The Eight Planets Orbiting the Sun

by Qi Jiang |

Students are required to learn some basic knowledge of the Solar system and usage of ordinal number with certain sentence structures. Students will know the basic characteristics of the Eight Planets, such as size, color and the order of orbits by which planets circle around the Sun, through collecting information from reading materials, video clip and exchanging views with classmates. 

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

Audience: Elementary

Audience Language Proficiency: Intermediate

Duration: 60 Minutes

Materials And Technology:

PowerPoint; YouTube Video; White construction paper; Scissors; Glues; Color paper; Color pencils; Sequins powder; Tape; Three worksheets: individual worksheet, group worksheet and take-home worksheet (attached as the appendixes of lesson plan).

Objective:

Language Objectives

At the end of the class, students will be able to:

  • Learn how to use ordinal numbers with certain sentence structures. The sentence structures include: (The name of a planet) is in (ordinal numeral) circle in the model; (The name of a planet) ranks (ordinal numeral) in size among the planets of the Solar System; (The name of a planet) ranks (ordinal numeral) in the distance from the Sun among the planets of the Solar system.
  • Get knowledge of the names of the Eight Planets and some basic Astronomy technical terms.

Content Objectives

At the end of the class, students will be able to:

  • Get basic knowledge of appearance characteristics of the Sun and the Eight Planets, such as size and color of the surface, of the Sun and the Eight Planets.
  • Understand the importance of the Sun because of its central location in the Solar System. This is the connection to the next lesson.

Procedure:

1. Watch a video clip and complete individual worksheet (5 min)

2. Group work: Create a paper model of Solar System (20 min)

3. The Art Gallery Display: Exhibition of paper models (16 min)

4. Teach ordinal numbers and sentence structures (7 min)

5. Group Work: Complete group worksheet or Play small game (10 min)

6. Make a summary and assign the take-home worksheet (2 min)

Useful Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sQwruwZtAY

Supporting Files:
The Eight Planets Orbiting The Sun.pdf

TESOL Interest Section: Elementary Education, English as a Foreign Language

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