Unit 8:
Solar System
Lauren Ard
Santa Clara High School
Tucson, Arizona
Instructions: Below are the
activities you can choose from to earn points for this unit. Start with
the C activities. These will help you learn the basics of the unit.
Activities in bold are required for every student. After you have
enough points in the C section, move on to section B and then A for
more challenging activities. Here's how to get the grade you want:
F: 0 – 100 C Points
D: 101 – 110 C Points
C: 111 – 130 C Points
B: 130 C Points, and 5-15 B Points
A: 130 C Points, 15 B
Points, and 5-15 A Points
When you are finished with
an activity, you must sit down and discuss what you've learned with
Mrs. Ard. You may not turn in more than two activities on the last
day of the unit.
C Activities
| Description | # of Periods | Points | Score |
| Take Cornell notes on the entire unit. | - | 10 | |
| Write fifteen facts about a planet of your choice. | 0.5 | 15 | |
| Turn in your poem about the solar system. Remember, it must include ten facts about your planet! | - | 10 | |
| Color one of the coloring pages on the back counter. Be sure to color the solar system object the correct color. Then, read the back. On the front (the coloring side) write two interesting facts you learned about the planet. | 0.10 | 2 | |
| Read “The Big Fix” and do the worksheet. (You will read a very short science fiction story and answer a few questions.) | 0.25 | 5 | |
| Watch the 20-minute video called “Bill Nye: Comets” and take one side of a page of Cornell Notes. | 0.5 | 10 | |
| Watch the 20-minute video called “Bill Nye: Outer Space” and take one side of a page of Cornell Notes. | 0.5 | 10 | |
| Do the “Asteroids vs. Planets” activity. (You will read about asteroids and planets and make a Venn Diagram comparing the two.) | 0.5 | 10 | |
| Look at printout of Mrs. Ard’s 9th grade power point on ALH84001, a meteorite from Mars. Do the worksheet titled “Martian Meteorite.” (You will learn about a Meteorite from Mars.) | 0.5 | 10 | |
| Read “Asteroids, Comets, and Meteoroids” and answer the questions on the worksheet. | 0.5 | 10 | |
| Read “The Great Asteroid and the End of the Dinosaurs” and answer the questions on the worksheet. | 0.5 | 10 | |
| Read “Wet Like Earth” and answer the questions on the worksheet. | 0.5 | 10 | |
| Do the “Comet’s Tail” activity. (You will learn about comets and how they orbit the Sun.) | 0.5 | 10 | |
| Read “Jupiter’s Four Largest Moons” and answer the questions on the worksheet. | 0.5 | 10 | |
| Read an AR book in your reading level about the Solar System. They can be found on Mrs. Ard’s desk. You CANNOT check them out – they must stay in my room. If you score 100%, you get 10 points. If you score 80-99% you get 5 points. If you read a book that is out of your reading level you will not get any points! | 1 | 5-10 | |
| Do the “Scaling the Solar System #2” activity. You can only do this activity if you have done “Scaling the Solar System #1.” (You will draw a scale model of the solar system using the website.) | 1 | 15 | |
| Read “Brightside Crossing” and do the worksheet. (You will read part of a science fiction short story and answer a few questions.) | 1 | 15 | |
| Read “One Sunday in Neptune” and do the worksheet. (You will read a science fiction short story and answer a few questions.) | 0.75 | 15 | |
| Read pages J62-J69 in the hardcover Astronomy book and answer questions 1-6 on page J69.. Then, read pages J84-J87 and answer questions 1-4 on page J87. | 1 | 18 | |
| Read pages J80-J83 in the hardcover Astronomy book and answer questions 1-5 on page J83. Then, read pages J70-J77 and answer questions 1-5 on page J77 | 1 | 20 | |
| Read “All Summer in a Day” and do the worksheet. (You will read a science fiction short story and answer a few questions.) | 1 | 20 | |
| Do the “Scaling the Solar System #1” internet activity. (You will learn about just how far away the planets are from each other.) | 1 | 20 | |
| Do the “Comets, Meteors, Asteroids” Venn Diagram. (You will compare the similarities and differences of comets, meteors, and asteroids.) | 1 | 20 | |
| Do the “Toilet Paper Solar System” activity. (You will measure how far the planets are from each other by using a roll of toilet paper.) You must bring in your own roll of toilet paper for this activity! | 1 | 20 | |
| Read “Life in our Solar System” and make a poster about one of the places in our solar system that might have life. Be sure to include 5 facts about why scientists think that life might be on that planet or moon, as well as a picture. Your poster must be colorful and neat to get the full 20 points. | 1 | 20 | |
| Make a poster or children’s book of one of the planets in the solar system. Be sure to include a title, 10 facts about the planet, and pictures. Your poster/book must be colorful and neat to get the full 20 points. You can do this activity up to 3 times on three different planets. You may not do the same planet as you are doing for your poem. | 1 | 20 |
B Activities
| Description | # of Periods | Points | Score |
| Use the “Interiors of Planets” packet to look at what the inside of each planet looks like. Write three sentences about which planet is most like Earth’s interior and why. Write three sentences about which planet is least like Earth’s interior and why. | 0.25 | 5 | |
| Listen to the “Venus,” “Mars,” and “Jupiter” songs, written by the composer Gustav Holtz in the early 1900s. Give your opinion on whether or not you think the songs fit the planets they are named after. (Think about if the planet’s size, color, temperature, and environment matches how the song makes you feel.) Write three sentences for each song, and include at least one fact about each planet. | 0.5 | 10 | |
| Pretend you are the first human explorer to land on ___________ (pick a planet). Write at least five journal entries about your experiences on the planet. What did you explore? What problems did you have? What is the planet like? Use at least ten facts about the planet in your journal entries. | 0.5 | 10 |
A Activities
| Description | # of Periods | Points | Score |
| Do the “Deep Impact” activity. (You will simulate how meteorites cause craters.) | 1 | 15 | |
| Write a poem about a moon instead of a planet. Your poem should have at least five stanzas and five facts. Some suggestions of interesting moons are Titan (one of Saturn’s moons), Io, or Europa (two of Jupiter’s moons). | 1 | 20 | |
| Write you own science fiction short story about humans colonizing _________ (Pick a planet or moon). It should be at least 2 pages long, and include at least 5 facts about that planet/moon in the story. | 1 | 20 |