READY-TO-USE LESSON PLANS. Meet the Planets

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1 READY-TO-USE LESSON PLANS Meet the advancementcourses.com Think all planets are alike? Think again! Use this lesson to introduce students to the differences between two distinct groups of planets in our solar system. Objective: Students will be able to identify how the inner and outer planets of our solar system are alike and different. Grades: 5 8 Time: one hour or two 30-minute periods Materials: class supply of sticky notes, copy of Sorting the for each small group, scissors, glue sticks, copy of They re Alike! They re Different! for each small group, access to reference materials DIRECTIONS Bell-Ringer Activity 1. Write the following sentence on the board: All planets in our solar system are alike. Then draw a T chart under the sentence, labeling the left side Agree and the right side Disagree. 2. Give each student a sticky note and have him or her place it in the column that matches his or her answer. 3. After sticky notes have been placed on the T chart, share with students that a solar system is a star and all of the objects that travel around it, including planets, moon, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. Explain to students that they will be taking a closer look at one member of a solar system, planets, which is divided into two distinct groups. Whole-Group and Partner Instruction 1. Ask students to brainstorm information they already know about our solar system s planets. Write students responses on one side of the board. 2. On the other side of the board, write inner planets and outer planets. Ask students to predict what these terms mean. Then write these definitions on the board: inner planets: planets that are closest to the sun outer planets: planets that are farthest from the sun 3. Explain to students that inner planets and outer planets share some similarities but have major differences as well. Divide the class into pairs. Give each twosome a copy of Sorting the, scissors, and a glue stick. Challenge the student pairs to sort the cards according

2 to what they think might be each group s characteristics. For younger students, project a copy of the page. Work together as a class to identify the traits of each group of planets. 4. After several minutes, have a few student pairs share how they sorted the cards. Then share the following answer key with the class: inner planets = A, E, F, H, I, K outer planets = B, C, D, G, J, L Explain that the next part of the lesson will challenge students to dig deeper into the similarities and differences between these two groups of planets. Small-Group Practice 5. Divide the class into groups of three or four students each. (Older students can complete this activity individually.) Give each group a copy of the graphic organizer. Share with students the references you have gathered to help them complete this part of the lesson. Go over the directions on the graphic organizer. Then have groups research the inner and outer planets and complete the page as directed. 6. Meet back together as a class to discuss what students learned about inner and outer planets. Have students share other questions they have about inner and outer planets as you list them on the board as topics for further study. Progress Check 1. Wrap up the lesson by reminding students that they have been looking at characteristics of inner and outer planets and how these two groups are both different and alike. 2. Direct each student to complete an exit ticket on a piece of paper or a sticky note that tells one way inner planets and outer planets differ and one way they are alike. Exploring space Our popular course Understanding Our Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy helps you get students to look away from their screens and up toward the stars. They ll understand how the universe works and how it impacts their lives while diving into the science of planets and moons, asteroids and comets, the lives of stars, black holes, dark matter, and more. Other courses you may like: Next Generation Science Standards: A New Framework for Authentic Science Instruction Teaching Computer Science in K 5/Teaching Computer Science in 6 12 Chemists in the Making: Fostering Inquiry with Science Notebooks Crafting Engaging Elementary Science Instruction with Stories Courses are self-paced, graduate-level, and available online. Learn more about this course and more than 200 others at AdvancementCourses.com. MY NOTES

3 Name Date Sorting the Cut out the cards. Glue the Inner and Outer cards to the top of a sheet of paper. Glue each remaining card below its matching planet card. Inner Outer A. B. C. D. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars The planets in this group are large in size. each have multiple moons. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune E. F. G. H. These are the planets that are closest to the sun. This group of planets is also known as the terrestrial planets. These are the planets that are farthest from the sun. The planets in this group are small in size. I. J. K. L. have few or no moons. This group of planets is also known as the gas giants. planets are made up of mostly heavy metals such as iron and nickel. are made mostly of hydrogen and helium.

4 Name Date They re Alike! They re Different! After researching the topics below, fill in the diagram to compare and contrast inner planets and the outer planets. Use the back of this page if you need more space. Differences Similarities Differences Inner Outer Topics Distances from the Sun Surfaces Composition Moons and Rings Sizes Temperatures Rotations Orbits Shapes

5 They re Alike! They re Different! Answer Key Answers will vary. Possible answers are listed below. DIFFERENCES: Distance from the sun: The inner planets are closest to the sun. The outer planets are furthest from the sun. Surfaces: Most of the outer planets are either gaseous or icy. The surfaces of the inner planets are solid. Composition: The inner planets have rocky compositions made up of minerals and metals. The outer planets are usually made up of hydrogen and helium. Sizes: The inner planets are much smaller in size than the outer planets. The outer planets are much larger than the inner planets. Moons and Rings: Inner planets have few or no moons, nor do they have any sort of ring system. All outer planets have rings, and all of them have moons orbiting around them. Temperatures: Inner planets are warmer than the outer planets, which are much colder. Orbits: The inner planets orbit the sun quickly. The outer planets orbit the sun slowly. Similarities: Rotations: All of the planets rotate, and all with the exception of Venus and Uranus rotate in the counterclockwise direction. Orbits: All of the inner and outer planets orbit around the sun. Shapes: All of the planets are ellipsoidal or spherical.