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 The 7th grade science students, by the end of the year, will be able to:  Identify and illustrate how the planets rotate around the Sun. (Knowledge)  Relate to how the moons affect their planets.(Application)  Identify the properties of the planets.(Knowledge)  Acknowledge the speeds and distances of the planets from the Sun. Distances are measured in Astronomical Units.(Knowledge)  Explain the meaning of the each planet’s name and why. (Comprehension)  Compare and contrast the atmosphere of each planet and what gases they contain in them.(Analysis)

 The statistics of enrollment by ethnicity are:  7th grade boys and girls from 12 to 13 years of age.  45% Hispanic  50% Caucasian  4% African-American  1% Asian-American  Live in a low-socioeconomic background that live with 5 to 10 miles of the school.

 Assign eight groups of students from each class to one planet. Each group will have 2 people.  Each group will outline four characteristics of their chosen planet.  Their planet’s distance from the Sun in AU and miles.  The temperature of the surface of each planet.  How long does each planet take to orbit around the Sun.  List other unique characteristics about the planet. Such as how they received their name and who named the planet.

They will have the following resources available to all the students to do their projects.  The internet in the classroom and computer lab  School library resources  Classroom references  Course textbook issued by the school

 Each group needs to sign up & present their project orally in front of the class. Each person takes one characteristic of their planet.  They can use visual aids from classroom. Ex: posters, models, and overhead projector.  Put their project on poster board/bulletin board.  Make a PowerPoint slideshow of their planet.  After each presentation, the students grade each group their selves.  The teacher will then give an overall grade to each group.

a 4 D)  Earth and space. Earth and space phenomenon can be observed in a variety of settings. Both natural events and human activities can impact Earth systems. There are characteristics of Earth and relationships to objects in our solar system that allow life to exist b) 9  Earth and space. The student knows components of our solar system. The student is expected to:

b) 9 A) Analyze the characteristics of objects in our solar system that allow life to exist such as proximity of the Sun, presence of water, and composition of the atmosphere; and B) Identify the accommodations, considering the characteristics of our solar system, that enabled space exploration.

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 After the presentations are over have each student come up in front of the class.  Write on the dry erase board what they learned from their presentations and their classmates’ presentations about each planet.  Each of the planet’s will be in its own column with it’s picture above it.  They can put information in any of the columns, one of the columns, or all of the columns.  After they are done review all the information and give extra credit to each group for participation.

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