TPACK Template

Subject Earth Science

Grade Level 9

Type of Online Asynchronous

Class
Learning Objective ES.3 The student will investigate and understand the characteristics
of Earth and the solar system.
Key concepts include
a) position of Earth in the solar system;
Content

b) sun-Earth-moon relationships;
c) characteristics of the sun, planets and their moons, comets,
meteors, and asteroids
Online Activity *Because this is an asynchronous course, all information required to
supplement the “Sizing Up the Universe” simulation will be
available to students prior to the simulation completion date. The
simulation should take around 45 minutes for the student to
complete. Since the simulation will not “save the place” in the
event the webpage gets closed out, it is recommended that
students only perform the simulation if there is enough time for it
to be completed in one sitting.
1. Students should watch the teacher-provided slide show and
accompanying video (MS Power Point presentation with
explanation recorded via Screencast-o-matic) explaining the
week’s lesson plan: This week the class will be learning about
the position of Earth and other celestial bodies within the solar
system, as well as the relative movement between them and
brief characteristics of solar system entities.
2. Students will be directed to the “Sizing Up the Universe” web
link, which will first introduce the simulation with a short
introductory video and explanation.
3. After students ‘Get Started!’, the simulation will walk them
through various prompts, starting with picking a spherical item
(beach ball, basketball, brussels sprout) to represent Earth and
another to represent the moon. The sphere chosen to be the
moon must be proportionate in size compared to the chosen
Earth (the simulation will ensure the sizes are proportionate).
Relating everyday items to the Earth and moon helps students
visualize their actual sizes and proportions. Using the student-
chosen spheres, the students will be able to see what the
Pedagogy

rotation diameter/distance of the moon is to the Earth using a

neighborhood map. This is an awesome, fun, and realistic way
to show the moon’s proportional orbit around Earth.
 4. The same activity as outlined in Step 3 will be performed for the
Sun next: The student must pick the relative size of the Sun
compared to Earth and using the same neighborhood map
described above, the students will be able to see how
proportionately large the Earth’s rotation is around the Sun.
5. The same activity as outlined in both Step 3 and 4 will be
performed for the planet Pluto. The neighborhood maps (or,
regional map at Pluto’s length) are a really interesting and
effective way to depict the relative distances between planets
in space.
6. The simulation will then require the students to review stars
inside and outside of our galaxy (the Milky Way), as well as map
out the distance between the Sun and the closest star outside
the Milky Way.
7. The students will then compare the distance and size of our
Solar System to the Milky Way galaxy by again selecting objects
to proportionately represent each and displaying the size
difference using maps (for example, the Solar System is a
quarter coin on the sidewalk in France, but the Milky Way is the
whole of Europe). A brief video will further explain the Milky
Way.
8. The students will then go on in the simulation to learn about
other galaxies, including Andromeda, the closest galaxy to ours,
and the comparative distance between them. A brief video will
end the simulation with a further explanation of interstellar
galaxies.
9. All students should take a screen shot at the end of the
simulation and post it to the class discussion board (showing
they completed the simulation), along with a discussion of
three things they learned and anything they found surprising,
fun, or interesting (these answers can include anything from the
simulation or from the teacher’s screencast). Additionally, the
students should reply to at least two other classmates’ posts.
10. The teacher will respond to each discussion with a follow-up
question, to which the students should respond to with a
thoughtful analysis.
Technology  Students will be using the “Sizing Up the Universe”
Technology

simulation on the Smithsonian Education website:

http://learning.si.edu/idealabs/sizinguptheuniverse/#intro/
 Speaker or headphones are required
 Computer or tablet with mouse or touchscreen required