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Hey Christine,
I recently taught a lesson based on the solar system just last week. In my opinion, it is really good to focus on one aspect and not the whole thing; what I mean is, for one day, I focused on teaching my students the order of the planets in the solar system in relation to the sun. Trust me, it is more than enough. I also used the 5E Model to teach it. I had my students close their eyes and picture themselves flying in space, however they chose to. This is the engagement, then we shared as a class. Afterwards for the exploration, I had my students mess around with different sized balls and had them think what the purpose was for those ball. Then, I passed around descriptors for those balls for them to place in order. They were easy descriptors of the sun and the 8 planets, up to you if you want Pluto be a part of it. Then we shared as a class why the students put the balls in a certain order, done as a group of 4-5 students. Afterwards, I had them explain their findings and added some more to it by showing a PPT of the planets and made some connections that they could understand. They also filled out a 2 page flip book that they could glue in their activity journal, that told them the order of the planets. I then passed around black posters to groups, construction paper, and other supplies, so they can as a group, create their own solar system. Afterwards, to end, I passed around an exit ticket for each student to do individually and tell me the order of the planets.
Check teacherspayteachers website for great resources on planets. They also have freebies, so you do not have to pay.
Good Luck!
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