The Solar System

Shawna YoungloveShawna YoungloveEdu 505Edu 505Dr. YangDr. Yang

A webquest for 3-5 grade studentsA webquest for 3-5 grade students

Introduction

Today you get to be a space explorer and Today you get to be a space explorer and researcher! You are going to choose one researcher! You are going to choose one

of the eight planets and research of the eight planets and research information about that planet. information about that planet.

Task

You will research facts about one of the You will research facts about one of the planets.planets.

You must include…You must include…

1. The name of the planet2. What or who the planet is named after3. The size of the planet (diameter)4. The average distance from the sun (in

miles)

Task continued

5. The time needed to revolve around the sun (length of the year)

6. The time needed to rotate on its axis (length of the day)

7. Facts about the planets surface8. Facts about the planets moon9. Any other interesting factsPhew… that seems like a lot of work, but

you can do it! Just take it one step at a time.

Task completed when…When you are finished researching you

will write a research report explaining all of the information you gathered

You must write your research paper neatly and in the proper format

You will be graded on neatness, how well you researched the facts about your planet, and how you put the facts together in the paper. Good luck!

Resources for Information about the planets

Mercuryhttp://kids.nineplanets.org/mercury.htmhttp://www.kidsastronomy.com/mercury.htm

Venushttp://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/venus/venus.htmlhttp://kids.nineplanets.org/venus.htm

More resources about the planets

Earthhttp://kids.nineplanets.org/earth.htmhttp://www.kidsastronomy.com/earth.htm

Marshttp://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mars/mars.htmlhttp://kids.nineplanets.org/mars.htm

More resources about the planets

Jupiterhttp://kids.nineplanets.org/jupiter.htmhttp://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/jupiter/jupiter.htmlSaturnhttp://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/saturn/saturn.htmlhttp://www.frontiernet.net/~kidpower/saturn.html

More resources about the planets

Uranus

http://kids.nineplanets.org/uranus.htm

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/uranus/uranus.html

Neptune

http://www.frontiernet.net/~kidpower/neptune.html

http://kids.nineplanets.org/neptune.htm

Students will be evaluated using this rubricPlanet Research Report Rubric

Quality4 3 2 1

Organization of Ideas

You did an outstanding job planning your

report. You developed an excellent beginning,

middle, and ending. You needed very little

help

You have a topic sentence. You developed and

organized your details. You followed the

webquest with little help.

You needed help with a topic sentence, or the

topic sentence is missing. Your

information is difficult to follow

You need a clear plan of organization

Content

You included many excellent details. You were able to find facts

independently, and add extra facts

You included good details and

information. You needed some help

finding some facts in the webquest.

You included simple basic details. You

needed lots of help finding facts, and added no extra

information.

Details and facts are inaccurate or

missing. You were unable to do independent

research

Sentence Knowledge

You showed skillful use of sentence variety. You used complete sentences all of the

time.You restated facts in

your own words.

You used complete sentences most of the

time.Most facts are in your

own words

You used complete sentences some of the

time.You needed help

restating sentences in your own words, or some sentences are

copied.

You need to use complete sentences.Sentences need to

be in your own words.

Language/ Vocabulary

You used very good adjectives and vivid

language

You used some adjectives and basic

vocabulary.

You used satisfactory words.

You need to add adjectives and use

age appropriate vocabulary.

Mechanics

You consistently used capital letters, correct punctuation, proper paragraph form, and

correct spelling without help.

Most of the time you used capital letters, correct punctuation,

proper paragraph form and correct spelling.

You needed help to correct your paragraph form, spelling, capital

letters, and punctuation.

You need to use proper paragraph form, punctuation, capital letters and correct spelling.

Conclusion

You did it! You have become an expert about one of the planets. When you are finished writing your report, you may be asked to share it with a classmate or even your entire class! Congratulations on completing the webquest and becoming such a great researcher about one of the planets in our solar system.