1. On your notes write out your address…
Activating Strategy:
On your notes write out your address…
After today’s lesson, you should be able to answer all of these questions and more!
Now what country…
What continent…
What planet…
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should ask the students to write down their answers to the questions posed for the activator on their “Position in the Solar System Notes” (linked on the resource page). In the animated slide, students are asked to identify: their address and the Country, Continent, Planet, and Galaxy in which they live.
What galaxy?

2. How is our solar system positioned in the milky way galaxy and the universe?
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should introduce the essential question and the state standard to which it is aligned.
S6E1b. Describe the position of the solar system in the Milky Way Galaxy and the universe.

3. Let’s review
Turn to a seat partner and discuss the theory on how the universe was formed.
Instructional Approach(s): The students should turn to a seat partner (without getting out of their seat) to discuss the theory on how the universe was formed. Partners can be determined by the students or the teacher can provide more specific directions such as turn to the person directly in front/behind you or to the right/left of you, etc. It may be necessary to have a group of three if you have an uneven number of students. Do not allow more than 1 minute of discussion time. The teacher should be walking around listening and redirecting discussions as needed.

4. The Big Bang Theory
The most commonly accepted theory today of the formation of the universe is the Big Bang Theory.
The theory states that the universe originated sometime between 10 billion and 20 billion years ago from an enormous explosion of a small volume of matter at extremely high density and temperature.
Instructional Approach(s): After allowing students to discuss the theory of the formation of the universe, the teacher should review the information from the previous lesson. The students should answer “What is the Big Bang Theory?” on their notes. *Note: the students should not write down the exact statement from the ppt. They should summarize the answer in their own words.

5. Let’s review the formation of other objects within the solar system.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should read the slide to the class.

6. the Universe After its Big Bang…
As millions of years passed, the dense areas of the universe pulled in material because they had more gravity. Finally, about 100 million years after the Big Bang, the gas became hot and dense enough for the first stars to form. Large clusters of stars soon became the first galaxies.
Scientists believe that Solar Systems formed in similar ways. Giant clouds of dust and gas began to collapse under the weight of its own gravity. As it did so, the matter contained within it began to move in a giant circle, much like the water in a drain moves around the center of the drain in a circle.
In short, after the Big Bang, dense clouds of gas and dust from the “bang” either collapsed or stuck together to form the parts of the universe we know today.
Further away from the center of this mass where the star was forming, there were smaller clumps of dust and gas that were also collapsing.
The star in the center eventually ignited forming our Sun, while the smaller clumps became the planets, minor planets, moons, comets, and asteroids.
At the center of this spinning cloud, a small star began to form. This star grew larger and larger as it collected more and more of the dust and gas that collapsed into it.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should review the information from the previous lesson. The animated slide has an “in short” statement at the end summarizing the formation of other objects in the universe. The students should answer “How did other objects form in the Universe?” on their notes. *Note: the students should not write down the exact statement from the ppt. They should summarize the answer in their own words.

7. The Universe contains billions of galaxies, each containing millions or billions of stars. Therefore, the galaxy in which our solar system and essentially all of us live, is just one of billions.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should read the slide to the class and discuss how the image illustrates the size and content of the universe. Students should fill in the statement on their notes: Our Universe contains billions of galaxies.

8. Distributed Summarizing: Turn to a seat partner and come up with a comparison of our galaxy within the universe.
Instructional Approach(s): The students should turn to a seat partner (without getting out of their seat) to come up with a comparison of our galaxy within the universe. If the students are struggling to understand what they are being asked to do, the teacher may opt to show the illustration as an example. Our galaxy is one out of billions in the universe just like a single person is one out of billions on the Earth. Tell groups that they should come up with a different comparison. Partners can be determined by the students or the teacher can provide more specific directions such as turn to the person directly in front/behind you or to the right/left of you, etc. It may be necessary to have a group of three if you have an uneven number of students. Do not allow more than 1 minute of discussion time. The teacher should be walking around listening and redirecting discussions as needed.

9. Our galaxy is called __________________.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should pose the statement: Our galaxy is called… and give students a chance to answer. Many students should already know the answer to the question. Once students have responded, click “forward” and the answer and a diagram should appear. Students should record the name of our galaxy on their notes.
Our galaxy is called __________________.
the Milky Way Galaxy

10. The Milky Way Galaxy
Contains single star systems, double stars, and dust and gas
It is a spiral galaxy because it has spiral arms that wind outward from the center
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should read the descriptions of the Milky Way Galaxy from the slide and the students should describe the Milky Way Galaxy on their notes.

11. The Milky Way Galaxy Why is our galaxy called the Milky Way?
Thousands of years ago people thought the stars appeared as a patchy band of light like a flowing river of milk, thus the name Milky Way.
Also, the word galaxy comes from the Greek word gala, meaning milk.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should pose the question to the class. However, do not spend more than a minute discussing student responses. Get a few student responses and then show the students the answer. The students do not have to know or write down the information. It is simply an interesting fact for the lesson.

12. Our solar system
Our solar system is a single star system located on an outer rim (arm) of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should read through the slide while the students fill in the statement “Our solar system is _______” on their Notes; as well as, fill in the diagram on their Notes with the name of our galaxy and our solar system.

13. Our solar system
Here is another view of the location of our solar system in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should use the slide to illustrate another view of our solar system and the location of Earth within the solar system.

14. Study Jams: The Solar System
Instructional Approach(s): The students should watch the short video on the Solar System to reinforce concepts from the lesson.

15. Examine the Milky Way galaxy at different scales
Scale of the universe animation
Digital Universe
Instructional Approach(s): The teacher should select one at most two of the animations/videos on the slide to show to students.
Examine the Milky Way galaxy at different scales

16. Distributed Summarizing:
The map to the right shows Troup County. The lines and numbers represent interstates and major roads running through Troup County.
Imagine that the circle in the middle of the map is the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Draw an asterisk (*) showing where the Solar System might be located on our Troup County map.
Instructional Approach(s): The students should be given the Distributed Summarizing: Solar System Location Map (linked on the resource page). Individually, students should draw an asterisk(*) showing where the Solar System might be located on the Troup County map. The teacher should walk around during the task to facilitate the process. Once students have been given a short amount of time to mark the map, allow students to compare and share their responses with another student. The goal of the distributed summarizing activity is for students to recognize that the solar system is located on the outer rim of the galaxy; therefore, as long as they select one of the outer roads and explain why they should be fine. This task is a somewhat challenging application of the concept. If you notice while facilitating the process that a large number of students are struggling, have a class discussion to determine a general location.

17. Universe Match-up Summarizing STrategy
Instructional Approach(s): The students should work individually to match up the objects in the universe and place them in order from largest to smallest.