Lesson Plan of Stars and Planets

 

Lesson Planning of Stars and Planets

Subject General Science

Grade 5^th

Students` Learning Outcomes

• After studying this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Differentiate between a star and a planet.
2. Explain that the sun is a star.

Science Process Skills

Observing, Communicative, Inferring, Predicting, Classifying and using numbers

Link with previous knowledge:

• The students have learned the following concepts in the previous class:

Ø  We live on heavenly body called the Earth.

Ø  The shape of the earth is spherical

Ø  The earth spins about its axis which results in day and night.

Ø  The earth also moves around the sun known as orbital motion because of which we enjoy different seasons in a year.

Information for Teachers

• The night sky has been an object of wonder and study since ancient times. We see countless stars in the night sky and during day time we have the sun. sun is the nearest star. It consists of hot glowing gases and emits its own light. A heavenly body which has light of its own is called a star. The sun is a star of an average size, mass and brightness. It`s diameter is 1,400,000km and the temperature of its surface is 6,000⁰C. 
  

• There are many big and bright stars. From the earth, they look like tiny dots because they are very far away.
• There are other objects seen also in the sky.
• These objects don`t have their own light. They are visible because they reflect light from the sun. They are called planets. They can be seen moving through the pattern of stars as their position in the sky changes with time. 
  
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Material / Resources

Writing board, chalk / marker, duster, textbook, charts of stars and planets

Introduction

• Ask the students;
  

Ø  Have you ever seen an aeroplane in the sky?

Ø  How big do you think is it?

Ø  Why does it appear so small?

• Now ask:

Ø  What do you see in the sky during the day and night? (make a list on the writing boar)

Ø  Do you think the earth, moon and stars are the only objects in space?

Ø  Which is the biggest among them? How far do you think are they from each other?

Ø  How far do you think they are from the earth?

Development

Activity 1

• Light up 2 similar torches in a dark room.
  

Ask:

Ø  Are they both equally bright?

• Now place one near the students and one far away;
  

Ø  Do they still appear equally bright? (Expected answer would be as; the nearest looks bright and the farthest one looks dim)

Now ask:

Ø  What about the stars?

Ø  Do you think they might be brighter than they appear?

Ø  How bright do you think they are?

Activity 2

• Give the students a home assignment.
• Ask them to observe the night sky and observe the patterns of the stars.
  

Ø  Do the patterns remain the same as the stars move across the sky?

• Next day based on their observations, conclude that patterns of stars do not change shape during the night but there are some shining objects that look like stars but that move through the patterns of stars.

Ø  What are those objects?

Ø  Have they seen a bright star just before the sun rise or immediately after the sun sets?

Ø  It also changes its position across the patterns of the stars. What is it and what is its name?

• This observation should continue throughout the lesson as it is not easy to spot planets. But with continuous observations, students learn to differentiate between stars and planets. 
  

Activity 3

Can you tell?

• Show the 2 pictures of the night sky to the students and ask them to spot the difference between the two.
• Tell the students that the objects that move across the patterns of the stars are called planets. When you look at the sky at night, stars and planets look just the same as each other. They all look like tiny dots of light. But if you very carefully look at them, you can spot the difference. Our earth is also a planet.
• Now show the 2 pictures to the students again. Ask:
  
  
  
• How can you tell the difference between the planets and stars? Identify the planet.
• Take a ball and shine torchlight on it. Students observe that if seen from a distance the ball seems to shine in the light of the torch. Planets also shine at night in the light of the sun. they appear to give off their own light even though they are only reflecting the sun`s light.

Activity 4

• Ask the students:

Ø  How far do you think your home is from your school? (Students should try to make an estimate in kilometers as they have covered this concept in Maths)

Ø  How fare do you think the sun / moon is from the earth?

Ø  How far do you think are the stars from the earth?

Ø  Which is near: the sun or the stars?

Ø  Which do you think is bigger the sun or the stars?

Write the various student responses on the board.

Sum up / Conclusion

• Now tell the students that our sun is also a star. Stars are heavenly bodies that give out their own light. They are made of burning gases and give off heat and light.
• If the sun is a star then why do all stars look so small and the sun so big? Is it the biggest star?
• Elicit from the students that the stars appear small because they are far away from the earth and the sun looks so big because it is the nearest star to the earth.

Assessment

1.      Give the correct caption for each statement.

a.       It gives off its own light and heat. ______

b.      The nearest star to the earth. __________

c.       The heavenly bodies seen in the night sky which reflect the light of the sun._______

2.      Complete the statements with suitable keywords:

a.       All the stars except the ______ are a long distance away. Like the sun they give out their own ______.

b.      The planets _______ light from the sun.

c.       The earth is a ____________________.

3.      What is the difference between a star and a planet?

4.      What makes stars glow?

5.      What makes a planet shine?

6.      Could astronauts land on the sun in the same way that they landed on the moon? Why?

Follow up

• Give the students a home assignment.

Ask them to observe the night sky and observe the patterns of the stars.

Ø  Do the patterns remain the same as the stars move across the sky?

• Next day based on their observations, conclude that patterns of stars do not change shape during the night but there are some shining objects that look like stars but that move through the patterns of stars.