brothers”) and
also the students easily remembered the name of the other dwarf planet which I taught
them – Makemake. I deliberately chose this one and not other dwarf planets such as
Ceres or Eris, because I knew they will remember this funny name easily, and indeed
I was right.
2nd ILO:

SWBAT sequence the planets, at lest 6 of them, by the right order from the
sun.
This one was also a great success. The mnemonic device proved to be a very good
strategy for this kind of knowledge. I recall how they had difficulties to remember
the sequence on the first lesson and how easily they could repeat the order of the
stars after they learnt the mnemonic device. Most of them had no problems to
remember the sentence – my very educated mother just served us noodles. This
sentence flows and it is logic and catchy, so most of them remembered it. Again,
there were no mistakes in the final test in this section (aside of the 2 students who
failed).
3rd ILO:

SWBAT define the terms: star (sun), moon, planet, solar system and
galaxy.
This ILO is harder to evaluate in a complete way. I had no intentions overloading the
students with questions so I covered only 3 out of 5 definitions in the final quiz. I
chose galaxy, star and moon and didn’t choose solar system and planet. Few mistakes
occurred when students tried to explain what a galaxy is. Some of them didn’t know
how to write the definition properly and 2 of them confused it with a collection of
planets instead of stars. Nevertheless, most of them were quite accurate and even used
the term gravity force in order to describe the force which holds the stars together in a
galaxy. I was also interested to find out whether they internalised the idea that the sun
is the only star in the solar system by asking them to define a star and to give an
example. Only one student wrote a wrong answer (aside of the two that failed of
course). So the idea was indeed understood and these students know the difference
between a star and a planet, however I would have checked it again in a different
manner if I had had more time.
4th ILO:

SWBAT compare and contrast the different features of planet Earth with
planet Mars (Atmospheric composition, diameter, distance from the sun).
This ILO was supported by the second listening activity and by the chain story
speaking activity. The listening activity was good and helped them internalize the
factual data regarding Mars and Earth. It was redundant enough so most of the
students succeeded in capturing the data while listening, so they had a full table of
facts that compares and contrasts Earth with Mars. However the chain story didn’t
help so much. I tried to help them use the facts by hanging the table of facts on the
board before they started improvising, however it was too challenging and most of
them didn’t use the data. I think they know much more about Earth and Mars after this
process; however I would have certainly taken them to observe Mars at night with a
telescope and show them some films that were taken recently by NASA’s special
robot-vehicles, Spirit and Opportunity.
English Objectives evaluation
5. The first three English objectives were relatively easily achieved. The
students actually scanned for specific information during the first
activity and they read more thoroughly where needed. I could have
assessed their success while walking in the classroom and watch how
well they proceeded with their task. Indeed most of them performed
well and found the needed information. Some needed more guidance
and I could help them as most of the students could cope with the text
on their own. The issue of ordinal numbers wasn’t cleared to the end.
Each paragraph indeed contained an ordinal number which referred
solely to one planet and the students had also to write down the correct
ordinal number near the planet, however I felt it was not enough and I
made efforts to emphasize the issue of ordinal numbers during the Nine
Planets song activity..
6.
The second English objective was relatively easy and the students just
had to recognize the names of the planets to which they were exposed
the day before. The song was played twice so the students could get
used to the words, tone and rhythm. The ordinal numbers weren’t
mentioned directly in the song; however I used the song and the order
of the planets as they appear in it for a short oral practice of the ordinal
numbers. I believe it’s still not enough, but I did the best I could with
the limited time I had.
7. The English objective was to train the students to convert numbers they
hear to written figures. There’s a huge gap between numbers which are
written and numbers which are spoken and many students have
difficulties to make this conversion rapidly and correctly. I took the
opportunity to work this issue a bit. They heard a set of numbers which
were accompanied by different units (the units were not part of the
learning and I made use of known units). I was amazed to discover the
many mistakes which were made during the activity. Many of the
students interpreted the numbers that they heard into different
numbers. There were several reasons. Some claimed the recording
wasn’t that clear. Some just didn’t know how many zeroes there are in
a million. And some were confused between hundreds and thousands.
This objective wasn’t achieved to my satisfaction and more practice
should be done in order to establish this important knowledge.
8. The last three English objectives were somewhat limp. The intentions
were good however the outcomes were quite poor, especially from a
volume point of view, as there were few individuals who made great
progress and were very active during the activities. In spite of my
efforts, the majority of the class didn’t produce a significant English
outcome during the three last activities.
Feedback data table:
4
5
3
5
5
3
4
4
4
5
4
3
5
4
3
3
4
3
4
5
2
3
3
4
3
3
4
3
3
3
3
5
3
2
4
4
3
4
4
5
3
4
3
5
4
4
3
5
3
5
5
4
5
4
4
4
3
5
5
4
5
5
3
3
3
4
5
4
4
5
4
5
2
3
4
4
3
5
3
5
3
3
3
4
2
1
2
5
5
3
4
4
5
3
3
4
4
5
5
4
3.7
4.1
3.5
3.7
3.5
3.4
4.3
4
4
4.4
Green – for boys, Red-for girls.
The table above represents in a way the level of content of the students of the process
of learning. Though it is a very small sample (only 10 students) hence it is statistically
insignificant, it may shed some light on the way students evaluate learning. The
average score of the students was 3.81 out of 5 which is equivalent to 76 out of 100.
This is not a brilliant score; however it is relatively good and reflects a positive
atmosphere towards the approach of content based learning. The average score for the
question for over-all experience is even higher, 4.1 out of 5 which is equivalent to 82
out of 100.
There was no significant difference between the average rank of the boys and the
average rank of the girls. This point interests me personally and it will be interesting
to analyse larger groups of mixed students and check whether there are activities
which interest one of the gender much more then the other gender and try to find out
the root reasons for that difference.
Activities’ average scores graph
4.5
3.9
4.2
3.7
3.8
4
3.5
3
3.1
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Activity 4
Avtivity 5
The above graph presents the average scores of the different activities. The most
favourite activity was the first one (average score 4.2) in which the students learnt the
names of the planets and their order relative to the sun. They were exposed to a new
strategy of a mnemonic device. This strategy helped them remember the order of the
planets quite easily. The students liked this way and proved it by ranking this activity
with the highest score.
The least favourite activity was the third one (average score 3.1) in which the students
were taught the formal definitions of celestial objects. I assume it got the lowest score
because of the fact it was the least dynamic activity of all and in a way it was a bit
boring for the students.
Final reflection
It wasn’t easy. It was challenging and demanding. I had to construct all the ideas and
activities while I was mourning my dear father. It was just insane. I needed the time
for myself but I had to be totally engaged with this task. Maybe it helped me, I don’t
know. It was very hard to concentrate as my thoughts were wandering around all the
time. Nevertheless, I didn’t give up and invested many efforts. I wanted to make the
CBU about medical clowns, I had already invested a lot of time in research this
fascinating field, but destiny had different plans for me. In the middle of May, barely
three weeks after my father passed away, I lost a friend. His name was Robert Pinero.
He had a wonderful personality and he was a talented engineer and a qualified
medical clown. He was one of the funniest people I have ever met. He was huge, 2
meters high, with huge palms and a huge head. However, he was as soft as a little
baby deep inside. I knew him for a short while and I had the chance to watch him
playing the role of his life in ‫פה‬-‫תיאטרון חי‬, an amateur theatre. He played the role of
Salvatore, an Italian nobody and everybody in the same body. It was a brilliant
comedy and everyone laughed to tears. Then he died, suddenly.
I couldn’t go on with the medical clowning idea, it wasn’t appropriate anymore.
Salvation was offered by you Deborah after a short while. I didn’t hesitate and
accepted your offer with open hands. Switch your subject you told me. O.K, let’s
switch. The cosmos is a wonderful interesting place and I have a lot of knowledge. I’ll
be able to plan a meaningful unit in a relatively short time.
I feel I have learnt a lot during the process. The key issue is to think and plan in
advance. It’s not easy to write ILOs which will be fed and supported by the content
and on parallel to have meaningful English objectives. This was the difficult part. The
more I had time to plan in advance and to think, the more the right schema for the
process of teaching the unit was built up properly in my mind. The process of
reflection upon the lessons was very beneficial. The fact I could sit down and write to
myself what was good and what went wrong and how I might improve myself the
next time was good. I believe I will try and teach this unit again, however I will do
some changes in order to improve it and I will certainly teach it for at least 2 weeks.
The major problem I had was the shortage of time. I feel I had only scratched the tip
of an iceberg and there’s so much more to teach. Nevertheless, I feel I have planted
good seeds in the mind of my students and contributed to their general knowledge and
stimulated their thoughts and imagination. I hope some of them will continue to
explore this wonderful field of knowledge and expand their level of English while
surfing interesting web sites of NASA and national geographic.
Appendix
Cosmic riddle- cards for lamination (front side)
Cosmic riddle-cards for lamination (back side)
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
This picture demonstrates the difference between Earth and Jupiter in
dimensions.
Taken from:
http://www.easypedia.gr/el/articles/j/u/p/%CE%95%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C%C
E%BD%CE%B1~Jupiter_Earth_Comparison.png_1066.html
This picture shows the Hubble space telescope. The most significant
astronomical tool in the last 20 years.
Taken: http://www.whitespace.bz/ws/web/forms/pulse/PulseMainArticle.aspx?id=105
Bibliography
1. My own knowledge.
2. http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system
3. http://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System
5. http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/hubble_deep_field/resources.php
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_discovery_of_Solar_System_planets
_and_their_natural_satellites
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)
9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars
10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter
11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_moons
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn
13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus
14. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune
15. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/
16. http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=cV3JeupRJbs&feature=related (wonderful
simulation)