GENERAL LESSON PLAN FORMAT
Name: Randi Frehner and Paul Mueller
Date: April 8, 2010
Length of Lesson:
- 4 – 4 ½ hours (may be broken up into three days- the information found on the first day, and the project done on the second and third days)
- 1st day- 1 hour
- 2nd day- 45 minutes to 1 hour
- 3rd day- 2 – 2 ½ hours (may be broken up further if needed)
Grade Level: 6th Grade
Short Description/Summary: Students in 6th grade will use online resources to gain an understanding of the planets in our solar system. They will use the information they gather to make a spreadsheet to compare the different planets and their characteristics. After they compare information on the different planets, students will make a solar system mobile to share with the class containing a picture of the planet and their choice of three interesting facts they found throughout lesson on each planet.
Connection to standards:
Utah K-12 Core Curriculum :
- Standard 3
Students will understand the relationship and attributes of objects in the solar system.
Describe and compare the components of the solar system.
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
|a. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.|
2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
|b. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.|
- Identify the planets in the solar system by name and relative location from the sun.
- Using references, compare the physical properties of the planets (e.g., size, solid or gaseous)
- Use models and graphs that accurately depict scale to compare the size and distance between objects in the solar system (this is done with the spreadsheet)
- Students will learn where the name of each planet came from and why.
- Formative assessments will be used throughout the lesson to gain an understanding of how the given assignments are promoting learning. I will use observations, class discussions, and peer assessment to help students reflect on what they feel they should get out of the assignments. By having students grade each other, I can also gain an understanding of what they thought the effective and useful parts of the assignments were.
- Summative assessments will be used for the information filled in and graphs made during their Comparing Planets spreadsheet assignment, and also the answers found for the Planet Facts worksheet. Summative assessment will also be used by both teachers and students based on a small presentation of their solar system mobiles using information found from both the Comparing Planets spreadsheet assignment and the Planet Facts worksheet. These mobiles are completed at the end of the lesson and graded by a given rubric. Both the teacher and the students will grade each presentation following the guidelines stated on the rubric.
Technology Resources Required:
- Computer- Internet Links
Other Materials Required:
- Comparing Planets Spreadsheet assignment
- Planet Facts worksheet
- Solar System Mobile Planets
- Solar System Mobile Rubric
Background for teachers:
- Both of these websites may be used for both the Comparing Planets Spreadsheet and the Planet Facts worksheet. However, if you would like to eliminate confusion of what information should be used where, the websites may be used as follows:
- Comparing Planets Spreadsheet- this worksheet will need to be downloaded in Excel and all of the information should be filled in by the students using this website, and the other if they wish.
- Planet Facts worksheet- this assignment will be filled out using the information found on the given sight. Students should use this site to find interesting facts, facts they don’t think other people will use. This way, when they use this information for their projects, it will be personalized and different from the others. Students may also use the previous website if they wish.
- Additional websites that may be used to help students gather information:
- Students should be graded on their solar system mobile project based off of the rubric. The rubric does not grade creativity, rather, it gives students simple guidelines to follow to learn information needed.
- Students will need to have prior knowledge of how planets rotate on an axis and orbit (revolutions) around the sun.
- Teachers should make sure that students have knowledge needed to complete this assignment.
- Teachers may also want to go over how to use Excel, so that students can be familiar with the program before completing assignments.
- Teachers will also want have one hanger per student, and enough string that each student may use 9-10 feet.
| 1 day ahead
The day before we begin this assignment, I am going to ask students to go outside at night with their parents and see what they notice and may be able to pick out in the night sky. We will then get together the next day as a class and talk about what the students may have noticed while looking up at the stars.
We will talk about things such as shooting stars, comets, meteors, asteroids, manmade satellites, constellations, and the moon, as these may be things that they were able to identify.
Students will have previously had a lesson on most of these objects, and we will then introduce planets as the next category we are going to learn about in the solar system. We will discuss where planets would be located in the night sky and how they may be seen.
Learning will be evaluated throughout the lesson by formative assessment. After students complete both their Comparing Planets spreadsheet and their Planet Facts worksheet, we will gather together for class discussion. In this discussion we will talk about
Learning will also be evaluated through summative assessment. This will be done by grading both of their in class assignments and also grading their solar system mobile project based off of a rubric.
By allowing students to work together, I make it possible to fill in gaps that may exist. If one student is unable to do things such as cutting and gluing, their partner may be able to do that part, but will still use suggestions from the other students. This also works the same in other similar situations, and also ESL students. Students who may have difficulty with English can be guided by their partner, allowing for peer teaching and learning, which actually will benefit both student’s learning.