Design for Learning

Instructor: Catherine Keeter

Lesson Title: Major Planets
Curriculum Area: Science

Grade Level/Cooperating Teacher: 3rd, Ingram

Date: April 18th, 2016
Estimated Time: 40 minutes

Standards Connection:
Describe components of our solar system.
Learning Objective(s):
When asked to complete and exit ticket, students will recall information about the major planets,
listing one aspect about each planet with 75% accuracy.
Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language:
Today boys and girls, we are going to learn about the major planets in the solar system! You will
learn about the eight planets in our solar system and at the end of the lesson you will fill out an
exit ticket stating one key aspect about each planet!
Evaluation of Learning Objective(s):
Students will be assessed by their ability to correctly state an element about each of the major
planets. Elements could include how close the planet is to the sun, the weather of the planet, or
how many moons that planet has. As long as the information is correct the student will receive
credit. Students who correctly recall information about six out of eight planets will be considered
proficient and will be placed in the yellow group. Students who correctly recall information about
seven out of eight or eight out of eight planets will be placed in the green group and will be
considered for enrichment. Students who correctly recall information about five out of eight
planets or less will be placed in the red group and will be pulled aside for intervention.
Engagement:
Okay class, today we will be learning about the major planets in the solar system! Can
anyone name a planet in our solar system? Example student response: Saturn! Correct! Does
anyone else know a planet? Teacher continues to call on students to name the planets. There
are eight planets in our solar system! They are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. We are going to watch a video about these planets! If you are
not sitting in front of the smart board and would like to move closer you may get up and
walk in front of the smart board now. Students walk in front of the smart board and sit down.
Teacher turns on projector and starts video. Teacher transitions to teaching after the video is
over.
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
Okay if you are sitting in front of the smart board please walk quietly back to your seats.
Students walk back to their seats. Teacher pulls up prezi presentation on smart board. On the
smart board you will see the major planets! The sun is on the very left and then in order we
have Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Teacher points to
each planet as she lists them. The planets are in a line with the planet that is the closet to the
sun on the left and the planet that is the furthest from the sun on the very right. They are in
a line so you can easily see their distance from the sun, but when the planets are moving
around the sun their formation appears more like a circle than a line. Teacher zooms in on

solar system pictures of planets revolving around the sun. All of the planets revolve around the
sun which means they travel in a circle around the sun. So in our line up the first planet,
Mercury, revolves in a circle that is closest to the sun and the last planet, Neptune, revolves
in the circle that is farthest from the sun. The first planet we are going to talk about today is
the planet Mercury. Teacher zooms in on Mercury slide. Mercury is the smallest planet and it
moves around the sun faster than any other planet. It is 36 million miles away from the sun.
Mercury has no moons, lots of craters, and is about the size of the Earths moon. The next
closest planet to the sun is Venus. Venus is 67 million miles away from the sun. It is the
brightest and hottest planet in the solar system. It is similar in size to Earth but it has no
moons. Venus is home to hundreds of volcanoes and lots of craters. Does anyone know what
a crater is? Example student response: A crater is like an indention in the Earth. Yes, you are
right! Meteors, or rocks flying through space, hit some planets and cause craters. Here is an
example of a crater. Teacher zooms in on crater picture. Teacher moves to Earth slide. The next
planet we have is the Earth! The Earth is 93 million miles from the sun and it is the only
planet with proven signs of life. It has one moon and it orbits the sun in 365 days. That
means it takes the Earth 365 days to travel all the way around the sun. Who can tell me
something about the Earth that is not listed up here? Example student response: It has
volcanoes and mountains! Yes! Anybody else? Teacher continues to call on students. The
fourth closest planet to the sun is Mars. Mars has two moons. The poles of Mars are covered
in ice and Mars has seasons like the Earth does. The air on Mars is cold and thin and there
are valleys can canyons on Mars. Teacher zooms in on pictures of Mars canyon. Teacher moves
to Jupiter slide. This is Jupiter, the fifth furthest planet from the sun. Jupiter is the largest
planet in the solar system and it has 67 moons. It is covered by orange and white clouds and
is made up mostly of gases. A day on Jupiter last just ten hours. There is a storm raging on
Jupiter. It is called the Giant Red Spot and it has been going on for 350 years. The next
furthest planet from the sun is Saturn. What is unique about the way Saturn looks?
Example student response: There are rings around Saturn. Youre right! Saturn is the only
planet with visible rings. Saturn has more than thirty rings that are made from small
chunks of rocks and dust particles. Saturn has 62 moons and is made from gas. There are
bands of clouds made from ice on Saturn. The planet that is the seventh planet away from
the sun is Uranus. Uranus is different from the other planets because it spins on its side. A
year on Uranus lasts 84 Earth years. Imagine waiting 84 years for you birthday to come
abound again! Uranus has 37 moons and 13 rings but these rings arent easily visible like
Saturns are. Uranus is nicknamed the Ice Giant because it is the coldest planet in the solar
system and its temperatures can reach as low as -323 degrees Fahrenheit. The planet that is
the furthest away from the sun is Neptune. Neptune has 5 rings and 14 moons. Large storms
are very common on Neptune and winds can blow at up to 1500 miles per hour. Teacher
transitions to practice.
II. Opportunity for Practice:
Okay class, now that we know a little bit about each planet we are going to work in groups.
Teacher changes slide to space ship picture. Youve been hired to work at the Tarrant Travel
Agency! Each group is going to be assigned a planet. You and your group will have to create
a poster convincing the class that we should visit the planet you are assigned. I will give
every group a list of facts about the planet that you can use to make your travel poster. On
your poster you can draw a picture of your planet and can list cool things about your planet.
After every group has created their each group will come present their poster to the class.
You want to convince the rest of the class that your planet is the coolest and that they should
want to visit it. After every group has presented their poster about their planet we will all
vote on our favorite planet. Everyone look under the seat of the desk and you will find a
sticky note. The sticky note lists the planet you are assigned. If your sticky note says

Mercury raise your hand. Students raise their hands. Please come grab some chart paper and
your fact sheets. As soon as your group has you materials you are allowed to get started.
Teacher continues to divide groups and pass out materials. You are going to have fifteen
minutes to create your posters. I will set the timer. You may now get started. Students work
on posters until the timer goes off. Okay class, please move back to your desks. Students move
back to desks. Mercury group please present your travel poster. Mercury group presents their
poster. Teacher calls on the rest of the groups to present their posters.
III. Assessment
Okay class, I now want to see how well you know the planets by yourself. I am going to
hand each of you an exit ticket. On the exit ticket I want you list one aspect about each
planet. This might be that the planet is the coldest, or is the biggest, or has 7 moons. You
need to list any correct trait you know about each planet. All of the planets are listed on the
exit ticket for you! I am going to begin passing them out. When you get your ticket put your
name on it and you can get started. You will have ten minutes to complete this. Teacher
passes out exit tickets and students begin working.

IV. Closure:
Great job learning about the planets today class! We now need to vote on what planet wed
like to visit! To review the planets I am going to play the We Are The Planets song one
more time. If you need to move in front of the smart board please do so now. Students move
in front of the whiteboard. Teacher plays the We Are The Planets song. Okay everyone please
move back to your seat. Students move back to their seats. I am going to call you up by rows.
When I call your row please grab a sticker from me and place it on the line plot above the
name of the planet youd like to visit. Row one. Students come up and vote for their favorite
planet. Teacher continues to call rows to vote. Teacher and students review results.
Materials and Resources:
Sticky Notes
Pencils
Smart board
Projector
Markers
Crayons
Chart paper
We Are The Planets engagement song
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHAqT4hXnMw
Planet exit tickets
Prezi Presentation
o https://prezi.com/jftn5cq5p7dp/the-major-planets/
Planet fact sheets
Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners):
Red: The students in the red group will be pulled aside individually. The teacher will have a solar
system diagram and will point out each planet to the student. The student will play a matching
game matching planet qualities to the correct planet.
Green: The teacher will challenge students in the green group by asking them to write a paper
from the point of view of an alien from each planet. The alien will describe at least five aspects of
each planet.

Data Analysis:
I was unable to give the students the assessment for this lesson due to their teachers need to
begin teaching a math lesson. However the students were able to participate in the practice
session of the lesson. Through the practice I feel as if the students were able to efficiently grasp
key ideas about each lesson. The students knew a lot about their specific planets and picked up
knowledge about the other planets that were presented as well.
Reflection:
The students really enjoyed this lesson and it was a great intro space! The students loved the song
and enjoyed the prezi presentation. They also had a really fun time creating their planet posters
and presenting them to the class. If I were to teach this lesson again I would start by pre-assessing
the students knowledge on planets. Before teaching my lesson some of the students thought the
moon and the sun were planets. It would have been helpful to do a general solar system lesson
before focusing on planets.

Samford University
Design for Learning

Name_______________
What do you know about each planet?
Mercury:
Venus:
Earth:
Mars:
Jupiter
Saturn:
Uranus:
Neptune: