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Online Learning Environment Portfolio of

Jenna B. Jenkins

Unit Plan

Title of the Unit: The Great Solar System Adventure

Duration of the Unit: Approximately 12 days

Overall Goal of the Learning Environment: 

 Title of the Lessons and Activities:

How Individual Lessons and Learning Stations/Centers will be Used to Achieve the Overall Goals and Objectives of the Learning Environment:

I start this unit with movie clips that portray solar sciences. From the movie clips, I want to find out what the kids are learning correctly and incorrectly about our solar system from the movies they watch. Dorothy Diehl says that "most people have a very inaccurate notion of what real-life space travel among the planets or between star systems is like. There are two reasons for this. One, it is impossible to print an accurate scale model for distance of the solar system in a textbook. Even a classroom-sized model is ineffective because choosing a scale that allows Pluto to be at the opposite from the Sun, puts the inner planets almost on top of each other." So from this fact and the movie misconceptions, I have an activity planned that will hopefully get the students on the right track. The activity is called "The Travels of Slimey the Slug and Sunscout the Starship." Instead of a formal assessment of what we did in class, I then ask the kids to write down some of their perceptions of solar sciences in movies. This activity even goes further with the students writing a paper where they are asked to take a stand on Hollywood's (they choose if it is inaccurate or inaccurate) portrayal of solar sciences.  In the paper the kids have to include movie scene examples and facts that show the correct information. I am facilitating their fact finding by taking the kids on a solar search. Each student will do a project of their choice on two assigned topics. During the search the kids will locate information from sites I selected and do some type of project on it so they can present it to the class (Power Point, Access, Word, poster, etc.). The activities culminate with the great solar system rescue where the kids go on a hunt through the solar system to find missing probes. This software is really fun. Also the kids will participate is a group activity called a futures wheel where they will discuss the question "What would happen if we had to move to another planet?" The students will also present their project and paper results and take notes using Inspiration. These notes can be used to help the students study for their test. All of these activities should help the students reach my goal for them: to get a greater understanding of the true facts of the solar system.

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