Microteach Lesson Plan

Teacher Name Emily Tremblay Date June 6, 2017

Subject Area Science Grade 2
Topic Space: The Solar System Time 12 min

General Learner
Outcome(s) Recognize and understand concepts of outer space
Taken from Alberta Program
of Studies
Specific Learner
Outcome(s) Recognize the different planets of the Solar System.
Taken from Alberta Program
of Studies

Learning Objectives Students will:

What do you want your
Identify the planets in the Solar System
students to learn?

Assessment Observation Name the different planets

How will you know your
Tell one distinguishing feature of at least one planet
students have learned?

Materials 3-D space puzzle and glasses

What resources will you need? Planets, Sun, and moons print-outs

*Have a picture/visual of Solar System on board

Ask students if they know what it is
Introduction
Ask students if they know the names of the planets
(1 mins) Ask students if they know which planet Earth is
Tell the students its okay they dont know the answer
*Get students to line up to receive a print-out of the Sun, a planet, or a moon
Get the students to arrange themselves in a live model of the Solar System
The Sun
The Sun is actually a star. Its just really, really close to Earth, thats why its so bright. Its also
really, really huge. Its big enough to fit 1.3 million Earths inside! The Sun is made up of hydrogen
and helium gas that burns super hot. The sun is so hot, that if you tried to land on it, you would
burn up before you even reached the surface (5500C)! The Sun makes its heat and light by
turning hydrogen into helium in its core.
Each planet in the Solar System has something special about it. *Tell about the planets
Mercury (0 moons)
Mercury is closest to the Sun, and travels around it the fastest. Do you know how long a Mercury
Body (10 mins) year is? 88 days. Thats just 3 months! Mercury also has no atmosphere. Because of this, the
temperature on Mercury goes from 450C during the day, to -200C.
Venus (0 moons)
Venus is the next planet, and it is almost the same size as Earth. Venus is covered in super-thick
clouds 30km deep! These clouds trap heat from the Sun, so that the surface temperature is
480C all the time! The surface of Venus is covered in volcanoes and lava, and the volcanoes
spray sulfuric acid into the air, so it rains acid on Venus.
Earth (1 moon)
The only planet we know of that has life. There are many things special about Earth. Can you
think of a few?
*Give students a few seconds to name off something special about Earth
Thats right! Earth is also the only planet in the entire Solar System to have tectonic plates. That
 means that the continents move really slowly (*show pic of continental drift?) We also have our
moon, which gives the oceans their waves.
Mars (2 moons)
Mars is the red planet. Mars is red because all of the iron dust on the surface and in the air there
has rusted. It is home to the biggest volcano in the Solar System, Olympus Mons, which is 3 times
bigger than Mt. Everest! It also has the biggest canyon in the Solar System, Valles Marineris. This
canyon is 7 km deep and long enough to stretch across Canada! Mars has 2 moons: Phobos and
Demios.
Jupiter (67 moons)
Jupiter is the biggest planet. It is bigger than 1000 Earths! It is made entirely of gas. The Great
Red Spot on Jupiter is actually a giant hurricane that is big enough to fit 4 Earths inside! Jupiter
also has 67 moons! The 4 most well-known are Ganymede, the biggest moon in the Solar
System, Callisto, the most cratered object in the Solar System, Io, the most volcanic moon in the
Solar System, and Europa, the ice moon. Scientists think that there may be liquid water
underneath Europas ice, which might have life!
Saturn (62 moons)
Saturn is also a gas giant. But just because its big, doesnt mean its heavy! It is so light that if
you found a bathtub big enough, it would float in the water! I think you guys can guess what
Saturn is famous for! Its rings! Saturn is surrounded by many rings, all made up of ice. The spaces
in-between the rings is caused by Saturns moons. Its most famous moon is called Titan. Titan is
the only moon to have weather. Except it doesnt rain water there-it rains methane, a poisonous
gas when its on Earth!
Uranus (27 moons)
Uranus is a sideways planet. It has rings like Saturn, but instead of holding them around its waist
like a hoola-hoop, its rings go around the top. It also rolls around the Sun on its side! Its really
windy there, even windier than Lethbridge! Its moons are just as strange as the planet itself. One
of its moons, Miranda, is even inside-out!
Neptune (13 moons)
Neptune has the worst weather in the Solar System. Earth-size storms are everywhere on this
planets surface! Its even windier than Uranus, with 2000-km/h winds! The storms cause big
temperature changes, from -220C in the clouds to 7000C on the inside of Neptunes core. This
is even hotter than the surface of the Sun!! Tritan, one of its moons, is so cold it has ice
volcanoes.
Pluto (1 twin planet)
Pluto is a dwarf planet. It is farthest from the Sun and even smaller than our moon. It takes 248
years to orbit the Sun once. Pluto has a crooked orbit so that half of its orbit is above the other
planets and the other half is below. Its so cold there that scientists think there may be frozen
oxygen on its surface!
Charon is its twin planet. Pluto and Charon orbit each other. Charon is just as cold and dark as
Pluto is, and is 1/3 the size of Pluto.

Allow students to build 3-D Solar System puzzle

Assessment activity (1min)
Ask the students the names of the planets

Closure Ask the students to name their favorite planet and why its there favorite (1 new thing they learned)
(2 mins)