Name: Diane Avrin
School District: Linwood
Title of Lesson: Introduction to the Solar System Subject
Science Category: Pre-K to 2
Supporting Material: PowerPoint

Use technology to create a trivia question about his/her favorite planet.

Specify which New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards are addressed:

SCIENCE
Standard 5,10 ALL STUDENTS WILL GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE STRUCTURE, DYNAMICS, AND GEOPHYSICAL SYSTEMS OF THE EARTH.

Descriptive Statement
The study of science should include a study of planet earth and its relationship to the rest of the universe. This standard describes what students should know about the composition of the earth and the forces that shape it, while Standard 5.11 describes what students should know about astronomy and space science.


Standard 5.11
ALL STUDENTS WILL GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORIGIN, EVOLUTION, AND STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE.

Descriptive Statement The study of science should include a study of the planet earth and its relationship to the rest of the universe. This standard describes what students should know about astronomy and space science, while standard 5. 10 describes what students should know about the composition of the earth and the forces that shape it.
WORKPLACE READINESS:Standard 2 ALL STUDENTS WILL USE INFORMATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND OTHER TOOLS.

Descriptive Statement Students will be expected to develop skills in the use of information, up-to-date educational technology, and other tools to improve learning, achieve goals, and produce products and presentations. They will learn to develop , locate, summarize, organize, synthesize, and evaluate information. Students will be expected to use technological tools, such as telecommunications networking, for problem solving, writing and research.

Summary of the lesson

This was an introductory lesson to our unit on the solar system. I wanted to utilize technology to introduce the planets because children are fascinated with them to begin with. By presenting real pictures and sounds while conveying information, they were engaged and excited during the lesson.

In addition, they were actively involved in the Internet scavenger hunt, which made learning fun and challenging. Finally, they used their knowledge of computers, and writing software by producing their own scavenger hunt question and picture of their planet with Kidworks Deluxe.

Equipment, materials, and other technology needed

• IBM computers -Microsoft Powerpoint
  
• Microsoft Internet Explorer -Kidworks Deluxe CD ROM
  
• Overhead projector
  
• LCD Panel

Detail of Activities

I utilized Microsoft PowerPoint to create an interesting and exciting presentation for my first graders, which I presented to them with an IBM computer, overhead projector and LCD panel. It introduced the components of our solar system and presented a picture of each planet, accompanied by relevant facts which are covered in our curriculum.

At the end of the slide show, we visited some web sites and explored other information and a trivia challenge. I then followed up with some pictures of the planets and asked them to tell me something they learned about them from the lesson that day. In addition, as an individual assignment during the week, they visited the web site: http://ispec.scibernet.com/station/ and completed the intergalactic scavenger hunt.

Finally, in order for them to individually utilize the computer and a writing/drawing software called Kidworks Deluxe, I gave them the assignment of creating another question to add to the scavenger hunt. In their questions, they had to use 2 facts that they learned about the planet they chose. They typed their questions and used the drawing tool to draw their planets. We completed our own scavenger hunt and guessed the answers to each others' questions.

Student Feedback and Assessments
As I mentioned earlier, student feedback was very positive, with "wow" and "cool" expressed many times during our unit. I was able to assess their knowledge of the planets through their answers to the scavenger hunt in conjunction with their own trivia questions and pictures which they created.