Our Mission to Mars on PhotoPeach

Space Trading in Action!

Space Trading Cards

We have come to the end of our planner and have created a new and interesting homework project for ourselves.  The Navigators are creating Space Trading Cards.  The assignment is detailed on a homework sheet that went home this week.  Our junior astronomers are researching and complying information on the planets in our solar system (even though we know Pluto is a dwarf planet we are still including it).  With that information we are creating the trading cards.  Once I have laminated and cut them out-the trading will begin!

Found Poetry

Today for a writing activity, we explored Found Poetry.  This is where you take words from a story or poem and rearrange them, add words, cut out words to create your own found poetry.  The students used their Trans-disciplinary Skills while they worked together in cooperative groups.  They practiced listening to each other's ideas and taking turns with the artistic representation of their poem.  Great Job, Navigators!

Model of the distances

Here, the Navigators are contemplating in cooperative groups the distance between the planets.  After discussing and marking where they thought the planets were...  I showed them a completed model.  Needless to say, we were quite shocked and inaccurate in our plotting of the distances.  The inner planets are so much closer than we think and the outer planets are farther away than we imagined. 

Where in the World?

The Navigators are on a mission to create a model that represents how far away the planets are.  We started with the sun at one end of the playground (even though we know that the planets revolve around the sun).  Using footsteps to represent distance, the planets started walking away from the sun.  Who knew that Mercury was so close!  We continued moving away from the sun, after the asteroid belt the distances were further and further away.  Pluto ended up standing on the fence at the opposite end  of the playground!