Technology Integration Activity

Amanda Hindsman
CAT 531
Activity Title: Solar System Presentation
Grade Level: 4th- 5th Grade
Purpose/Objective:
Students will:
Use the internet as a tool to research their assigned planet/moon/sun.
Work in groups of 3 or 4 to research their assigned planet/moon/sun.
Work in groups to make a presentation on their planet/moon/sun.
Present their group presentation by using Prezi.
This activity addresses the following Alabama Course of Study objective for
fourth grade science (located on http://alex.state.al.us/):
10.) Describe components of our solar system.
o Defining comets, asteroids, and meteors
This activity addresses the following Alabama Course of Study objective for fifth
grade science (located on http://alex.state.al.us/):
11.) Compare distances from the sun to planets in our solar system.
o Relating the size of Earth to the size of other planets in our solar
system
o Identifying technology used to study planets
Examples: Hubble telescope, space probes, Mars Exploration Rover
This activity addresses the following National Educational Technology Standards
for Students (NETS) 2007 (located on www.iste.org):
1. Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking,
construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes
using technology. Students:
o apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or
processes.

o create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

2. Communication and Collaboration: Students use digital media and
environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a
distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of
others. Students:
o interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others
employing a variety of digital environments and media.
o communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple
audiences using a variety of media and formats.
o contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve
problems.
3. Research and Information Fluency: Students apply digital tools to
gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:
o locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use
information from a variety of sources and media.
5. Digital Citizenship: Students understand human, cultural, and societal
issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.
Students:
o advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of
information and technology.
o exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports
collaboration, learning, and productivity.

Description: As a whole class, the teacher and students will discuss the solar
system, briefly going over each planet. The students will then be placed in small
groups of 3-4 and assigned a planet to research. The teacher will give each
group a worksheet with questions to answer. Using their answers, the groups will
then create a presentation on their assigned planet using https://prezi.com/ .
Activity Preparation:
The teacher will review how to use the internet appropriately and safely.
The teacher will discuss/show students approved websites to use for their
research.
The teacher will review how to use Prezi to make a presentation.
Activity Procedure: The following activities will need to take place during this
lesson.
Lesson 1: Students will be separated into groups of 3 or 4 and assigned a planet.
Each group will be given a worksheet that has research questions for them to
answer. They will use laptops or desktop computers to do their research using
the following websites:
http://www.planetsforkids.org/
http://nasasearch.nasa.gov/

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/
http://www.scholastic.com/

On a worksheet, the students will answer the following questions about their
planet:
Which planet is it from the sun?
How many moons does it have?
How long does it take to orbit the sun?
Is it an inner or outer planet?
What is the mass of the planet?
What is the diameter of the planet?
How much would you weigh on your planet if you weighed 100 lbs?
What are two interesting facts about your planet?
Lesson 2-3: In their assigned group, the students will continue researching their
topic and begin creating their presentation.
Lesson 4-5: Each group will present their presentation.
Tools and Resources:
Laptop or desktop computers
Internet access for the following websites
o http://www.planetsforkids.org/
o http://nasasearch.nasa.gov/
o http://www.discoveryeducation.com/
o http://www.scholastic.com/
Worksheet for research
https://prezi.com/
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/
Assessment:
Did students use the internet appropriately in order to research their
assigned planet? (This will be assessed through teacher observation and
research worksheet.)
Did students work well with their group members? (This will be assessed
through teacher observation and grading rubric.)
Was each research question addressed in presentation? (This will be
assessed through grading rubric.)
Was presentation free of grammatical and spelling errors? (This will be
assessed through grading rubric.)
Were appropriate graphics used in presentation? (This will be assessed
through grading rubric.)

Was presentation attractive? (This will be assessed through grading

rubric.)

Rubric: Attached below and created from http://rubistar.4teachers.org/

Comments: This lesson is a great way to let your students use their creative
sides while making their presentations. It also allows them to work with other
students in order to be successful. I personally find planets interesting and think
it would be a great topic to form a presentation on.

Solar System Presentation Rubric

Teacher Name: Mrs. Hindsman

CATEGORY
Cooperation

4
Group works well
together and
shares
responsibility
effectively all of the
time.

3
Group works well
together and
shares
responsibility
effectively most of
the time.

2
Group works well
together and
shares
responsibility
effectively some of
the time.

1
Group often is not
working together
and/or sharing
responsibility.

Content - Accuracy

All content
throughout the
presentation is
accurate. There are
no factual errors.

Most of the content

is accurate but
there is one piece
of information that
might be
inaccurate.

The content is
generally accurate,
but one piece of
information is
clearly flawed or
inaccurate.

Content is typically
confusing or
contains more than
one factual error.

Spelling and
Grammar

Presentation has
no misspellings or
grammatical errors.

Presentation has 12 misspellings, but

no grammatical
errors.

Presentation has 12 grammatical

errors but no
misspellings.

Presentation has
more than 2
grammatical and/or
spelling errors.

Use of Graphics

All graphics are

attractive (size and
colors) and support
the theme/content
of the presentation.

A few graphics are

not attractive but all
support the
theme/content of
the presentation.

All graphics are

attractive but a few
do not seem to
support the
theme/content of
the presentation.

Several graphics
are unattractive
AND detract from
the content of the
presentation.

Text - Font Choice

& Formatting

Font formats (e.g.,

color, bold, italic)
have been carefully
planned to
enhance readability
and content.

Font formats have

been carefully
planned to
enhance
readability.

Font formatting has

been carefully
planned to
complement the
content. It may be
a little hard to read.

Font formatting
makes it very
difficult to read the
material.

Student Name: _______________________________