Solar System Activities-worksheets to download

My daughter and I are involved in a small co-op--one other family and us. It has mostly been a history co-op, but we add science, language arts, and math (when we can sneak it in!)

Our history this semester is Ancient Greece. This has meshed nicely with our science--astronomy.

We've been using Apologia's Young Explorer's Astronomy text and notebooking journal as our foundation. I added a few activities this past week--ones I had done with my son about 8 years ago which he enjoyed.

Last week we did almost 3 hours of planet-related activities.

First, we read about each of the planets and then made this model.

Activity #1 Solar System Model

Materials and directions:

You'll need a Styrofoam ball, glitter, glue, craft stick, plastic cup, toothpicks and make some cut outs of each planet. As you read about each planet, have them color it to match it's actual colors/markings. Attach each planet to toothpick. Decorate the Styrofoam ball with glitter (it is the Sun), then place the rotating planets around the sun. Fashion a stand out of the craft stick and cup.

Activity #2 Rock Sample

Then we talked about what it would be like to be a scientist at NASA. What would a scientist do with a soil or rock sample from the moon or Mars? Then we did the following activity.

The worksheets I created for this activity are below. Feel free to download and use for your family or co-op.








Materials and directions:

A candy bar (we used a large Snickers that came in two separate pieces), magnifying glass, ruler, pencil, paper plate, "lab" sheets (knife to cut open the rock sample). If you want to really play the role, have them wear gloves and protective lab goggles!
Place your rock sample on a clean surface (paper plate). What does it look like? Describe it on your lab sheet. Be sure to turn it over. Describe color, surface, any bumps, bubbles, etc. They also recorded where their sample came from--which planet or a mooon?

Measure its length, height, depth. Use a scale to measure it in grams. (We discussed the metric system at this point.) Record all measurements on the lab sheet.
They then cut their rock sample open. Observe the layers, describe each layer on the worksheet. What do you think caused each layer? Do you see any bubbles or air pockets? (We had previously studied volcanoes, so we discussed cooling lava and bubbles, etc.)

Once the sheet was completed, they enjoyed a sweet treat and co op was over because a sugar high ensued!

For homework, the girls are each preparing a short biography of a famous astronomer from early history. My daughter has Nicolaus Copernicus and her friend is researching Galileo. We'll start our co-op day with each giving a presentation.

I hope your family is able to use these ideas.

Enjoy!

Michelle