INTRODUCTION
This assignment is going to give us an opportunity to learn more interesting facts about our solar system. In order to share what we learn with our fellow students, we are going to create a book about the solar system. For this project we are going to be working in groups of 2 or 3 and each group will make a separate page of the book. Each group will be assigned a different part of the solar system to look up, gather pictures of and interesting facts about. The different parts of the solar system that will be researched are the sun, the moon, the planets, asteroids, comets, and Earth.
TASK
Each group will be preparing a page of our solar system book. You will use this Webquest and the links I have provided for you to find information about your part of the solar system.
When creating your page of the book, you will need to include the following:
ü The name of the part of the solar system that you are researching
ü A picture of your part of the solar system
ü Some interesting facts about your part of the solar system
ü Your name at the bottom of the page
PROCESS
We will first break up into groups of 2 or 3.
I will then provide each group with a part of the solar system to research.
Your group will then use the computer to look up the links I have provided to find information and a picture for your page.
You need to find some interesting facts about your part of the solar system. Some interesting facts might include:
ü What happens to the sun at night?
ü In what order are the planets?
ü What is the sun made of?
ü What covers Pluto?
Print out a copy of your picture to paste to your page.
Write some interesting facts about your part of the solar system on your page. Please provide at least 3 interesting facts.
Write each of your names at the bottom of the page.
Below is a list of links that you may use for your research:
EVALUATION
Exemplary
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Excellent
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Acceptable
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Not Acceptable
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Score
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Quality and appropriateness of picture utilized
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The picture was appropriate, correctly labeled and was neatly.
6 points
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The picture was appropriate, labeled and for the most part neatly.
5 points
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The picture was appropriate but not labeled and was somewhat sloppy.
4 points
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The picture was not appropriate, was not labeled and was sloppy.
3 points
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Interesting facts
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Facts provided exceeded the required three and were relevant.
6 points
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Facts were provided as specified and relevant.
5 points
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Required amounts of facts were not provided but were relevant.
4 points
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Required amounts of facts not provided and were not relevant.
3 points
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Grammar and Spelling
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There were no mistakes in spelling or grammar.
6 points
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There were three or less mistakes in spelling or grammar.
5 points
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There were five or more mistakes in spelling or grammar.
4 points
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There were more than five mistakes in spelling or grammar.
3 points
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Use of links provided
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Students were able to access links without any assistance.
6 points
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Students accessed links with minimal assistance.
5 points
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Students accessed links with frequent assistance.
4 points
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Students could not access links without assistance.
3 points
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Neatness and Layout
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Page was neat, clear and careful thought given to layout.
6 points
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Page was neat, clear, and layout was logical.
5 points
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Page was mostly clear, mostly neat but layout lacked organization.
4 points
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Page was sloppy and layout was haphazard.
5 points
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Student names
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All students' names were provided.
6 points
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Most of the students' names were provided.
5 points
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Some of the student names were provided.
4 points
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No students' names were provided.
3 points
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CONCLUSION
This project has been a great way to explore our solar system! We have been able to learn what things make up our solar system. We have also learned where in the solar system we live.
Did you find our exploration interesting?
What part of the solar system would you like to visit if you could?
What things did you learn about the solar system?
What was the most interesting thing you learned about the solar system?
CREDITS
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/solarsys_kids.cfm http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/planets.html
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/asteroid.htm http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/asteroids.html
ClipArt: http://www.webweaver.nu/
TEACHER PAGE
As part of my second grade class' study of the solar system, I found and adopted a project for creating a book about our solar system. As part of creating a book, groups of students must find the content to provide for their individual pages of the book as per teacher instructions. This project, therefore, allows the students to use higher order thinking skills in the layout of their page, creativity in selecting an appropriate picture for their page, become more apt in utilizing technology in research, as well as enhancing collaboration skills. It also increases student motivation by allowing the students to take charge of their learning. This project covers Benchmark #SC.K.P.8.1.