Chabot Classes – Supplemental Teacher Information
Planet Trek, Grades 4-12
Program Description:
Grades 4-7
Students use astronomy skills to find planets in the night sky. With hands-on activities and
media, students model the planets to scale, explore cratering and other planet processes, travel to
Mars with Pathfinder, record and study Jupiter’s moons, examine Saturn’s rings and “discover”
a new planet.
Grades 8-12
Using scientific inquiry skills and hands-on activities, students identify planets in the night sky,
model the planets to scale, and explore planet processes and landforms.
Students simulate radar mapping of Venus’ surface, travel to Mars with NASA missions, record
and study Jupiter’s moons, “discover” new planets, and examine the possibilities of life beyond
earth.
Vocabulary:
analyze
asteroid
atmosphere
blink comparator
canyon
categorize
characteristic
comet
comparison
contour map
crater
Earth
ellipse
explore
gas
gravity
impact
Jupiter
Liquid
Mars
Moon
Mercury
mission
moon
NASA
Neptune
orbit
planet
Pluto
pole
radar
radiation
rings
robotic
rotate
rover
satellite
sand dune
Saturn
Possible Activities:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Locate planets in the night or morning sky
Build a simple scale model of the planets with clay
Simulate radar mapping techniques for Venus or Earth
Examine and identify Martian landforms
Experience the Pathfinder mission to Mars in 3D
Examine a life-sized Mars rover
1|Page
scale model
Solar System
solid
star
stream beds
Sun
star
three dimensional (3D)
tide
tidal forces
Uranus
Venus
volcano
Chabot Classes – Supplemental Teacher Information
•
•
Track and record the motions of Jupiter’s moons
Discover a new planet with a “blink comparator”
Pre-Visit Activities (in your classroom):
•
•
•
Review vocabulary (above).
Review related websites (below).
Discuss planet differences: how much would you weigh
(http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/Weight.html),
how high could you jump, how old would you be
(http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/HowOld.html ), where would you go, how
long would it take.
Post-Visit Activities:
At CSSC:
•
•
•
Visit exhibit: “Planetary Landscapes: Sculpting the Solar System”
Visit exhibit: “Our Place in the Universe”
Visit Exhibit: “Planet Trek”
In your classroom:
•
Making Craters in the Classroom: http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/classroom/activities/1stardst-ch01.pdf and http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/10feb00/teach10.html
•
Make a Comet in the Classroom:
http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/segwayed/lessons/cometstale/Make_ins.pdf or
http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/segwayed/lessons/cometstale/make_script.html
•
Mars Landforms Activities:
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/SPACEGRANT/class_acts/MarsQuizTe.html and
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/education/modules/webpages/activity5.htm
•
Scale Modeling Activities:
Solar System: http://stardate.org/resources/tguide/activity4.html and
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/education/modules/webpages/activitypage.htm and
http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/mary/Scale/
Saturn scale model: http://cosmos.colorado.edu/~urquhart/Cassini/scale_saturn.html
Comet scale model: http://cosmos.colorado.edu/~urquhart/comet/scale_comet.html
•
Complete list of Solar System Classroom Activities (see page 7)
Related Websites:
The Nine Planets http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/
2|Page
Chabot Classes – Supplemental Teacher Information
An overview of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of each of the planets
and moons in our solar system. Each page has text and images, some have sounds and movies,
and most provide references to additional related information.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) – all about planets, missions, earth, space, and Solar System
education:
Home Page: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
Top Images http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/ and
Exploration home page: http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html and
State of California Science Standards:
Grade 4:
Life Sciences
3. Living organisms depend on one another and on their environment for survival. As a basis for
understanding this concept, students know:
b. for any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive
less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Earth Sciences
5. Waves, wind, water, and ice shape and reshape the Earth's land surface. As a basis for
understanding this concept, students know:
a. some changes in the Earth are due to slow processes, such as erosion, and some changes are
due to rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.
b. natural processes, including freezing/thawing and growth of roots, cause rocks to break down
into smaller pieces.
c. moving water erodes landforms, reshaping the land by taking it away from some places and
depositing it as pebbles, sand, silt, and mud in other places (weathering, transport, and
deposition).
Investigation and Experimentation
6. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept, and to address the content the other
three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students
3|Page
Chabot Classes – Supplemental Teacher Information
will:
b. measure and estimate weight, length, or volume of objects.
c. formulate predictions and justify predictions based on cause and effect relationships.
Grade 5:
Physical Sciences
1. Elements and their combinations account for all the varied types of matter in the world. As a
basis for understanding this concept, students know:
b. all matter is made of atoms, which may combine to form molecules.
g. properties of solid, liquid, and gaseous substances, such as sugar (C6H12O6), water (H2O),
helium (He), oxygen (O2), nitrogen (N2),and carbon dioxide (CO2).
Earth Sciences:
5. The solar system consists of planets and other bodies that orbit the sun in predictable paths.
As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:
a. the sun, an average star, is the central and largest body in the solar system and is composed
primarily of hydrogen and helium.
b. the solar system includes the Earth, moon, sun, eight other planets and their satellites, and
smaller objects such as asteroids and comets.
c. the path of a planet around the sun is due to the gravitational attraction between the sun and
the planet.
Investigation and Experimentation
Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept, and to address the content of the other
three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students
will:
b. develop a testable question.
f. select appropriate tools (e.g., thermometers, meter sticks, balances, and graduated cylinders)
and make quantitative observations.
g. record data using appropriate graphic representation (including charts, graphs, and labeled
4|Page
Chabot Classes – Supplemental Teacher Information
diagrams), and make inferences based on those data.
Grade 6:
Heat (Thermal Energy) (Physical Science)
2. Heat moves in a predictable flow from warmer objects to cooler objects until all objects are at
the same temperature. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:
a. energy can be carried from one place to another by heat flow, or by waves including water,
light, and sound waves, or by moving objects.
c. heat flows in solids by conduction (which involves no flow of matter) and in fluids by
conduction and also by convection (which involves flow of matter).
d. heat energy is also transferred between objects by radiation; radiation can travel through
space.
Energy in the Earth System
4. Many phenomena on the Earth’s surface are affected by the transfer of energy through
radiation and convection currents. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:
a. the sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on the Earth’s surface, powering winds,
ocean currents, and the water cycle.
b. solar energy reaches Earth through radiation, mostly in the form of visible light.
c. heat from Earth's interior reaches the surface primarily through convection.
d. convection currents distribute heat in the atmosphere and oceans.
e. differences in pressure, heat, air movement, and humidity result in changes of weather.
Ecology (Life Science)
5. Organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the
environment. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:
e. the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources
available and abiotic factors, such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil
composition.
5|Page
Chabot Classes – Supplemental Teacher Information
Investigation and Experimentation
7. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept, and to address the content the other
three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students
will:
a. develop a hypothesis.
b. select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances,
spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.
c. construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements about the
relationships between variables.
6|Page
Chabot Classes – Supplemental Teacher Information
Solar System Classroom Activities
Online Games:
1. Space Puzzles Online: http://www.crpuzzles.com/space/index.html
2. Solar System Trading Cards Online Game:
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/trading-top-level.html
3. Solar System & Space Wordsearch Online:
http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/fun/wordsearch/Wordsearch.html
4. Amazing Space games and activities: http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/
5. Solar System Online Coloring Book: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/cgibin/tour_def/coloring_book/index.html
6. Solar System Printable Coloring Book:
http://windows.arc.nasa.gov/coloring_book/SS_Beg_new2.pdf
7. Solar System Puzzle Kit:
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Curriculum.Support/Space.Science/Our.
Solar.System/Solar.System.Puzzle.Kit/.index.html
Layout of the Solar System:
1. Planet Paths middle school lesson – includes ellipses, conic sections, and Kepler’s laws:
http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/58orbits.html
2. Kepler’s Laws Labs for older students:
http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/manuals/apsmanuals/cleajupiter.pdf and
http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/manuals/apsmanuals/kepler.pdf
Scale Models:
1. Calculate and build scale model with clay:
http://stardate.org/resources/tguide/activity4.html
and “Worlds in Comparison” activity from Family Astro
(http://www.astrosociety.org/education/family.html)
2. Solar System Scale Modeling Activities:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/education/modules/webpages/activitypage.htm and
http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/mary/Scale/
7|Page
Chabot Classes – Supplemental Teacher Information
3. Peppercorn and toilet paper scale models from Universe at your Fingertips
(http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astro/astropubs/universe.html)
Earth as a Planet:
1. Exploring the earth from space:
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Curriculum.Support/Earth.Science/Educator.G
uides.and.Activities/Exploring.Earth.From.Space/.index.html
2. NASA’s earth cam: http://www.earthkam.ucsd.edu/
3. Solar System Analysis through Images: http://www.nasm.edu/ceps/SIIMAGES/
Venus:
1.
Venus topography box activity: http://eis.jpl.nasa.gov/eao/venus_t.html
Mars:
1.
Mars Landforms identification activity and photo set:
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/SPACEGRANT/class_acts/MarsQuizTe.html
2. Flowng water shapes planet surface activity
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/education/modules/webpages/activity5.htm
3. Mars Exploration Classroom Activities:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/education/modules/webpages/activitypage.htm
4. Mission Planning Activity: http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/expmars/activities/geography.html
5. More Mars activities: http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/mary/mars/
Jupiter:
1. Plot the orbit of a moon of Jupiter http://stardate.utexas.edu/resources/tguide/activity6.html
2. Jupiter’s Moons Lab (for older students):
http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/manuals/apsmanuals/galileanmoons.pdf
3. Convection Currents: http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/convection_currents.html
4. Vortex Activity: http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/vortex.html
5. Jupiter and Galilean Moons scale model, from Moons of Jupiter
(http://store.yahoo.com/lawrencehallofscience/moonsofjupiter.html) activity book
6. Tracking Jupiter’s Moons activity, from Moons of Jupiter
Saturn:
1. Saturn Educator Guide with classroom activities and materials:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/educatorguide/
2. Saturn Puzzles:
http://www.spacescience.org/Education/ResourcesForEducators/CurriculumMaterials/Cassini/C
hapters/saturn_puzzles_lr.pdf
8|Page
Chabot Classes – Supplemental Teacher Information
3. Scale Model Saturn: http://cosmos.colorado.edu/~urquhart/Cassini/scale_saturn.html
4. Other Saturn Activities: http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/mary/Cassini/
5. Cassini Mission: build a scale model
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/english/kids/simplemod.shtml simple 1:40 model
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/english/kids/challen.shtml detailed scale model, over 5 hrs
assembly time
6. NASA Cassini Activity list: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/english/teachers/activities.shtml
Cratering:
1. Making craters in the classroom:
Stardust Mission Educators Guide “Think SMALL in a BIG way” activity:
http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/classroom/activities/1-stardst-ch01.pdf
also http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/10feb00/teach10.html
2. Impact Craters middle school lesson plan:
http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/education/teach_guide/craters.html
3. Impact Crater Wordsearch:
http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/fun/wordsearch/craters_search/craters_search.html
4. See also varied activities in Exploring Meteorite Mysteries Teacher Guide:
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/NASA.Educational.Products/Exploring.Met
eorite.Mysteries/
Comets:
1. Comet Orbit Flip Books from Universe at your Fingertips
(http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astro/astropubs/universe.html)
2. Make a comet in the classroom activity: http://www.solarviews.com/eng/edu/comets.htm and
http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/segwayed/lessons/cometstale/Make_ins.pdf or
http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/segwayed/lessons/cometstale/make_script.html
3. Middle School comet study and hands-on activity:
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/comets/teacher/lessonplan.html#follow
4. Scale Model Comet: http://cosmos.colorado.edu/~urquhart/comet/scale_comet.html
Meteor Showers
1. Observing Meteor showers: http://stardate.org/resources/tguide/activity3.html
Additional Resources:
9|Page
Chabot Classes – Supplemental Teacher Information
Good Solar System Online Lessons: http://www.nasm.edu/ceps/etp/etp.htm
Thursday’s Classroom, astronomy classroom activities with reading and math included:
http://thursdaysclassroom.com/archive.html
NASA Ames Educators Resource Center: http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/erc/erchome.html
NASA Educational Products:
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/NASA.Educational.Products/.index.html
Planetary Geology (223 page Educators’ Activity Guide):
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/NASA.Educational.Products/Planetary.Geology/Planet
ary.Geology.pdf
Cool NASA Websites, including educational: http://www.nasa.gov/cool.html
More Solar System Activities by topic: http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/
Astronomy Activities on the Web, organized by topic and grade level:
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astroacts.html
Astronomical Society of the Pacific Education, including Project Astro and Family Astro:
http://www.astrosociety.org/education.html
“Universe at Your Fingertips” from Astronomical Society of the Pacific:
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astro/astropubs/universe.html
“More Universe at Your Fingertips” from Astronomical Society of the Pacific:
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astro/astropubs/moreuniverse.html
10 | P a g e