Astronomy & Space 4-Week Unit Plan

This 4-week unit plan will give you a great framework for a unit in discovering the secrets and science of Space. Using these resources, you’ll debunk a few misconceptions about the cause of seasons, moon phases, distances between and sizes of planets, and the levels of our atmosphere. This unit plan offers multiple lessons involving great technological resources for conceptualizing the ideas.

Inside this .zip file you will find a Read Me.pdf that will guide you through the 4 weeks of the unit. See the “What’s included” section below for the details. This is an all-inclusive unit plan! Although this was designed and implemented in a sixth grade classroom, it can be easily modified to fit a fifth grade or seventh grade classroom as well.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

This resource contains:
–> A planning & pacing guide
–> Four comprehensive, technology-integrated activities
–> A group research project & presentation
–> Group rubric and peer evaluation rubric for the project
–> A simple assessment (for use as a pretest)
–> A in-depth assessment (for use as a summative)
–> Reteaching resources for all 6 major topics of the unit
–> Answer keys and teacher implementation info included for each rubric

STORY

I originally developed this unit plan to address a variety of concepts surrounding the wonder and science of Space. I weaved in situations where practice with the scientific method could be included as well.

IMPLEMENTATION

This unit plan contains a guide for a suggested path through the scientific content. In addition, each activity or project has a teacher forward detailing options for how to implement the activity in any classroom. There are also resources for effectively reteaching concepts from the unit. From start to finish, this plan has four weeks of science learning in your classroom covered.

POSSIBLE EXTENSIONS

The reteaching materials included in this file are a great, multi-day possibility for extending learning and curiosity.

MATERIALS/PRE-REQS

Besides this resource, you may require:
–> Computers with internet access
–> Meter or yard stick
–> Construction, butcher, or printer paper for one activity
–> Wooden skewers or stakes for one outdoor activity