Meet Our Solar System
Meet Our Solar System
Meet Our Solar System
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Greetings, I am an asteroid, said a big potatoshaped rock. Millions of asteroids float between Mars
and Jupiter. When we crash into each other and get
smaller, we are called meteoroids. You might have seen
one of us as a shooting star, said the asteroid.
Wow, I thought my turn would never come,
said Jupiter. Now I forget what I was
going to say. Oh yeah, my orbit is the fifth
from the Sun, and I am super special. I am the
largest planet. I also have the most moonsmore than
60! In fact, one of my moons is larger than Mercury and
Pluto, no offense. A lot of Earth people think that only
the planet Saturn has rings, but I have rings also
three of them. They are hard to see, but they are
there, said Jupiter.
Salutations, said Saturn.
My orbit is the sixth from the
Sun. I have gorgeous, spectacular, lovely, incredible
rings, if I do say so myself. Want to know a secret? If you
were right up close to my rings, you would see that they
are really made of billions of chunks of ice and rock.
Some chunks are as small as a grain of sugar and others
are as large as a house, said Saturn.
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Teachers Page
The reading and writing activities on this poster can be downloaded from http://discovery.nasa.gov
Tips
INTERNET Resources
Here are some ways to use this poster to teach your students about the
solar system.
Ask students to join you for a read aloud with paper and pencil (or
crayons). Read Meet Our Solar System. After each page (poster
panel), ask the children to draw what they picture. Then allow the
children a few minutes to share what they drew with you or a partner.
(This activity helps children learn to visualize as they reada powerful
strategy to increase reading comprehension.)
Read Solar System Mysteries. After each page (poster panel), ask the
children what they wonder about what they just heard. Ask students to
turn to a partner and share what they wonder. (This activity helps
student learn to question as they readanother effective strategy to
improve reading comprehension.)
Ask the children to brainstorm questions that they have about the solar
system. Organize the children into teams. Have each team choose a
question that they have about the solar system, and discuss how they
would try to find the answer. Each team can name their pretend
mission. Have each team share their ideas with another team, and
then have a few teams share with the class. (Younger children can plan
and share orally, while older children can write out their ideas before
sharing them.)
Teach children some of the mnemonic devices used to memorize the
order of the planets; for example, My Very Educated Mother Just
Showed Us Nine Planets or My Very Early Morning Jam Sandwich
Usually Nauseates People. Then put the children in teams. Have each
team think of their own method or mnemonic device to remember the
current order of the planets from the Sun.
Have groups of third or fourth graders read Meet Our Solar System as
a readers theatre for K2 students. Have the children think about what
expression and tone they want to use to play the part of each solar
system object.
Space Thrills
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NASAs gateway for programs and services for the general public and the education
community. Please visit the For Educators and For Students sections for current
information on educational opportunities and materials.
NASA Solar System Exploration http://solarsystem.nasa.gov
This program uses reading and writing to encourage interest in scientific discovery.
NASA Space Science Education Research Directory
http://teachspacescience.org/
Space science products for use in classrooms, science centers, and planetariums.
NASA Space Place http://spaceplace.nasa.gov
Games and activities that make science fun for younger kids.
NASA Discovery Program http://discovery.nasa.gov
All of the Discovery space exploration missions, some featured in this poster, have developed
educational products based on their science goals. Visit the Missions section for links to
each missions home page, then go to Education.
This poster is designed for students in grades K4, using reading and writing to encourage
basic awareness of and interest in our solar system. It is aligned with the following standards:
NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts
Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language to communicate effectively with
a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions, and genre to create,
critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of
literacy communities.
Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes.
neptune
uranus
saturn
jupiter
sun
mars
comet
earth
venus
mercury
Asteroids
5
8
3
6
2
3
1
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Student Activities
Here are some fun things to do with
the solar system poster.
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Draw
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??
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