Content Objectives
The curriculum unit has three objectives. First, this unit will provide my second-grade students with a foundational level of knowledge on the Sun, planets, and the solar system. The Sun, planets, and solar system are not taught in our school curriculum until fifth grade, yet solar events are happening every single day in our world. Our students must learn about the solar system as early as possible to put all events in proper context. This unit will examine the Sun, the Moon, the planets, Pluto, asteroids, meteoroids, and comets in detail. The students will utilize videos, books, and project-based activities to create and reinforce their knowledge on the concepts of the Sun, the planets, and the solar system topics.
The second content objective is centered around increasing the capacity of my students’ oral language. Oral language, or speaking and listening, is a state standard for my second-grade students. The goal of this objective is for the students to increase their oral language skills. About 20% of our second graders receive speech services in the area of expressive language and about 70% of the second-grade students are reading below grade level. This goal will address both of these issues. The students will learn songs created about the Sun and the planets to practice their oral language skills. In addition, the students will practice their oral language skills by participating in two games created around the science content. These games have language practice embedded in the game questions and responses.
The third and final objective for the curriculum unit is for the students to use play to improve their social and emotional skills while they reinforce their understanding of the solar system. According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), young children learn best through play. Play and learning go hand in hand.4 The students will be able to develop their social and emotional skills by participating in two board games. These board games: “Planet Race!” - “Inner Planet and “Outer Planets” will allow the students to work in small cooperative groups. The board gameplay will incorporate social and emotional concepts of turn-taking, rule-following, winning, and losing all while practicing solar system concepts.
The Sun, Planets, and the Solar System
Humans have been looking at the sky since ancient times. Long before technology has given us information about the objects in space, humans have been creating meaning about the objects that they see when they look up into the sky. My second-grade students live in an area that is dominated by poverty, food insecurity, and violence. It has not been unusual to have multiple building lockdowns during the school year that would delay dismissal at the end of the day. Police cars and sirens are a frequent occurrence in the community. Yet, when my students look to the sky and space, they see the same sky and space that everyone else does. If my students learn about what is out there in our solar system, they will be able to see a vast opportunity that is available to everyone by engaging them in the study of our solar system.
The Sun
The Sun is a star. It is the center of our solar system. The Sun is the nearest star to Earth. It is the center of the solar system and its heat and energy make life possible on Earth. The Sun is a ball of gas. It is classified as a G2V class yellow star. The innermost part of the Sun is called the core. This inner part or core of the Sun is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. It is hotter than the outside of the Sun. The surface of the Sun shows dark spots called Sunspots. These spots look dark because they are a little cooler than the other parts of the surface of the Sun ¾which is very hot. The Sun is constantly releasing energy and extra bursts of energy are released from the sunspots. This release of energy is called a solar flare. Solar flares travel from the Sun into space. Our atmosphere on Earth helps to protect us from the solar flare. However, it can cause harm to satellites and radio communications. The Sun sends different kinds of light to Earth. Visible light is the light that you can see. Infrared light is the energy that we can feel as heat. Ultraviolet light is energy that we cannot see but ultraviolet light can burn our skin.
Figure 1: The Sun – Figure credits: NASA SpacePlace
Inner Planets – Terrestrial Planets and the Moon
There are four inner planets in our solar system that revolve around our Sun. The four inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. These planets are terrestrial. Terrestrial planets are planets that are composed of rocky or solid surfaces. The only planet in our solar system that is known to have living things is Earth. Our journey in this unit begins with our planet Earth.
Earth –An Inner Planet
From space, our home planet Earth resembles a blue marble with sections of white, green, brown, and yellow colors. The Earth is the only known planet with life. Earth is a terrestrial plant. A terrestrial planet is rocky. Earth has mountains, canyons, and valleys. Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It has Venus on the Sun side and Mars on the side away from the Sun. The Earth has an atmosphere. You can think of the atmosphere like a jacket. The atmosphere helps keep the Earth warm and safe from meteoroids. The atmosphere also gives us oxygen to breathe and is where weather happens. The Earth’s surface is over 70% water. Water is essential to life on Earth. The Earth takes about 24 hours to rotate around its axis. The Earth spins or rotates clockwise on the axis. The axis is the imaginary line that runs through the middle of the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole. Daytime is when the side of the Earth is facing the Sun. Nighttime is when the side of the Earth is facing away from the Sun. The days add up to 365 ¼ days in an Earth year. Every four years, Earth has a leap year. The leap year adds one more day to February. This additional day makes up for the ¼ part of a day that is missing each year. The Earth has one Moon.
Figure 2: The Earth - NASA SpacePlace
The Moon
The Earth has one moon, called the Moon. The "M" in moon is capitalized when it is referring to the Earth's Moon. The Moon is rocky and has craters. Craters occur when a meteoroid or asteroid crashes onto the Moon’s surface. Unlike the Earth, the Moon does not have an atmosphere to protect itself from meteoroids or asteroids. The Moon does not have a light source, instead, when you see the Moon, the light that you see (or moonlight) is light from the Sun being reflected off the Moon. The Moon takes about 28 days to move around the earth. The Moon goes through eight phases as it revolves around Earth. These phases make it seem like the Moon is changing its shape. However, the shape that we see is just the reflection of the Sun’s light on the Moon as it orbits or travels around the Earth. The Moon rotates and moves around Earth at about the same speed, so we only see one side of the Moon. The side we do not see is called the “far side” of the Moon.
Figure 3: Phases of the Moon - NASA SpacePlace
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a space station that orbits the Earth. It was created as a place where countries of the world would be able to send astronauts to live and do research in space. The space station took years to assemble. Astronauts from different countries live and work together. NASA has a website where you can follow the astronauts' location and work that they are doing. Part of the website is devoted to educators and students where you can learn more about activities that happen onboard the station. You also can watch Question and Answer sessions with the astronauts and students from around the country.
Mercury – An Inner Planet
Mercury is the smallest planet. It is also the closest planet to the Sun. Mercury is a terrestrial planet i.e., it is made of rock and metal. Mercury does not have any moons. One day on Mercury is equal to 59 Earth days. One year on Mercury is equal to 88 Earth days. This means that Mercury has long days and short years.
Venus – An Inner Planet
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system. The temperatures on Venus are so hot, that metal would melt. Venus is a terrestrial or rocky planet. Venus does not have any moons. It is about the same size as Earth and is often called the Earth’s twin. Venus has mountains and volcanoes. It has a thick atmosphere that traps heat and makes it like a greenhouse. Venus spins on its axis very slowly, so the days are long. One day on Venus is equal to 243 Earth days. Since the Sun rises every 117 days, it rises twice a year, but it is still the same day. Venus (and one other planet Uranus) rotates counterclockwise on its axis. On Venus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east.
Mars – An Inner Planet
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. Mars is a terrestrial or rocky planet. It is a cold and dusty planet. Mars has a thin atmosphere. Mars has seasons just like Earth. It is called the Red Planet because of the rusty iron that is in the ground. Mars has two moons: Phobos and Deimos. Mars has been visited by several rovers. Most recently, Mars was visited by the rovers Curiosity in 2012 and Perseverance in 2021.
Figure 4 - Solar System showing the size of planets compared to each other (orbits not represented) Figure credit: OpenStax-Astronomy
The Outer Planets
There are four outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These outer planets are called giant planets due to their large size. The outer planets are sometimes referred to as Jovian Planets; Jovian means Jupiter-like. Jupiter and Saturn are called gas planets due to the gas that makes up their surfaces. Jupiter and Saturn do not have solid surfaces. Uranus and Neptune are the other two outer planets. Uranus and Neptune are called Ice Giants because of the icy materials on the planet's surfaces.
Jupiter – Outer Planet
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. A gas planet means that the surface is not solid, however, the core maybe solid. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun. One day on planet Jupiter is about 10 Earth hours. Jupiter has 79 confirmed moons. Its surface is covered by swirling clouds. These clouds look like stripes on Jupiter’s surface due to the winds that stretch them. Jupiter has a Great Red Spot that is a storm that has lasted for hundreds of years.
Saturn – Outer Planet
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. Like Jupiter, it is a gas planet. For a long time, it was known for its rings. The rings were originally thought to be handles by Galileo. However, we know today that all four gas giants have rings. The rings of Saturn are made of rock and ice. There are seven rings around Saturn with space in between them. While Saturn is not the only planet with rings, they are the most visible. Saturn has a thick atmosphere. One day on Saturn is 10.7 Earth hours. Saturn has 53 moons.
Uranus - Outer Planet
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is an ice giant. It rotates on its side which is different than all of the other planets. Uranus is like Venus in that it rotates counterclockwise on its axis. Only Uranus and Venus rotate this way. Uranus's surface has a blue color due to the methane gas in its atmosphere. Uranus has 27 moons. One day on Uranus is a little more than 17 Earth hours.
Neptune – Outer Planet
Neptune is the eighth and furthest planet from the Sun. It is a dark, cold, and windy planet. It is an Ice Giant. Neptune does not have a solid surface. Its surface is a thick soup-like place made up of water, ammonia, and methane. The methane gives Neptune its blue color just like Uranus. One day on Neptune is about 16 Earth hours. Neptune has rings, but they are hard to see. Neptune has 13 moons. It was visited by The Voyager 2 spacecraft. This is the only spacecraft to visit Neptune.
Dwarf Planets
Pluto
Pluto is a dwarf planet. When Pluto was discovered, it was called a planet because it was thought that it might be similar to a terrestrial planet. It wasn't a gas planet because it did not have the same characteristics as the four gas giants near it. However, in 2006, Pluto was reclassified from a planet to a dwarf planet. Pluto has an elliptical orbit that is different from the other planets in our solar system. Pluto's orbit is tilted. Pluto is an icy place with a surface temperature that is very cold. It has five moons. The largest moon, Charon is almost as big as Pluto. Pluto and Charon orbit each other.
Comets, Asteroids, Meteoroids, Meteors, and Meteorites
Comets
Comets are small objects that are made of ice and dust. Most comets come from the area well past Neptune. Comets orbit the Sun. Comets are made of ice and dust but as they move closer to the Sun, the ice and dust vaporize and look like a tail.
Asteroids
Asteroids are small rocky objects in space. They are leftover parts of rocks from when the solar system was created. Asteroids can be several hundred miles across or several feet across. Asteroids have irregular and uneven shapes. No two asteroids look the same. Asteroids orbit the Sun. There is a large asteroid belt between the planets of Mars and Jupiter. This is called the Main Asteroid Belt and is where most of the asteroids are located in our solar system.
Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites
Meteoroids are small rocky objects. A meteoroid can bump or crash into another meteoroid. If that happens, a small piece might break off and enter the earth’s atmosphere. When the meteoroid enters the atmosphere, it becomes vaporized or burned up. Sometimes many meteoroids enter the earth’s atmosphere. This is called a meteor shower. The meteors look like a bright streak of light, but it isn’t light, just the hot glowing air. Sometimes people call them shooting stars, but that is not correct because meteors are not stars. If a meteor hits the Earth’s surface, it is called a meteorite.
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