Student+Activities+Page

__**Space and the Solar System**__

This page contains all the assignments that you will complete for the entire week, Monday, December 6 through Friday, December 10. All of the directions are under each day and there are also links and websites that will help you with the assignments. Make sure all assignments are turned in on time and presentations will take place on Monday, December 13. If you help at any time, quietly raise your hand and I will be glad to help you out. Have fun!!!

**Overview of Space**
Today begins our journey as we travel through space and gather information about our planets, galaxies, and so much more.

Your job today is to complete this Web Quest online. The directions are on the web quest and are simple and easy to follow. I will be handing out a piece of paper that you will write your answers and notes on and later will turn into me. **PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT WHEN DOING THE POSTCARD PORTION OF THE WEBQUEST, I AM ONLY REQUIRING YOU TO COMPLETE TWO OF THEM (ANY TWO WILL BE FINE!!)**

Go ahead and start the WebQuest!! You always look back at this page again if you need to.

After you have finished the entire webquest, you will need to write an evaluation on the webquest telling me if you liked the activity, what could have changed, etc. When the evaluation is done, print your 2 postcards and staple them to your notes and evaluation and turn them into me.

**Planets in the Milky Way Galaxy**
Begin by watching this video about our solar system. Pay close attention to the video and write 10 facts on a word document (remember you can watch the video a few times to make sure you get all ten facts).

After watching the video and recording 10 facts use this online dictionary to find the definition to the following terms and make sure you put the word and then the definition on the same word document as the 10 facts you just completed.
 * 1) star
 * 2) galaxy
 * 3) planet
 * 4) black hole
 * 5) milky way
 * 6) gravity

Now watch the video one more time and answer the following questions. The answers NEED to be in complete sentences and they need to be on the same word document as the 10 facts and the definitions.
 * 1) How many planets does our solar system have?
 * 2) Which planets make up the inner solar system?
 * 3) Which planets make up the outer solar system?
 * 4) How many distinct criteria are there to define a planet?
 * 5) What is the name of our solar system?

After you have finish all three parts of today's assignment (10 facts, definitions, and video questions) save the word document as day1-//yourname.// After making sure your name and the date is at the top of your paper you can print the document and I will collect all the assignments out of the printer at the end of class.

**Research a Planet**
Today you are going to pick one of the planets and create a PowerPoint research project on that planet. These PowerPoints are going to all be presented on Monday, December 13th so make sure you research well and take your time when creating your presentation.

After picking the planet you want to research, the following sites to find some information on your planet. @http://kids.nineplanets.org/intro.htm @http://www.pocanticohills.org/fitzgerald/99/planets.htm Measurements of the Planets **(ALWAYS USE THE LARGE SCALE MODEL WHEN ANSWERING QUESTIONS)**

After viewing the sites you need to start thinking about your PowerPoint presentation. The slide show needs to meet the following requirements:
 * title slide (with your name, planet name, and picture of planet)
 * at least 6 slides with information
 * 3 pictures throughout the slide show

There also needs to be specific questions answered in the PowerPoint and they are as follows:
 * How many plants is your planet away from the sun?
 * What is the diameter of your planet?
 * Is your planet an inner or outer planet?
 * What is the temperature of your planet?
 * What is its distance to the sun in feet (last column of table)?
 * How many years old is the planet?
 * Are there any moons? If so how many? Are they named?
 * Also include any other interesting facts you can find

P**lease remember all the questions must be answered and if the answers cannot be found on any of the sites listed above feel free to search using Google!!!!** Alright, go ahead and start your presentation. Make sure you reference this page often to answer the questions and make sure you are meeting all the requirments.

After you have completed your PowerPoint please raise your hand and I will come to your computer and we will save you presentation onto a USB drive so we can all present our planets on Monday, December 13. After saving onto my USB drive make sure you save the PowerPoint to your computer as well because you will be using some of the information you found for tomorrow's assignment.

**Creature Story**
Today you will use the information you found yesterday as well as a little bit of creativity to make up a fictional creature that will live on the planet you choose to research yesterday. There are not too many specific requirements for this assignment because I want you to be creative, but it is important that you are also realistic. It is important that you take into account the conditions, distance from the sun, atmosphere, and other aspects of the planet as you are creating your creature.

When you think you have a creature in mind that can survive on your researched planet from yesterday, open up paint and start to create the creature! Paint is a program on your computer that should be on the desktop so minimize this document and double click on the paint option to the right. Remember there aren't too many requirements for your creatures, they just have to be realistic and make sure they can survive on your planet.

Now go Paint!!!

After you have finished your creature, save the painting as creature-yourname.

Now open up a word document and you need to now write a story about your creature. You, again can be very creative and below are just a few options of what your story can be about. Again these are all just suggestions!!
 * a day in the life of your creature
 * how your creature survives on the planet
 * how your creature likes the planet
 * make your creature can save the planet

Be creative and make sure the story is at least half a page. After you have finished your story save the document as creaturestory-yourname.

When you have finished both your creature and your story, print both the items (making sure your name is on both of them) and I will pick them up from the printer at the end of class.

**Advertise your Planet**
Today you are going to create a newsletter that is going to advertise a certain planet and your goal is to advertise all the positive aspects about the planet that will make people want to move there. The planet that you are advertising **__must be different__** from the planet you did your PowerPoint on. Please go back to Day two and use the sites that were included to find some information on your planet and also use Google to find more information.

Click here to find a newsletter template that you can download and then type right onto to create your newsletter advertisement.

The newsletter must include:
 * basic information on planet
 * why someone would want to move there
 * things the planet has to offer
 * price
 * population
 * pictures
 * a creative news story
 * and anything else you can think of that will add to your project

After you have finished your newsletter, save it to the computer as news-yourname and then print it (making sure your name is on the top) and I will pick it up after class.