Ms.Camargo/Ms.Holst/Mr.Ramirez

Students will:

Understand the relationship of the nine planets in our solar system to the sun by creating a three-dimensional representation.

Understand the planets’ relative distance from the sun and their approximate size in relation to the Earth.

Materials

For this lesson, you will need:

•	round balloons, different sizes
•	tempera paint and paint brushes
•	fishing line (or strong string)
•	construction paper
•	newspaper torn into strips about one inch wide
•	space paste (see instructions below)
•	S-clips to suspend models from ceiling tile frames (large paper clips bent into L shapes or strong loops of tape will work as substitutes) Begin by leading the class in creating a web of planet facts to tap students’ prior knowledge of astronomy topics. When the web is as big as it’s going to get, share some basic planet facts with your students: Mercury is closest to the sun, Venus is the hottest planet, Earth is mostly water, Mars is red because of rust, Jupiter is the largest planet and has a spot, Saturn’s rings are made of ice and rock, Uranus spins like a bowling ball, Neptune’s blue color is methane, and Pluto is the smallest planet. After sharing this information, provide your students with pictures of the planets, then have them paint balloons—you can inflate them and cover them with paper ahead of time—to reflect what they have learned.

Ms.Camargo's class