Phenomenal Planets

Introduction

How do we know the exact size of other planets? How can we be sure Jupiter is really made out of gas? Who really measured how far away Pluto is from the Sun? These are the kinds of questions young children ask when they think about the solar system.

You now work for the Space Education Team at NASA. As part of this program, your job is to teach children about space and help them answer their lingering questions. Your current project is to become an expert on one planet in our solar system. Using your expertise, you will prepare a presentation for children explaining what information is known about your planet and most importantly, HOW that information was gained.

Task

Your job as a NASA educator will be to create a power point presentation to teach children about one planet in the solar system and explain the technology used to discover and gain information about this planet. Your presentation must include:

· 1 slide with the NAME OF THE PLANET and the NAMES OF THE TEAM MEMBERS

· 4-5 slides detailing the PHYSICAL FEATURES of the planet

· 4-5 slides detailing how the planet was DISCOVERED and the most important SPACE/RESEARCH MISSIONS involving the planet (one of these slides MUST be a TIMELINE)

· 3 slides with MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS (1 question per slide) to assess how well the children understand your presentation

Each slide should be a combination of pictures and words. Make them interesting! HAVE FUN!!!

Process

Day 1:

1. Meet the other member(s) of your team and receive your planet assignment.

2. Focusing on your planet, use the rest of this period to explore the “Windows to the Universe” website. . .

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/windows.html

(Start by clicking on the “Our Solar System” icon.)

Day 2-4:

1. Assign each member of the team a job using descriptions below:

PLANET SPECIALIST: Research the major features of the planet. Print the following page: Planet Specialist Notes.

ROCKET SCIENTIST: Research the missions used discover and gain information about the planet. Print the following page: Rocket Scientist Notes.

PROJECT MANAGER: Assists both the PLANET SPECIALIST and the ROCKET SCIENTIST with research. Helps make connections between what we know about the planet and how we know it. Print both pages above.

2. Use the “Windows to the Universe” website and any links to complete your notes.

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/windows.html

3. Begin saving pictures to your “H” drive as you come across good ones.

Day 5:

1. Using a power point organizer (provided by your teacher), plan out the main pages of your power point. Think about what information and which pictures should go on each page to best convey your information. Once your organizer is complete, show it to the department leader at NASA (your teacher J) for the go ahead to proceed.

Day 6-7:

1. Begin creating your power point presentation on the computer. At this time, DO NOT worry about color, sounds, animation, etc. Simply design the layout of each slide with pictures, diagrams, and words.

2. In addition to the pictures you have already saved, you can find others by doing a Google image search.

1. Go to www.google.com

2. click on “Images”

3. Make sure your slides include the following information . . .

· 1 slide with the NAME OF THE PLANET and the NAMES OF THE TEAM MEMBERS

· 4-5 slides detailing the PHYSICAL FEATURES of the planet

· 4-5 slides detailing how the planet was DISCOVERED and the most important SPACE/RESEARCH MISSIONS involving the planet (one of these slides MUST be a TIMELINE)

· 3 slides with MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS (1 question per slide) to assess how well the children understand your presentation

Each slide should be a combination of pictures and words. Make them

interesting! HAVE FUN!!!

Day 8:

1. Create three multiple choice questions to assess how well the children understand your presentation.

2. Add these questions as three final slides in your presentation (one question per slide).

Day 9-10:

1. Work on making your presentation beautiful. Use colors that make the words and pictures easy to see. Use animations that add to the content of the slide, not distract from it.

2.

Practice using your power point to present your information to the class.

Day 11: Present!

Evaluation

	4	3	2	1
Content - Accuracy	All content throughout the presentation is accurate. There are no factual errors.	Most of the content is accurate but there is one piece of information that might be inaccurate.	The content is generally accurate, but one or two pieces of information are clearly flawed or inaccurate.	Content is typically confusing and/or contains more than two factual errors.
Organization	Information is organized in a clear, logical way. It is easy to anticipate the type of material on the next slide.	Most information is organized in a clear, logical way. One slide or item of information seems out of place.	Some information is logically sequenced. An occasional slide or item of information seems out of place.	There is no clear plan for the organization of information.
Appearance	All graphics and words (text) are attractive (size, placement and color) and support the content of the presentation.	A few graphics and words (text) are not attractive but all support the content of the presentation.	All graphics and words (text) are attractive but a few do not seem to support the presentation.	Several graphics and/or words (text) are unattractive AND detract from the content of the presentation.
Cooperation	Group shares tasks and responsibility effectively all of the time.	Group shares tasks and responsibility effectively most of the time.	Group shares tasks and responsibility effectively some of the time.	Group often is not effective in sharing tasks and/or responsibility.
Completeness	All required elements are included in the presentation. (major physical features, timeline, major research missions, quiz).	Most required elements are included in the presentation. One or two minor elements may be missing or weak.	Some required elements are included in the presentation. One or two major elements or three or four minor elements may be missing or weak.	Few required elements are included in the presentation. Three or more major elements or five or more minor elements may be missing.
Presentation Preparedness	Students are completely prepared and have obviously rehearsed.	Students seem pretty prepared but might have needed a couple more rehearsals.	The students seem somewhat prepared, but it is clear that rehearsal was lacking.	Students do not seem at all prepared to present.

Conclusion

Hopefully, your presentation will help answer the big question that lingers in many children’s minds . . . How do we know that?