Shoot for the Stars

Once upon a time, there was a young girl who loved to look at the stars. She found them beautiful and fascinating. The girl would listen with rapt attention as her father told her about different constellations, and how to tell if a star was actually a planet without a telescope. She read about space on her own, and continued to love it even after she grew up and became a teacher. In one of her classes, the girl, now a young woman, was asked to create a unit for gifted students who showed a special interest in a subject. She knew immediately what that subject would be: she would design a unit on the Solar System. She had created lessons about this topic before, but never for gifted students. She was determined to make it both challenging and fun; she wanted it to be something she herself would have loved to do as an elementary school student. It took her many weeks of hard work to create her unit. She researched each planet in preparation for her unit, compiling resources as she went. She created several lessons only to discover they really didnt fit into the unit as a whole, and started again. But when she finally finished, she knew she had created something to be proud of. The first step in her unit was to select the students. Designed for students from 4th grade to 6th, two preliminary assessments would be used. The first, used for the 4th grade students, was a simple pre-test showing that they already understood most or all of what would be covered in their class solar system unit. For the older students, selection would be based on an interest survey given at the beginning of the school year. Students doing well in their core classes and showing great interest in the subject would be allowed to take the class. The first lesson was a simple vocabulary lesson. Around the room, the young teacher would hide twenty-three index cards, each with a vocabulary word for the unit written on it. The students would be given 2 minutes to find all 23 cards. Once

all the cards had been found, the students would arrange them alphabetically, working as a group to do so. The teacher would then give each student a vocabulary sheet, with 5 columns on it: vocabulary word, technical definition, student definition, drawing, and example. Students would be split into 4 groups, and each group assigned 6 words to define on their sheet. Once completed, the students would share their work with their peers, so that each student has definitions for all 23 words. Finally, each student would select 3 of the vocabulary cards from the beginning activity at random, and create a dictionary page for each of those words, which would consist of the word, its definition, an example, and a picture. Those pages would then be bound into a classroom reference book. For the next lesson, students would create their own learning centers for their classmates to use. Before starting, however, students would complete a carousel activity. Around the room would be 8 pieces of chart paper, one for each planet of the Solar System. Students would have 10 minutes to make it to every stop on the carousel and write down anything the know about the planet given. One the students finish, their knowledge would be quickly reviewed. Next, each student would be randomly assigned one of the planets we had discussed. The students would be responsible for researching their planet and creating a learning center with 4 activities to teach their classmates about their given planet. Guidelines as to what information about each planet should be found would be available, as would a list of ideas for activities at their centers. Once the centers were complete, the students would be able to visit each of the centers and participate in the activities their peers designed for them. After all centers had been visited by all students, the carousel activity

would be repeated, with students writing down the new things they had learned this time. The third lesson would be about all the other types of celestial bodies in our solar system, since it is so much more than just planets. Students would be given a small stack of sticky notes and would have 30 seconds to write down everything they could think of in our Solar System that is not a planet. When time ran out, the students would move around the room and discuss what they wrote with their classmates. If two things are related, such as moons and Io, then should be attached to each other, forming a chain of related items. After 2 minutes, all chains would be stuck on the board and further condensed, until 4 remained: suns and stars, moons, asteroids and meteors, and comets. Students would then be split into pairs and given one of the 4 types of celestial bodies to look into. They would research their topic and generate a definition, defining characteristics, and at least one example. The pairs would then create a visual, auditory, or tactile aide to help them present their information. Once each group had finished their presentations, they would jigsaw, so that 2 groups were created, each containing one student from every pair. The students would then present their celestial bodies to their classmates. After the presentations, students would be given white boards, and the teacher would read out different characteristics from the celestial bodies. Students would have to guess which it was and would write their guesses on the whiteboards, showing them to the teacher at the same time so she could check for understanding. Next, the students would have to use all the knowledge they had acquired so far and apply it. They would be debating Plutos planetary status. Until fairly recently, it was considered a planet, but is no longer. Students would be split into 2

groups, and assigned which side of the argument they would be taking. Each team would get a set of index cards and a Pluto fact sheet, and each student would get their own resource record sheet as well. Over the course of a few days, students would research and formulate an argument for their side of the debate. At the end of the week, students would formally debate the topic, with the teacher grading them on a rubric. The winner would be the team with the higher score. Finally, using everything they have learned so far in the unit, students would create a new species that lives on a planet or planetoid other than Earth. After a quick review in the form of the pyramid game, students would each be assigned a different planet or planetoid and would create a new species that lives on their given celestial body. Students would need to take into account everything they know about their planet or planetoid in order to create a viable life form for it. Students would have to complete two of the activities from the creature extension menu as a way of showing us what their species is like. Once done, each student would present their creatures to their classmates. A short final assessment would be the last item. The young woman looked back on her unit with a smile. She had worked hard to create a unit that was challenging, fun, and student-centered. In addition to developing the lessons, she had also created each of the resources she would need to go along with them. Although she may not use it right away, she was happy knowing that she had created something as well-rounded and aspirational as this unit. She hoped that someday her students would love it as much as she did.