Jacob Schmudlach Professor Beisser Education 122 5/1/13

Solar System Unit Plan 4th Grade

Table of Contents Unit Rationale Content Standards Unit Goals & Lesson Titles Unit Description Bulletin Board & Explanation Summative Assessments References for Teachers and Students Revised Lesson Plans

Unit Rationale

The sun, moon and stars are all important objects in space that students need to think about. Along with that, there are all of the planets in our Solar System that are pretty popular in science today. In our unit we studied Solar Systems. We wanted to make sure we did something that was intriguing to the students, but very beneficial educationally as well. In our lesson plans we focused on the 8 planets, plus the sun. Through these lessons, students were able to work together and engage in deep discussion with many questions. The students studied ideas such as the movement in our system, life cycles of stars and the components of our solar system that make it so incredible. They were able to do this in a variety of ways. The students watched videos, they did internet research, they came up with their own ideas through class discussion, they wrote stories and they even created poster boards and presented in front of the whole class. The lesson plans all differed in some ways yet they all had some important components in common. They provided discussion, hands on work, social interaction, questioning and solving. The lessons were intended to never get redundant or lame. Through learning about our solar system the students got to bring up topics such as NASA and the movement of the sun and earth. These are important ideas that could definitely be brought up in the future. I feel the creativity of our lessons allowed students to stay motivated and engaged through our unit.

Content Standards

Students will understand and apply knowledge of the properties, movements and locations of objects in our solar system. Iowa Core CurriculumItemid=4563

http://www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2459&

Quadrant C We will now move into the stars in the solar system. What a star is and how it forms. Is the sun a star? Do they move? Relate things in our everyday life to the evolution of objects in our solar system.

Quadrant D Students will now move into the idea of gravity. What is gravity? They will begin to be more open minded towards astronauts and where they can go in space and why. What do they need? Why do they need it?

Quadrant A Students will start the unit by learning what is in our solar system. They will begin to recognize the planets as well as know the order they stand in.

Quadrant B Students will now work collaboratively based on their favorite planets. They will then begin to study more in depth on these planets, learning about structure and temperature and movements. They will then present to the class.

Unit Goals & Lesson Titles

1. Introduction to the Planets of our Solar System

Students will know what a solar system is and what it consists of. Students will know the order of the plants

2. Planets of our Solar System

After presented information, students will research specific planets and know how to present special characteristics of individual planets. Students will work collaboratively, stay on task and share ideas with each other in order to learn about all of the planets.

3. The stages of a star

Students will be able to identify the order and stages of a star. Students will be able to know the makeup of a star.

4. A Trip in Space
Students will know what an astronaut needs in order to live in space. Students will work cooperatively and present a visual to the class providing support for their ideas.

5. The Life of an Astronaut

Students will watch videos together on our solar system. Students will study the Life of an astronaut and then write a letter including at least 5 important characteristics of an astronaut.

Unit Description
There were many different goals for this lesson, but they all correlated to the Common Core standards. The standard states that the students must be able to learn the movements and locations of the objects in our solar system, but most importantly we wanted to make sure the students were able to apply their knowledge of all of the properties learned in this unit. They did this through writing stories, working together, giving presentations and even drawing pictures. The unit allowed for exploration of space, planets, stars and even earth. Many students are able to get many different things from the unit. This unit allows for a lot of differentiating to be done when necessary. For example, gifted students are always able to expand and gain knowledge in a topic through new ways of presenting and even research. Students that struggle a little bit are able to focus on some of the more obvious things in our solar system. The unit allowed students to work at whatever pace they felt comfortable without slowing the class down at all. The unit touched base on astronauts as well. Students were able to study astronauts in order to learn about our solar system. Things such as gravity and oxygen were big in these lessons. Those are two needs in our everyday life today. Students were able to focus on one specific unit in a large variety of ways. This keeps the class engaged and makes a positive learning environment.

Bulletin Board & Explanation

In the front of the classroom on the bulletin board, there will be a blank area with a background that looks like space. There will be a title at the top of that background labeled: Planet of the Month. Since our unit is on our Solar System and we are going to be learning all about the planets I thought it would be a good idea to take a little time every Monday morning at the beginning of the week to learn about the characteristics of each planet together as a class. For example, in my representation I used the planet Saturn. As a class, in the morning we will print out a picture of Saturn and we will talk about one important characteristic from that planet once a week. The next week we will talk about another important characteristic on that planet until the month is up. The bulletin board will always be up so the students can use it to help them anytime during the day. Once the month is up, we will move on to the next planet and post it up on the board. By the

end of this, the students will be a lot more familiar with the planets in our solar system. This will only take 10 minutes at the most on Monday mornings.

Summative Assessment
For our summative assessment we will have the students create a brochure. The students will be required to do this individually mainly because majority of the work done in our Solar System unit had been through collaboration. We want to make sure the students have retained majority of what they have learned and went over. Along with that, it allows us as teachers to see who really struggles through the unit and we can reflect on our unit as well, to see if we need to make changes on the next Solar System unit in a way that helps the students succeed and learn. There will be a rubric for the students to follow in order to create this brochure. Everything on the rubric will relate to what our objectives were during each lesson throughout the unit. Nothing should surprise the students. It will be things the students have went over before. On the back of the brochure the students will be required to fill out a reflection portion of their own. This will focus on what they

felt the positives and negatives were in the unit. What could be changed and what could be fixed? The students will be allowed to give their input on the unit. This will also help us figure out what needs to be taken out or fixed by the time we do the next unit. The rubric will go over these things: The order of the Individual Planets, 5 important characteristics of the main planet they studied, Stages of star formation, necessary materials humans need for space travel and correct grammar and information will be necessary for this rubric. The students will not be expected to finish in one day. They will be given 3 science periods to complete this and if students need more time, it will be designated to them later in the week. We want the students to concentrate and do a good job without feeling rushed.

References

Teachers
http://aspire.cosmic-ray.org/labs/star_life/starlife_proto.html http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/3861.html http://science89.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/star_human.jpg http://rubistar.4teachers.org/- This website if great to use when in need of a rubric for student assessment. It saves a lot of time. http://www.planetfacts.net/ http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm

 http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/planets/

Students
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/solar_system.htm http://www.planetsforkids.org/ http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/ http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/solar_system/resources/ websites.shtml

Direct Instruction

Presentation w/ Adv Organizer

Concept Attnment

Cooperative Learning

Inquiry Teaching

Direct Instruction Lesson Plan (10 pts) Lesson Background:

Your Name: Megan Glass and Jacob Schmudlach Grade Level: (circle one) K 1 2 3 4 5 6 Subject: (circle one) Language Arts Social Studies Mathematics Science

Lesson Title: Introduction to the Planets of the Solar System Materials Needed: Pencil Pictures of the Planets Chalkboard Colored Pencils/ Markers Assessment- cutouts of the planets Tape Blank Solar System Coloring Page Prerequisite Skills: Students should have general knowledge on what a solar system is and what it consists of. They should be able to discuss what planets are. A B C D Lesson Objective: After the fourth grade students have been the given the necessary material on the planets they will be able to correctly identify the order of the planets with no more than one error. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interaction with Students:

1. Provide objectives: (What are students going to learn?) Time: 5 minutes Today, we are going to learn about the planets of the solar system. Can anyone tell me the names of our solar system? It is called the Milky Way and consists of eight planets and our sun. We will first learn the names of the planets and the order they are from the sun. We will work as in pairs to devise a way for all of us to remember the order of the planets and share these with the class. You may wonder why we are learning the order of the planets on the first day, but you will learn that by knowing the order of the planets it will help in our future lessons. For example, Mercury which is the planet closest to the sun is a very hot planet. 2. Demonstrate knowledge or skill: (Input/Modeling by the teacher) Time: 10 minutes I will introduce the lesson to the students by first showing the solar system with the planets in line. This will help the students to get an overall view of what the solar systems looks like. I will then hold up pictures of each planet starting with the sun. I will explain that all planets revolve around the sun and that this will be our reference point. I want to see where my students are with their previous knowledge of the planets. In this part of the lesson I will ask the students to shout out the name of the planet if they know them. I can then get a general feel for if my students can identify the planets by the photos. We will then work on ordering the planets in reference to the sun. I will go through the photos again and this time they will be in order from the sun. In this time I will play a song about the order of the planets to get students engaged and excited about the lesson.

3. Provide guided practice: (Guided practice with the teacher) Time: 10 minutes I will then put the pictures of the planets on the chalkboard and write the first letter of each planet underneath. This will be a reference point for the students as they are writing their own phrases. Why do you think I had you listen to the song about the order of the planets? Did it help you to remember the order of the planets? We are now going to work with a partner to create a sentence or phrase to help us remember the order of the planets. Here is an example I learned when I was in elementary school. My very educated mother just served us nachos. This will help us remember the order of the planets, Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune. This can be a silly phrase or anything that will help you remember the order. I will assign students pairs to work with to create their own pneumonic device to help them remember the order. All of the planets will still be listed on the board so the students have a point of reference. 4. Check for understanding and provide student feedback: (How will you know students understand the skill or concept? How will they know they get it??) Time: 5 minutes I will be walking around the classroom helping the students come up with ideas if they get stuck on creating their pneumonic device. I will be making sure they know the order and are practicing it with their partner. I will know the students are getting it if they are able to correctly tell me their made up phrase and then use that to name off the planets in order. 5: Provide extended practice and transfer: (Independent practice of the skill) Time: 5 minutes To help the students practice the order of the planets I will have them find a new partner that wasnt in their original group. They will then share out the pneumonic device with their partner and then tell them the order of the planets. 6. Assessment / Closure: (How do you evaluate student progress or provide closure to this lesson?) You MUST include rubric, checklist or assessment document. Time: 10 minutes It is important for the students to not only know the names of the planets but also what each planet looks like. This will be beneficial when we continues onto further lessons and are learning about the characteristics of the planets. My assessment will be cutouts of the planets with their names listed on it. I will then have a paper with the Sun on it and students will be required to order the planets correctly in relation to the sun like we had been working on previously in class. The assignment will be worth 8 points and each correct placement of the planet will be worth 1 point. 7. DIFFERENTIATION of Content, Process or Product: a. Adaptation for students who need extra help, time, or attention? For students that need additional help remembering the order of the planets I can verbally help them with a pneumonic device that may be easier than the one they have created. I will also

model the pictures of the planets again in order from the sun to help guide them in remembering this. b. Extension for students of high ability? (Remember, assigning gifted students to be the tutor for others is not sufficient academic challenging for students who have mastered the lesson). For students of high ability that are able to easily remember the order of the planets I will have an additional activity they can work on once they have finished creating their pneumonic device. I will have a blank picture of the solar system and students can draw the planets on their using the correct order and size. TOTAL LESSON TIME:_45_minutes____ 8. References Consulted (Curriculum books in Drake SOE curriculum lab, previous teachers as resources, online websites, your past experiences, or your own initiatives, etc): When choosing a topic we had both decided that teaching the solar system would be an interesting topic. We started our unit by beginning with the planets and teaching on their order from the sun. This seemed like a logical place to begin our unit as it would be a good overview of the solar system and planets and a place to build from with the students. We used a lot of previous experience in creating this lesson. In our own elementary studies we had both learned a pneumonic device to help us remember the order of the planets. We thought instead of using the pneumonic devices we had learned in our own school experience it would be fun to have the students create their own. This would help them learn the order the order of the planets in a fun new way. For the song we used a song from National Geographic to get the song we will use in our lesson. We used this resource to find the photos of the planets for our assessment and posters.

Direct Instruction

Presentation w/ Adv Organizer

Concept Attnment

Cooperative Learning

Inquiry Teaching

Cooperative Learning Lesson Plan (10 pts) Lesson Background:

Your Name: Megan Glass and Jacob Schmudlach Subject: Science Lesson Title: Planets of our Solar System Materials Needed: Text Books Computer Paper/Poster Board for visual aid Any drawing materials, colored pencils, markers, etc. Glue Scissors Prerequisite Skills: The students will have already learned the order of the planets and basic facts about our solar system. Students will have the skills to be able to research information using their text books and computer. They will already have the knowledge on how to create a visual aid. Lesson Objective(s): a. After the fourth grade students are presented information on how to research their planet as a group, they will successfully present all of the required information to the class using a visual aid within 90% accuracy per rubric guidelines. b. Social Goals for your lesson After fourth students have completed their research project they will be able to successfully take turns with each other, be able to stay on task throughout the entire project, and consistently share ideas with each other. Cooperative Learning Grouping Structure: Students will work in a co-op environment. Cooperative groups will be formed, and students will explore and investigate their assigned planet. After the students have researched and created a visual with the information on their planets we will then come together as a class and the groups will share out what they have learned. Grade Level: 4th

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Interaction with Students:

1. Present objectives: (Tell students what they are going to learn?) Time: 5 min Today we are going to learn more about each planet in our solar system. I am going to assign each of you into groups of four, and together you will be gathering information on a specific planet. Once you have researched your planet, as a group you will be creating a visual aid and presenting this information to the class. When I put you into your groups I really want you to focus on taking turns, keeping focused and on task within our groups, and contributing ideas to the project.

2. Present information for the academic goal: (What are procedures for the academic goal?) Time:15 minutes As I said we will be forming into groups of four. Each group will research a particular planet and you will need to find certain facts about your planet. Once you have researched your planet you will need to come up with a way to present this to the class. Some ideas that students have done in the past have included power point presentations, posters, brochures or handouts which I can make copies of, or any other idea you choose. The only expectation for the visual aid is that you have a visual to share with the class to present the information on your planet. We have both our textbooks and a list of websites I will provide you in order for you to find information about your planet. I am going to give you all a handout here on what information is required for you to share with us about your planet. Some of the things I want you to research are, what is the size of your planet and how does this compare with earth, does you planet have any rings, any moons, what is its rotation, what is the atmosphere like and why do you think life would or would not be able to live on your planet. Each group will have a list of what is required to research for your planet. I have also listed some good websites that you could use to find out the information on your planet. Remember you want to make your presentation informative and interesting to the class so it always good to find some interesting facts on your planet. There are other things you will need to teach the class about your planet, and again those are all listed on the handout. I will also be passing out a copy of the rubric to each group so you all know what you will be graded on. I have made a poster her with some facts on planet earth. Please notice that I used a lot of colors and words to make my poster interesting and fun to look at! Earth is 92,956,050 miles around. To put that in perspective for you that would be over 163 million football fields! That is a long way to run. We all know that Earth does not have any rings. It has one moon and is made up of Oxygen and Nitrogen. Because of the atmosphere here on earth it makes it easy for us all to live here. Many other planets have atmospheres that do not allow sustainable living, or their temperature makes it too hot or too cold for anything to be able to live there. Next I am going to talk about what expectations I have for what I want your cooperative group learning to look like. 3. Organize students into learning teams: Time: 10 min a. Explain how theyll practice the social goal? Students as we get into groups I really want you to focus on taking turns, keeping focused and on task within our groups, and contributing ideas to the project. Can some of you give me ideas of what that would look like? As we are working on the projects I want you to keep focused on the task at hand. I know it easy sometimes for us people to get distracted and off task. We are really going to work on staying focused on our research and working on our visual aids. I also want to remind you that we need to stay in the groups assigned to you. I dont want to see students wandering around the classroom outside of their groups and distracting other students. When we work together on projects like this it is also important that we all do our role and share our ideas. I know all of you have tons of great ideas in those brains of yours so dont be afraid to share those with your group. You guys do need to come to a decision on how you will present the information and what information you share but remember to listen to everyone! b. How will you organize the groups? I will assign four students to a group. The groups will be based on their differentiation level. This will allow students to that may have a higher learning ability to create a more challenging visual to present to the class. Students at a lower academic level will still be able to complete the task within the parameters of the specified criteria and work on having a great project to present.

c. What group roles will you have? Each group will be assigned these four roles for the students: Computer Guru Recorder Task Master Contribution Captain Once we get into groups I want you as group to decide who will be assigned each of the following roles. The first one is the Computer Guru. This person will be in charge of navigating the computer in search of the information you will need for your project. There will also need to be a Recorder who is taking down notes on the information you want to present to the class. Remember we are really working on staying on task in our groups and that we are all equally sharing our ideas. The Task Master will make sure that the group stays on task and if someone starts to get distracted or is going outside of the group the Task Master will remind them on what they need to do. The last role will be the Contribution Captain. This person will be in charge of making sure everyone in the group is taking part and sharing their ideas. I want everyone to be collaborating on this project and to have their input and ideas shared. Those of you that are the Contribution Captains if you see someone is not sharing their ideas just ask if they have anything they want to add or if they can think of anything else to put into the project. Remember that some of your peers may be shyer than others and need a little help sharing their ideas. After you all have completed the research on your planet I want you to work together to come up with your visual aid and how you are going to present this to the class. After lunch we will have a little bit of time to finish your projects and then will be sharing them with the class. When we have finished our group work each of you will be evaluating not only your peers but yourself on how well you think the group work went. This is another reason to make sure you are contributing your ideas to the group and staying on task. 4. Assist team work and study: Time: 1 hour (as students are working on project) a. How will you monitor academic progress? As I walk around, I will listen to student conversation and observe their work and progress. I will make sure students are finding the needed information on their planet and are on the right track with creating their visual. I will be open to students with any questions they may have on the project. b. How will you monitor the social goals? Again I will be constantly be walking around, making sure they are staying within their assigned and not talking to other students outside of their groups. I will make sure students are taking turns and are all equally contributing their ideas to the project. I will also remind the Contribution Captains and Task Masters of their roles if I do not see them helping the other students with what they are supposed to be doing. 5. Provide recognition: Time: 1 hour (as students are working on project) (How will students know they have met both academic and social goals?). I will be providing verbal feedback to the students as they are doing the research and working in their groups. I will let them know when they are on the right track and provide them with prompts for their visual aids if I see suggestions that can be made of if they are missing certain content that is required. I will also let the students know if I see them working well together as a group and make sure they are all taking turns and assisting with the project.

6. Assessment / Closure: (How do you evaluate student progress or end this lesson?)

Time: 10 min

Wow! You guys did a great job presenting all of that information and I know I learned a lot! All of your visuals look really great! Students as I mentioned earlier I want each of you to evaluate not only your peers but also yourself on how you think the group work went. Please be honest with me and just to let you know your other group members will not see this evaluation.

7. DIFFERENTIATION of Content, Process or Product: a. Adaptation for students who need extra help, time, or attention? I can provide extra assistance to the students to make sure they understand what exactly should be included on the visual and provide them with some ideas of where to go with their project. b. Extension for students of high ability? (Remember, gifted students need challenge). By grouping the students in ability groups the gifted students can get more in depth with the information presented but still using the required criteria. They may also be able to use their artistic skills in creating a more intriguing visual. TOTAL LESSON TIME:__1 hour 30 minutes____ 8. References Consulted: We used the se websites that the students could use to find facts about the planets. http://www.planetfacts.net/ http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/planets/ The social goal rubric came from the information you had put on blackboard and the other rubric was created using http://rubistar.4teachers.org/. For the lesson we used prior knowledge of what cooperative group learning should look like and how has been implemented in our practicum experiences.

TEAM, SELF, and GROUP Member Evaluation

Success comes before work, only in the dictionary. Anonymous Students I want you to evaluate yourself, as well as the other members of your group, on how well you worked on this project. Remember to be honest and fair with your other group members and that they will not see what you have written to me. My name:____________________ Course Name:______________________ Date:__________

(To completed privately be each group member). I. TEAM Evaluation: Usually __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ Sometimes __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ Never __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ You may use + and

1. Members of our group shared the work equally 2. Everyone in our group did his or her best job 3. Group members helped one another with tasks 4. Group members shared materials and resources 5. Together, we made decisions as a group 6. Our group used time wisely most of the time

The GRADE I would give our group work a grade of _______ A, B, C, D, F -

II.

SELF Evaluation and INDIVIDUAL GROUP MEMBER Evaluation: 1-5 (with 5 as best)
1. Carried his/her share of the work load 2. Did his/her best job in group tasks 3. Helped others with work or tasks 4. Shared materials or resources 5. Made decisions together 6. Used time wisely TOTAL range of 5-30 pts

All Team Membe rs

Include your own name on this list.

1. (self) 2. 3. 4. 5. Assign individual SCORES of 1-5 (with 5 as best) to yourself AND each group member above.

5 = Excellent work; Went above and beyond expectations to complete work with quality and expediency. 4 = Above average work; Participated in a highly beneficial manner to get the work done successfully. 3 = Average; Nothing spectacular, but kept a steady pace with work and participation within the group. 2 = Below average; Less than helpful contributions to group tasks, compromised quality work of group. 1 = Didnt contribute; Didnt do much at all, let others do the work, distracted from the group efforts.

Planet Presentation Rubric

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY Content Accuracy

2
%!"%#$ of the facts in the visual aid are accurate

1
&e'er than %#$ of the facts in the visual aid are accurate

All facts in the visual !!"!#$ of the facts aid are accurate in the visual aid are accurate

Attractiveness & Organization

The visual aid has e(ce)tionall* attractive formattin+ and 'ell"or+ani,ed information

The visual aid has The visual aid has attractive formattin+ 'ell"or+ani,ed and 'ell"or+ani,ed information information

The visual aid formattin+ and or+ani,ation of material are confusin+ to the reader Several re-uired elements 'ere missin+

Required Elements

The visual aid All re-uired elements includes all re-uired are included on the elements as 'ell as visual aid additional information

All but . of the re-uired elements are included on the visual aid

Gra !ics"#ictures Gra)hics +o 'ell

'ith the te(t and there is a +ood mi( of te(t and +ra)hics

Gra)hics +o 'ell 'ith the te(t/ but there are so man* that the* distract from the te(t

Gra)hics +o 'ell 'ith the te(t/ but there are too fe' and the brochure seems 01te(t"heav*01

Gra)hics do not +o 'ith the accom)an*in+ te(t or a))ear to be randoml* chosen

#resentation Content

Sho's a full Sho's a +ood Sho's a +ood understandin+ of the understandin+ of the understandin+ of to)ic to)ic )arts of the to)ic

2oes not seem to understand the to)ic ver* 'ell

Direct Instruction

Presentation w/ Adv Organizer

Concept Attnment

Cooperative Learning

Inquiry Teaching

Presentation with Advance Organizer Lesson Plan (10 pts)

Your Name: Megan Glass and Jacob Schmudlach Subject: Science Lesson Title: The Stages of a Star Materials Needed: Chart of stages of the stars compared with human life Blank Flipbooks Pencils Science Notebooks Colored Pencils/Markers Pictures of the stars at each stage Prerequisite Skills: The students should have solid background knowledge on the life cycle of humans and how we transform the older we get. This will allow them to understand the lifecycle of a star better. They should also already have an idea of what gravity is and they will be able to discuss it a little bit. Lesson Objective: After the fourth grade students are presented information on the lifecycle of a star they will be able to correctly identify the order of the stages of a stars life and a characteristic for each stage within 90% accuracy. 1. Present objectives: (What are students going to learn?) Time: 5 Today students will be learning about the lifecycle of a star. They will first learn about general characteristics of a star. Next they will learn about each specific stage in the lifecycle of a star and characteristics of the star at each stage. 2. Present advance organizer: (A metaphor or logical connection?) Time: 5 Today we are going to learn about the lifecycle of a star. We can use what we know about our own human lifecycle to help us remember the different stages a star goes through in its life. We all know that we start out inside our mothers stomachs before we are born. Eventually we are born as babies and then grow into children, like all of you. You will continue to grow and turn into teenagers and adults. Once we all become adults were not done growing. All adults still keep getting older and changing. Eventually we all grow older into old men and women. Just like as we grow and change through our lives so does a star. However unlike a human life which may last at the most a little over a hundred years, the lifecycle of a star can take millions and even billions of years. 3. Demonstrate knowledge or skill: (Input/Modeling by the teacher) Time: 15 Today we are going to learn about the lifecycle of a star. We can use what we know about our own human lifecycle to help us remember the different stages a star goes through in its life. Now lets start by everyone getting out their science journals. As I am talking about the stages of the star please write down the names of the stages and something to help you remember each stage. Stars are a really hot ball of gas that gives off heat and light. Can anyone name a star that is very important to all of our existence? How about the Sun? The Sun is the largest object in the Solar System and contains 99.8% of all the mass in the Solar System. Most scientists believe that the Sun has been around for Grade Level: 4th

approximately 4.6 billion years and has enough fuel in it to last another 5 billion years. The Sun is very important to us here on Earth and within our Milky Way Galaxy, but compared to many of the other stars out there it is actually average. Here is picture showing the cycles of our stars and how they line up with the cycle of human life.

A Star is Born! Protostar Stars begin out of a nebula. A nebula is a cloud of dust composed of 97% hydrogen and 3% helium. Within the nebula gravity causes the gas and dust to clump together. What can anyone tell me about what they know about gravity and why it is important to us here on earth? Gravity is what keeps us all on the ground and from floating into space like the astronauts floating on the moons! Once a star is created it is initially known as a protostar. In the protostar stage the star is being born and just developing much like when we are all born as babies. Here is a picture of what a nebula cloud and protostar look like. The Main Sequence In the next stage of the star we are going to see it start to grow up and become an adult star. We discussed how within a star is hydrogen and helium which are both types of gases. When these gases are burned they push outward while the forces of gravity push inward. When both of these are equal a star is stable. The most important thing to remember at this stage is that the star is a state stability. I am going to show you an example of what it means to be stable. Everyone stand up and face the person seated next to you. One of you will be partner A and one will be partner B. Now clasp the hands of the other person and push against each other. Did everyone notice that it kept both of your bodies stable while doing this? This is how hydrogen and helium work within a star at this stage. They emit equal force on each other just like you and your partner were doing. In the main sequence stage the star is starting to get really hot. At the main sequence of a stars life it has grown from a little kid to an adult. We can think of this stage that the star is growing up from a child to a teenager and into early adulthood. Our sun is in the main sequence of its life and here is a picture of our sun.

Red Giant The next stage of the life of a star is a Red Giant. Here the star is going to get really hot and big. The star has begun to run out of fuel and as it begins to cool it contracts and gets bigger. The core or middle of the star begins to get really hot because the gravity is pushing on the star. Everyone stand up again and find your same partner. This time I want you both to clasp hands. Only this time I want student A to relax and Student B push towards Student A. Now each of you switches roles. This time you should notice that the forces are unbalanced and unstable. This is how the forces of gravity and the forces of the gas are at the Red Giant stage of a star. At the Red Giant stage of a stars life is much like the middle age of a persons life. For those people with children this may be the stage where their kids are adults and have grown out of the house. They still have a lot of energy and are doing many of the fun things they want to in life. This is similar to the Red Giant stage of a star and would what we call a middle aged star. Next is where the star starts to grow old and become a dwarf star. Now lets take a look at what a star looks like at the Red Giant Stage. White Dwarf Can anyone remember how much hydrogen and helium I said a star is made of? That is right a star is 3% Helium and 97% Hydrogen. At this stage the star is still using up all of its helium and creating carbon. When it runs out of helium it is no longer hot enough to be able to burn the carbon it has created. This is where it turns into a white dwarf. At this point the star gets a lot smaller and becomes about e size of the earth. Can we all remember back to when we were learning about the planets last week and how much bigger the sun was than the earth? So now imagine how much smaller the star must get to be the size of Earth. A star is getting old and starting to die at this stage and will get dense and compact. It gets really hot, even hotter than a red giant, and stays that way for a long time. Here we can see a photo of a star at the White Dwarf stage and how much smaller it is compared to this picture of the Red Giant. Has anyone ever seen a picture of your grandparents and noticed that they were shorter than when they were young. I remember once seeing a picture of my Grandfather when he was a young man and thinking how tall he was compared to what I knew of him. Well much like how people may shrink when they get older so do the stars. We can think of the white dwarf stage as being our grandparents that they are getting older and smaller. Black Dwarf Finally stars turn into Black Dwarf. This is when a star cools and has no more fuel. We cannot see the stars at this point so I brought in a blank picture of space. This would be equal to death in the human world. 4. Check for understanding and provide student feedback: (How will you know students understand the skill or concept? How will they know they get it??) Time: 10 Ok, so we have talked about all of the different stages of a star and related them with the ages of humans in our life cycle. What are the stages we have talked about so far? (Protostar, Main Sequence, Red Giant, White Dwarf and Black Dwarf) I want everyone to take out a piece of paper and right each one of these down. Now find one partner and together you will right the age the humans would be in comparison to the stages of stars. Along with that you will right one fact about each stage that we have talked about in class. Example: The Protostar would be known as a newborn baby in the human life cycle. I will walk around to help any of you that have questions and after this we will all discuss what we got for our answers and why. 5. Assessment / Closure: (How do you evaluate student progress or provide closure to this lesson?) Time: 15

You will be making a flipbook showing the lifecycle of the star. I have provided you each with a blank flipbook for this project. On each page I want each of you to write the name of each of the five stages of a star. Under each name of the stage I want your draw a picture of what a star would look like at this stage and write a sentence with one characteristic of each stage. You can use your science journals, where you were all hopefully taking notes while I was talking, to help you with this project. Here is a copy of the flipbook I made. On the first page I put a picture of a cloud in space which is the nebula the protostar is made from. Underneath I wrote that a star is made from a cloud called a nebula. A nebula cloud is made of hydrogen and helium. Again notice I labeled my page with the name of the stage the star is in, drew a picture on my page and wrote a sentence to describe a characteristic. I will be walking around to assist you if you need help.
CATEGORY Required Elements 4 The flipbook includes ll required elements s !ell s ddition l inform tion" All f cts in the flipbook re ccur te" 3 All required elements re included on the flipbook" ''(')* of the f cts in the flipbook re ccur te" There is 1 error in c pit li. tion or punctu tion" 2 All but 1 of the required elements is included on the flipbook" +'(+)* of the f cts in the flipbook re ccur te" There re 2 errors in c pit li. tion or punctu tion" /sed some of the time !ell durin% e ch cl ss period" There ! s some focus on %ettin% the pro0ect done but occ sion ll& distr cted others" 1 #e$er l required elements !ere missin%"

Accur c&

,e!er th n +)* of the f cts in the flipbook re ccur te" There re more th n 2 errors in c pit li. tion or punctu tion" 2id not use cl ss time to focus on the pro0ect OR often distr cted others"

-ech nics

C pit li. tion nd punctu tion re correct throu%hout the poster" /sed time !ell durin% e ch cl ss period" ,ocused on %ettin% the pro0ect done" 1e$er distr cted others"

/se of Cl ss Time

/sed time !ell durin% e ch cl ss period" /su ll& focused on %ettin% the pro0ect done nd ne$er distr cted others"

This project will be worth a total of 12 points. 6. Adaptation for students who need extra help, time, or attention? For students that need more help, time or attention, I will personally give them printed out pictures of each star sequence and each stage of the life cycle humans go through. I will guide them through this activity and help them match the stages of the stars to the similar stages of the human life cycle. This will help them see the correlation between the two better. Extension for students of high ability? As an extension for students of high ability, I will have these students do the assigned work but along with that these students will have an opportunity to draw the exact stages of the stars to what they look like in each sequence. They will draw the stars correctly and also label them with their most important fact about them that we learned in class. This will allow a greater understanding by actually seeing the correlation

rather than just writing things down on a piece of paper. If this isnt enough for them, I will have books on gravity and our solar system they can read when finished.

TOTAL LESSON TIME: __50 minutes____

7. References Consulted: (Curriculum books in Drake SOE curriculum lab, teacher resources, websites, etc): We used our prior knowledge of what the stages of life our. To create the curriculum we needed to learn about the stages of the star and what each stage was constituted of. Most of the information came from these two websites. http://aspire.cosmic-ray.org/labs/star_life/starlife_proto.html
http344te chers"net4lessons4posts43+51"html

We also used knowledge that we had seen in my practicum classrooms on helpful teaching techniques. We thought it would be helpful to do a demonstration with the students to help show them what stability was. This is also a way to get students moving and out of their seats and be interactive with the lesson. Human Star Chart http://science89.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/star_human.jpg Rubric http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ Beisser, 2000

Direct Instruction

Presentation w/ Adv Organizer

Concept Attnment

Cooperative Learning

Inquiry Teaching

Concept Attainment Lesson Plan (10 pts) Lesson Background:

Your Name: Megan Glass and Jacob Schmudlach Subject: (circle one) Science Grade Level: (circle one) 4th

Lesson Title: The Life of an Astronaut Materials Needed: Pencils Paper Marker board Markers TV to show the video Handout for the video Prerequisite Skills: The students will have a basic understanding of our solar system and will have learned about the planets. This will allow them to understand the life of an astronaut better. Most students will have a general idea of what an astronaut is. Students should know how to write a letter from a previous unit we did on this. Lesson Objective: After watching a video and discussing about the life of an astronaut the students will be able to write a letter identifying 5 characteristics about being an astronaut within 90% accuracy. Concept Label: Astronaut Critical Attributes: [yes] NASA Neil Armstrong Moon Spacecraft Oxygen Tank Space Travel Non-critical Attributes [no] NFL Obama Earth Minivan Gravity Airplane

Definition of Concept: A person who is trained to travel into space ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interaction with Students:

1. Provide examples and non-examples to the class: (Distinguish yes/no attributes) Time : 15 min Today class we are going to learn about a new concept within our space unit. I have put two columns on the board a Yes column and a No column. As a class we are going to guess the concept based on the patterns of clues I am going to give you. I am going to start by putting clues that relate to the concept in the Yes column and clues that dont relate to it in the No column. As I am putting these on the board try and think quietly to yourself what the concept is we are going to be talking about. Once you think you know what it is I want you to SILENTLY put your finger on your nose.

Once I see that students are starting to recognize the concept I can call on the students with their finger on their noses to help me with the remaining clues and putting them in the correct columns. 2. Test for attainment: (Do the students understand the concept?) Time: 5 min I will look around the room and make sure that students all have their fingers on their noses indicating they understand what the concept is. If there are more than 3 students that dont understand the concept I can verbally go over some more clues. Students now that we have had a chance to look at all the clues please turn to your partner and tell them what you think the concept is. 3. Analyze student thinking processes and integration of learning: Time: 5 min (Are they able to provide additional examples and non-examples?) Students, now that we have had a chance to share out with our partners can anyone tell me what we are going to talk about today. Great! That is right we are going to talk about astronauts. Now as we think about astronauts does anyone else have some ideas of word we can put in the Yes column? As I write some of these ideas on the board can anyone else think of things that would go in the No column or words that would not describe an astronaut. I can guide the students as we do this to help them come up with additional clues to put in each column. 4. Clarify lesson objectives: (What are students going to DO with these?) Time: 5 min Now that we know we are going to talk about astronauts today we are specifically going to learn about the life of an astronaut. We are first going to start by watching this video all about astronauts. I have given you a handout with some things to look for as we are watching the video. There are four categories on the handout I just gave you. The first one is What steps does someone take to become an astronaut? This can include what schooling they had to go through or what steps do they do to prepare themselves before they go into space. The next section is what do the astronauts look like? What do they wear, how their clothing is different than ours and what do they need to protect themselves. Look at they need to breath. We will see the astronauts actually go into space so pay attention to what they would see, how is that different than what we see here on earth? Lastly look at the general life of an astronaut, so some of these can be what kind food are they eating, how do they sleep, what is their environment like, what is their mission. Once we are done watching the video and have talked about it as a class everyone is going to pretend they are an astronaut and write a letter to a friend back at home and tell them all about their space adventures. In this letter I want you to have at least 5 things on what life as an astronaut is like. 5. Procedures for Using the Concept in a meaningful way? Time: 45 min Students will watch the video. Now that we have all watched the video together lets share in our pods what we have learned and what it is like to be an astronaut. I want each of you to have at least two things to contribute to your group about what life as an astronaut would be like. As your group members are sharing their ideas remember you can add these to your worksheet if you dont already have them. Now that we have talked about it in our groups lets go over as a class what we have learned. I will write a list out on the board as we discuss it as a class. As we discuss the concept as a class it will help the students prepare to write their independent letter and think of ideas on their own. 6. Assessment / Closure (How do you evaluate student progress or provide closure for this lesson?) Include rubric, checklist, assessment documents. Time: 20 min

This could be done as part of our Language Arts Unit for the Day Class now that we have discussed what life is life for an astronaut I want you all to take out a piece a paper and we are going to write a letter as if we were all astronauts. We all know how to write letters because we have been practicing that in our unit. I want everyone to write a letter to a friend or family member back home and tell them all about what it is like to be an astronaut. You need to include at least 5 things on what your life is like. Remember this can be what preparation you need, what things you see in space, what your life is like, what clothing you wear. All of the things we talked about this morning. Also as we are writing these letters we need to have an opening and closing. We need to make sure we are using complete sentences with proper punctuation and grammar. Also remember to use complete ideas when writing these letters. We have been practicing this a lot so it shouldnt be too hard for you! 7. DIFFERENTIATION of Content, Process or Product: a. Adaptation for students who need extra help, time, or attention? For students that need extra help I can have these students first write out what five characteristics they want to put in their letter and this will help them in creating their letter. They can do this while students are creating their letter. b. Extension for students of high ability? (Remember, assigning gifted students to be the tutor for others is For students of high ability they can add visuals or draw pictures with their letters and can include a more detailed letter. Some examples could be if a student is writing about a spacecraft, how fast does it go? How many gallons of gas does it use? The video will have listed out many facts that maybe only a more gifted student would have caught onto and written down.

TOTAL LESSON TIME:__90 min____ 8. References Consulted (Curriculum books in Drake SOE curriculum lab, previous teachers as resources, online websites, your past experiences, or your own initiatives, etc): We made our rubric from Rubristar.com We also used ideas from your handouts and from what we had seen in our practicum to come up with the ideas of doing the astronauts and then having the students write letters.

Letter-Writing : Astronaut Letter Rubric

Teacher Name: Mrs. Glass and Mr. Schmudlach Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY ontent Accurac!

The letter contains at The letter contains !" The letter contains $" The letter contains no least 5 accurate facts # accurate facts % accurate facts accurate facts about about the topic about the topic about the topic the topic

Grammar " s#elling $con%entions&

&riter ma'es no &riter ma'es $"% errors in (rammar or errors in (rammar spellin( and)or spellin(

&riter ma'es !"# errors in (rammar and)or spellin(

&riter ma'es more than # errors in (rammar and)or spellin(

&riter ma'es no a#itali'ation and (unctuation errors in

capitali*ation and punctuation

&riter ma'es $"% errors in capitali*ation and punctuation

&riter ma'es !"# errors in capitali*ation and punctuation

&riter ma'es more than # errors in capitali*ation and punctuation

)deas

+deas ,ere e-pressed in a clear and or(ani*ed fashion +t ,as eas. to fi(ure out ,hat the letter ,as about

+deas ,ere e-pressed in a prett. clear manner/ but the or(ani*ation could ha0e been better

+deas ,ere some,hat or(ani*ed/ but ,ere not 0er. clear +t too' more than one readin( to fi(ure out ,hat the letter ,as about

The letter seemed to be a collection of unrelated sentences +t ,as 0er. difficult to fi(ure out ,hat the letter ,as about

Astronaut Handout for VIDEO

Students Name_______________________

What steps does someone take to become an astronaut?

What does the astronaut look like?

What does an astronaut see in space?

What is life like for an astronaut in space?

Direct Instruction

Presentation w/ Adv Organizer

Concept Attnment

Cooperative Learning

Inquiry Teaching

Problem-Based / Inquiry Instruction Lesson Plan (10 pts) Lesson Background:

Your Name: Megan Glass and Jacob Schmudlach Subject: Science Grade Level: (circle one) 4th

Lesson Title: A Trip in Space Materials Needed: Computer Poster board Markers Scissors Colored Pencils Glue Pencils Paper Prerequisite Skills: Prior to this lesson we will have watched a video on astronauts and also read a book on the topic. Students will understand how to research on the internet and work cooperatively in groups. They have the skills to make and present a poster. Logistics: (Are special arrangements necessary?) The classroom will be set up to have the students in groups. I will also have checked out multiple books from the library on space and astronauts that the students can use. Lesson Goal (not ABCD objectives): Students will create a poster and present to the class what an astronaut would need to take to a trip into space. Students will work together and verbally explain to the class their reasoning of what they chose to put on their boards.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Interaction with Students:

1. Orient students to the problem or dilemma? (Must first get their attention to SOLVE a problem!) Students recently we have been studying about space and astronauts. Today I have a special mission for you. We have an astronaut George that just graduated from NASA and is getting ready for his first mission in Space. He needs your help! George wants to make sure he has everything he needs for his big trip. We are going to get into groups and you will research the necessities he needs to go into space successfully. As a group you will make a poster showing what George needs for his big trip. We are going to use our computers and books from the library to help us with this project. Also please remember when presenting I want you to not only tell me what George needs to take with him to space but why he needs it. 2. Organize students for study: We are now going to get into our groups. I have assigned each of you a group of 4 students, so as I call your name please go to the area I have designated for the group. (I will decide on the groups ahead of time and will choose these based on ability grouping). Please remember in your groups to work cooperatively and brainstorm your ideas together. You will be making and presenting the poster together so make sure everyone is involved and has a part.

3. Assist independent and group investigation: (Input/Modeling so kids know what to do) Students now that you are in your groups I want to show you an example of a poster I created. On this poster I was trying to help someone who didnt know what they needed for a hike in the mountains. Can anyone tell me what they see on the poster and why the hiker would need this? That is correct; here is a picture of climbing boots. And why would the hiker need that? He wants good shoes to protect his feet when he is climbing the mountain. Can anyone see anything else the hiker needs? Good Job, he would also need a canteen. And why would he nee d that? Correct, so he can have water with him as he will get thirsty as he is sweating on his hike. As you can see from my poster I have all of the things a hiker would need for a successful trip up a mountain. As we were talking about this though we didnt just talk about what he needed, but also why he needed it. Remember when you are presenting I want to know why George the astronaut would need his items to go into space. 4. Develop and present artifacts and exhibits (How do students share what they have learned?)

Now that you have seen my example I want you to create your own poster as a group. You can use what we learned in the video we watched yesterday and the book we read earlier today. I want you to have at least 8 items on your poster. Again, you can also use your computers and the books I brought up from the library to do additional research. I want you to draw on your posters the items that George the astronaut needs for his mission. Under each item you have it labeled of what it is and a short explanation for why he needs this. So for example on my poster I had the canteen labeled and under that I had written In case he gets thirsty. Once we have all finished our posters we will be presenting to the class what we have all created. 5. Analyze and evaluate the problem-solving process: Analysis and Evaluation of Questions Great job class! We all made great posters to share with each other. During this lesson we all used our problem solving and investigative skills to decide what George the Astronaut would need for his first mission into space. I think with all of your great ideas he will definitely have a successful mission. Class now that we have all finished our posters and presented them to the class I have a worksheet I want you to fill out about how you used your problem solving skills and worked with your group. Everyone will be filling these out individually. 6. Assessment / Closure: (How do you evaluate student progress or provide closure to this lesson?) Now that everyone has completed their worksheets I want us all to think back to all of the posters we saw today. Can anyone tell me some of the items that were similar among all the groups? Now did your group come up with something the other groups didnt? How did your group decide what they wanted on the poster? As you can see we all have different techniques and strategies to problem solving and there is more than one way to get the same answer. I saw a lot of groups using their computers but I also saw one group that mainly used the books to come up with their answers. There are many ways to solve a problem! 7. DIFFERENTIATION of Content, Process or Product: a. Adaptation for students who need extra help, time, or attention? For students that need more time I can help these groups individually and assisting them on what an astronaut would need to take into space. Some of these students may also have trouble with the writing portion of the project so I could have them just verbalize this instead. If a certain group does not feel comfortable presenting to the whole class I could always have them present just to me instead. This may make them feel more comfortable in their abilities by only having to explain their project to me.

b. Extension for students of high ability? (Remember, gifted students need challenge). These students could also do research on what only an astronaut needs to take into space, but why do astronauts go on missions. They could have to come up with a fake scenario for our astronaut George for what kind of mission he was going on into space and why. This would give the gifted students an extra challenge and they could do more in depth research with this. TOTAL LESSON TIME:______ 8. References Consulted (Curriculum books in Drake SOE curriculum lab, previous teachers as resources, online websites, your past experiences, or your own initiatives, etc): http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ for Rubric We also used the example lesson plans you gave us and our prior knowledge from practicums and classroom experiences.

Name_________________ A Trip Into Space What did you learn or already know about space that helped you with this project?

How did your group decide on what should go on the poster? What was your role in this?

When working in your group what was the biggest struggle you had while putting your poster together?

Name_____________________

A Trip Into Space Rubric

CATEGORY Graphics 3- Excellent
Graphics go well with the text and there is a good mix of text and graphics.

2- Good
Graphics go well with the text, but there are so man that the distract from the text.

1- Needs Improvemen t
Graphics do not go with the accompan ing text or appear to be randoml chosen.

Knowledge Gained

!tudent accuratel presented the facts on the poster and was able to explain wh all the items would be needed in space.

!tudent accuratel !tudent appears to ha"e presented most the insufficient #nowledge about facts on the poster and the facts on the poster. was able to explain wh some of the items would be needed in space. (ess than ) accurate graphics and text are displa ed on the poster.

Content Accurac

At least $ accurate %&' accurate graphics graphics and text and text are displa ed are displa ed on the on the poster. poster.

!se o" Class #ime

*sed time well during each class period. +ocused on getting the pro,ect done. -e"er distracted others.

*sed some of the time .id not use class time to well during each class focus on the pro,ect OR period. There was some often distracted others. focus on getting the pro,ect done but occasionall distracted others.

Total ______/16