So… Where are we?
Grade 6 Science Unit Plan
Big Idea: The solar system is part of the Milky Way, which is one of billions of galaxies.
Curricular Competencies:
– Choose appropriate data to collect to answer their questions.
– Identify patterns and connections in data.
– Demonstrate an openness to new ideas and consideration of alternatives.
– Identify some of the social, ethical, and environmental implications of the findings from their own and others’ investigations.
– Co-operatively design projects.
Curricular Content:
– The overall scale, structure, and age of the universe.
– The position, motion, and components of our solar system in our galaxy.
Objective: By participating in this unit students will not only learn where Earth exists within the universe but they will also be introduced to the many fascinating components of space. Students will be able to explain their knowledge of our milky way galaxy, the planets and notable object within our solar system, and the ways in which celestial bodies are connected.
Day 1:
Begin by asking students “so… where are we?” Collect answers and encourage students to expand on them. For example, if they say Victoria, ask “so where is Victoria, …where is BC,… Where is Canada,…?” Until the conversation eventually arrives in Space.
Drawing Space Activity: Supply students with large pieces of white paper and ask them to, in groups of 3-4, draw space (give them 20 minutes to do so). When they are done give each group an opportunity to discuss what they have drawn and why. Then, hang the drawings around the class.
* Cross- Curricular: This activity speaks to the grade 6 Art Education curricular competency which encourages students to “create artistic works collaboratively and as an individual using ideas inspired by imagination, inquiry, experimentation, and purposeful play”.
Space Journal: Ask every student to begin a ‘space journal’. This journal will be used to take notes on what they have learned each day as they move through the unit. Inform them that these notes are important for at the end of this unit the journal will be used during a test on the important concepts and ideas they have learned. For today’s entry students are to write five things they currently know about space.
Assessment: Both the journal and the drawing space activity act as formative assessment. These two tools provide the instructor with an idea of what students currently know about space, thus allowing both the students and the teacher to track their progress.
Source: Credit is due to Rob Kiddell for the ‘draw space’ activity.
Day 2:
Big Bang Activity: Bring students outside into an open area with a lot of space. To simulate the Big Bang, ask students to all come together into one tight group like the Universe existed 14 billion years ago. Then inform them to run as fast and as far as they can when the teacher yells “bang” and not to stop until the whistle is blown. Once spread out and stopped, point out that the class was once small and dense and now everyone is spread out. Each students represents a galaxy. Choose one student and ask the class to come back together and gather around them. Provide the chosen student with a CD which will represent the Milky Way galaxy, our galaxy. Facilitate conversation by asking students:
– If our galaxy is the size of this CD how far away do you think the nearest neighboring galaxy is? Answer: 10 feet. Using our scale, 4 feet is equal to 1 million light years. The nearest neighboring galaxy, Andromeda, is 2.5 million light years away. Give another CD to a different student and ask them to stand 10 feet away.
– What is a light year? Answer: the distance light travels in a year. To give context, tell students that it takes the sun’s light 8 minutes to travel to Earth.
– How far do you think the next closest galaxy is? Answer: 44 feet (11 million light years away). Hand another student a CD and ask them to stand 44 feet away.
Space Journal: Encourage students to make notes on what they have learned today in their space journals.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqiJbt4zOBM
Day 3:
Begin class by reading The Darkest Dark by astronaut Chris Hadfield to students.
* Cross- curricular: This activity responds to the grade 6 English Language Arts curriculum ‘big idea’ which states “exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and the world”.
How Big is Our Galaxy? Provide each student with a quarter. Ask them to work in groups to gain an idea of how big our Milky Way galaxy is. The quarter represents our solar system which is 5.5 light hours across. Using the scale of the width of one quarter equaling 5.5 light hours, what would be equivalent to the size of our galaxy which is 100,000 light years across. Give students 5 minutes to discuss this and be able to show reason for their answer. Ask groups to present their reasoning to the class.
-Answer: approximately the width of North America.
How Many Stars are in Our Galaxy? Hand out bird seed, quinoa, rice or some sort of tiny manipulative to students. Ask them how many stars they believe are in our Milky Way galaxy? Answer: Roughly 200 Billion (the same number exists in Andromeda). Ask students to get into their groups and use their manipulatives to reason what 200 billion could fill? What container, structure, geographic formation would 200 Billion seeds fill?
– Answer: 200 Billion bird seeds could fill a football field with a 4-foot-high wall around it.
Space Journal: Ask students to write in their journals how their estimates compared to the figures you provided them with.
The objective of today’s activity is to inspire students to practice using their reason and logic to understand huge numbers and distances. Rather than simply giving them the answer, these activities allows them to practice astronomy by making estimates based on their knowledge.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q236f1RMRag
Day 4: Expanded Lesson Plan
Today the class will be looking at the effects of gravity in space.
Objective: By the end of today’s class students are to understand that objects in space orbit more massive objects because of the forces of gravity. Furthermore, it will be understood that the greater an objects mass the greater its gravitational pull. Students will be able to use this concept to explain why the planets orbit the sun and why moons orbit planets.
Begin with a Discussion: Facilitate a class discussion around what students know about our solar system by asking the following questions. Make note of their responses on the board and encourage students to make notes in their journals if it helps them.
– What planets do we know?
– What causes the planets of our solar system to stay together?
– What is gravity and how does it work?
Gravity Demonstration: Include student volunteers in each step of this demonstration.
Materials:
– 2 plastic or fabric sheets
– 2 empty buckets
– 2 small foam balls
– 1 squash ball
– 1 baseball.
– 30 straws
– Rope or large elastic bands.
Procedure:
– Step 1: Place 2 plastic or fabric sheets over the 2 buckets and tie them down to ensure they are firmly bound around the opening of the bucket like a drum.
– Step 2: On the tightly bound sheet of bucket #1, place the baseball with a small foam ball next to it. On the the tightly bound sheet of bucket #2, place the squash ball with a foam ball next to it.
– Step 3: Draw this chart on the board and ask students to copy it into their space journals. Inform them that they will be using straws to blow the the foam balls away from the larger balls on each sheet. Using their charts, ask them to hypothesize whether it will be harder, easier or the same to blow the foam ball away from the baseball on bucket #1? Then ask them whether it will be harder, easier or the same to blow the foam ball away from the squash ball on bucket #2?
| Buckets | Hypothesis | Result |
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#1
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#2
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– Step 4: Using a straw, attempt to blow the foam ball away from the baseball on bucket #1 and off the sheet.
Step 5: Using a straw, attempt to blow the foam ball away from the squash ball on bucket #2 and off the sheet.
Step 6: Ask students to fill out the results of this experiment on their chart. Discuss why it was easier to blow the foam ball away from the lighter ball then the heavier ball. While discussing, provide any student who wishes to try with a straw so they may experience this demonstration.
Step 7: Relate this to gravity and explain that gravity is the natural mechanism by which things with mass or energy (planets, stars, galaxies) are brought toward one another.
Step 8: Ask students to explain ways that we are currently being affected by gravity? Ex. We are revolving around the sun, the moon impacts our tides, we are stuck on earth due to it’s gravitational pull.
Assessment: In order to identify whether or not the objective of today’s lesson was met by every student, and whether some require further detail or clarification, ask students to write on a piece of paper what they have learned about gravity today. Then ask students to submit this explanation as a ‘ticket out the door’.
Alternatively, students could also be provided with the assessment tool presented bellow at the beginning of the class. This tool would be filled out throughout the lesson and submitted at the end to give the teacher an idea of how their understanding developed.
| I use to think…
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| And now I know…
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| But I am still wondering…
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Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM_8rz1YzAM
Day 5:
Research Project: Ask students to select partners and begin a research project on a planet. Students will have two class periods to use books and the internet to find information pertaining to important characteristics of their planet (its distance from the sun, orbital period, what type of planet ect). They will then prepare a 3-5-minute-long presentation on their planet.
This research project provides students with autonomy and an important guided learning experience. It is important that students learn to discover and critically assess information by themselves. Furthermore, this project speaks to the grade 6 Science curricular competency “choose appropriate data to collect to answer their questions” (BC’s New Curriculum).
*Cross- curricular: This activity speaks to the grade 6 English Language curricular competency which seeks to have students “synthesize ideas from a variety of sources to build understanding” (BC’s New Curriculum).
Assess student’s collaboration by checking in with groups and discussing their progress. This is an opportunity to provide further guidance and encouragement.
Extension:
– For students who require a greater challenge, ask them to work alone and research other objects such as the International Space Station or the Hubble Telescope and report to the class on some of the great achievements that have been made possible with these creations.
– For students who may be having difficulty with this assignment ask them to join a larger group and check in with them regularly to provide guidance.
Day 6:
Research Project: Students will continue to work on their research project as the instructor continues to check in with each group to assess progress and collaboration. As groups are nearing the end of their research and presentation preparation, ask them to draw their planet on a piece of cardboard and cut it out so that they my hold it up while presenting.
This research project also speaks to the grade 6 Science curricular competency “co-operatively design projects” as group members work together to educate themselves and express their creativity through drawing their planet and preparing their presentation.
Day 7:
Groups present their research project for roughly 3- 5 minutes each. While groups are presenting students are asked to make a few brief notes on each planet as they are being discussed. At the end of their presentation each group will use the app. ‘Sky View Lite’ (an app. which points out where celestial objects are as you move the phone across the sky or ground) on the teacher’s phone and tape their planet to the wall, floor or ceiling in accordance with where the app tells them their planet exists currently.
* Cross- Curricular: This activity speaks the grade 6 English Language Arts curricular competency which aims to have students “exchange ideas and viewpoints to build shared understanding and extend thinking” (BC’s New Curriculum).
While groups are presenting, the instructor can assess the student’s ability to relay ideas to their peers.
Day 8:
The Moon’s Rotation Around the Earth:
Materials:
– 1 lamp with shade removed.
– 1 foam ball with a pencil inserted into it.
Put the lunar cycle on the board and guide students through this demonstration. With the light representing the sun, the foam ball representing the moon and one’s head representing the earth, ask students to slowly spin with the moon rotating around their head so they can observe how the light illuminates and shadows different parts of the ball. During this rotation and spinning movement, ask students to identify the different shapes of the lunar cycle. Also, facilitate a discussion about what students know about the moon, what the moon is (thought to be a chunk of earth), and what holds the moon in the Earths orbit (gravity).
For clarification and further information watch this educational and age appropriate video on the Moon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-b4XvuQo1Y
Space Journal: Ask students to write in their journals and answer the question what causes the lunar cycle?
Ticket out the Door: To assess how one’s teaching can be improved, ask students to write on a small piece of paper what has been their biggest take away from the unit so far and what they are still wondering. Students are then to submit this piece of paper as their ticket out the door at the end of class.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz01pTvuMa0
Day 9:
Begin by watching this introductory video on the differences between asteroids, meteors and comets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToPBxyYDDDQ
Clarify the difference with students.
– Comet: a ball of ice that orbits the sun ranging from 1 km to 20 km in diameter.
– Asteroid: chunks of rock that orbit the sun within the asteroid belt.
– Meteoroid: space debris smaller than 10 m in diameter.
Craters on the moon:
Materials:
– 6 cups of flower
– 2 table spoons of cinnamon
– 2 pie trays
– 40 small rocks
– 1 large piece of blue Bristol board
With 3 cups of flour and 1 table spoon of cinnamon in each pie tray, ask students to, one at a time, drop a small rock behind their back into one of the trays and observe how craters form. Explain that this is how the craters on the moon have been created. Using the second tray with the blue Bristol board underneath it, ask students to do the same yet while they drop rocks facilitate a conversation about why we do not see as many craters on Earth? Guide students to understanding that water erosion, earthquakes, the atmosphere, and plate shifting all cause craters to disappear over time. Furthermore, point out how many rocks fall onto the blue Bristol board symbolizing the ocean. Thus many meteors do not impact commonly viewed parts of the earth.
Space Journal: Ask students to write 3 things they have learned today.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGJFVuFEsBs
Day 10:
Today’s class is dedicated to clarification and summative assessment. The class will begin with a discussion of what has been learned about space. This will give students the opportunity to clarify anything they are still wondering and dive further into anything they are interested in.
Following this will be a summative test where students are asked to explain their understanding of the concepts and ideas that have been discussed in this unit. These questions are largely based on what they have been encouraged to write about in their journals. To limit stress, this test will not greatly impact their overall mark and students may use their journals for reference while they write.
Examples of Questions:
– What is a light year?
– Which galaxy do we live in?
– Roughly how many stars are there in our galaxy?
– Explain what you know about gravity.
– Name all 8 planets and provide some information about 3 of them.
– Explain two things you have learned about the moon.
– Explain why we do not see many asteroid craters on the earth.
Day 11:
To bring closure and celebrate this unit of study hold a popcorn and movie party. The movie should be one that is space related and of the student’s choice, or else episode one of Netflix’s ‘Edge of the Universe’ series. This will give students a chance to relax while they expand on the knowledge they have gained thus far through a captivating film or documentary.
References
BC’s New Curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/science/6
Beautiful Science. (2018, November 27) Comet, Meteor, or Asteroid- The Real Difference [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToPBxyYDDDQ
Happy Learning English. (2015, July 27). The Moon For kids: Learning the Moon Educational Video for Children [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-b4XvuQo1Y
NASA Night Sky Network. (2012, July 5). Astronomy Activity: Universe of galaxies [Video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqiJbt4zOBM
NASA Night Sky Network. (2013, October 8). Astronomy Activity: Our Place in Our Galaxy [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q236f1RMRag
NASA Night Sky Network (2014, May 7). Astronomy Activity: Exploring Black Holes and Gravity [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM_8rz1YzAM
NASA Night Sky Network (2013, August 16). Astronomy Activity: Craters on the Earth and Moon [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGJFVuFEsBs
National Science Teaching Association. (2014, September 16). Moon Phases Demonstration [Video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz01pTvuMa0