Objective
To introduce students to the various planets in our solar system by thinking about what kind of life forms each planet could sustain and what each planet might look like to visitors
Things to Keep in Mind
The best resource for this lesson is detailed fact sheets about the environments of the various planets that benefit from the energy in our solar system. Additionally, it helps to have a more basic fact sheet to keep the planets and their concentric orbits in order, so that students can really memorize which ones are furthest from the sun, etc. as well as relative planet sizes and how solar power affects various planets. The classic comparison activity (modeling different planets as basketball, tennis ball, etc.) can be useful here.
Another note is to make sure students know about the “planetary status” of Pluto. Any handout detailing the debate about Pluto’s status will be a good “disclaimer” for students to keep in mind when discussing the solar system and planets as they are currently identified.
Materials
- Visuals of the surfaces of each of the solar system’s planets
- Internet or library access
Asking Questions: Lead-In
A short discussion can be a good beginning to the lesson. Start out with either concrete aspects of human travel to space, i.e. moon landings, or for a more general idea of planetary travel, simply ask about what “visitors” to different planets might generally see, and talk about taking a “trip” to a different planet, discussing what materials might be necessary and how long it may take to travel between planets.
Project: Planet Web Cam
This project asks students to draw on their fact-finding abilities and also on their creativity. It can be modified into a project using multimedia (scanned in images, power point, etc.) to create “web cam” images of a planet or it can be a simple exercise of the imagination, where students generate their own ideas about the environments of different parts of our solar system.
Break up students into groups as applicable and assign each group a planet. Hand out the visuals of planet surfaces according to the groups.
Identify the goals of the project to students: the group should first find out some detailed information about the planet’s environment, such as:
- Is water available on the planet?
- Would the planet support any living creatures similar to those on earth?
- What is the temperature on the planet?
From this information, the group can then brainstorm about what the planet surface might look like day to day, including any possible changes that might be observable. Stress to students that this part of the project is free-form and invite them to explore any ideas they may come up with, based on what they read about their planet. It may help to note that because most of these planets will not support life forms as we know them, some effort and imagination may be necessary. Students can think about what any imaginary ‘citizens’ of this planet might look like based on environmental factors, and how they might affect the planet’s surface.
Give the groups time to prepare, and then hold presentations where students verbally present their ideas about their planet to the class by reporting on a ‘web cam’ set up on the surface of their planet. Presentations can be time-specific, using Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 as a format to talk about any changes they may ‘observe’ on their planet’s surface environment.
Follow Up
Re-assign students to mixed groups and let them discuss the ideas presented.
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