Download LessonDay5

5E Template- Science
Name: Bethany Meier
Date: 4/22/11
Content Area: Science
Grade Level(s): 6
Topic(s): Astronomy (Meteors,
Comets, Asteroids) – Day 5
Standards (NSES or Benchmarks)
TABLE 6.4. EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE STANDARDS
LEVELS K-4
LEVELS 5-8**
LEVELS 9-12
Properties of earth
materials
Structure of the earth
system
Energy in the earth system
Objects in the sky
Earth's history
Geochemical cycles
Changes in earth and sky
Earth in the solar system
Origin and evolution of the earth
system
Origin and evolution of the universe
Standards (SOL)
6.8 The student will investigate and understand the organization of the solar system and
the relationships among the various bodies that comprise it. Key concepts include
a) the sun, moon, Earth, other planets and their moons, meteors, asteroids, and comets;
Objectives (UKD’s)
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At the end of the lesson, the students will understand:
o How research is a key component in new discoveries of new
information.
o How and when graphs can be used to represent data
Know:
o The definition of an asteroid.
o The definition of a comet
o The definition and difference between a meteor and meteorite.
o Number of moons that each planet has
Do:
o Use given websites to work through a webquest worksheet on
asteroids, comets meteors & meteorites.
o Create a graphical representation of the number of moons of each
planet
Topic/Essential Question
Title: Asteroids, Comets, Meteors and Moons! Oh My!!
Major Concepts: Research, Observations, Graphical Representation
Materials & Resources
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Smart Board
Computers with Internet Access
Asteroid/Comet Webquest Worksheet
Graph Paper
Safety Considerations
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The internet should have a safeguard on it so the students don’t go to any
unacceptable sites
o The teacher should be walking around at all times for the very
same reason
Engage – Time Estimate __7-10 min____
The engage portion of this lesson will a real quick group activity. The
students will be placed into group with the people at their tables and given 5
different pictures. These pictures are of a planet, an asteroid, a comet, a meteor
and a meteoroid. I will ask the students to work together with each other to come
up with a connection between the pictures. We will then have a quick group
discussion about what they think is the connection (The pictures are all of space
bodies). The kids will be told that they will be able to answer this connection (IF
they haven’t already)
Explore – Time Estimate ___20 min___
The students will each be given a computer and a partner to work through
the attached worksheet on comets, meteors and asteroids. They have to answer
each
question
thoroughly
using
the
following
website:
http://sites.google.com/site/jlwtrc/spaceobjectactivity
Once they’ve completed the worksheet, they are allowed to continue
working on their solar system packet until the rest of the students are finished.
Explain -- Time Estimate _15 min____
Steps to relate learning in the exploration phase to the content being taught.
What steps are you going to take to insure that no misconceptions are being
perpetuated?
Extend -- Time Estimate __10-15 min___
The next portion of the lesson will involve creating a bar graph on the
smart board. Have the students go to the following website regarding the planets
and each of their moons (they should have already investigated the planets in
previous days and gotten this information for their packet). Draw the axis of the
graph onto the board with the planets across the bottom and the number of
moons increments of 5 along the Y axis.
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Mercury-0
Venus-0
Earth-1
Mars-2
Jupiter-63 (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto)
Saturn-61
Uranus-27
Neptune-13
http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Moons/MoonsSolSys.html (Note that Pluto is
no longer considered a planet)
The students will copy the chart onto graph paper provided and the teacher will
pick students to come up to the board and fill in the bar graph as we go through
the exercise together.
Evaluate -- Time Estimate __5 min____
The evaluation of this lesson will take place after it is over with because the
students will turn in their worksheets and the bar graphs that were created to me
for me to check for accuracy. 3-2-1 exit cards will also be filled out with the
following questions::
1. Name 3 different celestial bodies that float in outer space.
2. Name 2 planets that have the most number of moons.
3. Name 1 moon of the four well-known moons of Jupiter.
Plans for Diversity
ELL: This lesson is pretty well accommodating for ELL and low-level readers
because of a couple reasons. First, the websites that are provided are on a lower
reading level (and the moon site involves reading numbers). The second part is
that in the groups they can work with the students that have higher reading levels
to help understand what the main difference is between comets, meteors, and
asteroids. If necessary, a vocabulary sheet can be provided for the student with
key words and definitions from the websites to help them better understand.
ADD/ADHD: For students with ADD/ADHD, there are a couple things that can be
done to make this lesson more accommodating to their needs. The lesson flows
pretty quickly and the students get to work with two different forms of technology,
which will grab their attention pretty quickly. The lesson also involves moving
around the room to be in groups and students going up to the smart board and
writing on it. (Of course if there was anything specific in the student’s IEP, the
lesson could be altered)
Connections
The reason I put this research based lesson into the course is because I want the
students to understand the importance of looking up facts and being able to pull
the big picture concepts out of the websites. Sometimes they’re so bombarded
with information in science they don’t know what to focus on and my worksheet
will help focus their attention. Also, I want them to understand that information
can be portrayed in many different ways. The past couple days have been
working on a gathering data about the planets through words, the moon activity is
being used to show them how useful graphical representations can be in
portraying the same information. This lesson will lead into investigations on
gravity/rotation and revolution next.