Planets


 * Topic:** The Planets
 * Content Area:** Science
 * Grade:** 4th

__**Specific Objectives**__

At the end of the lesson, students will be able to: identify the eight planets in the solar system by name identify at least 2 characteristics of each planet identify whether or not the planet has moons list the planetary order recognize a picture of each planet create PowerPoint/Zoho show presentations collaborate with others

__**Lesson introduction and strategy (steps):**__ Students will be broken up into groups, and each group will be assigned a planet. Each group will be asked to research a planet and present the findings to the class. The teacher will assist students in selecting appropriate characteristics and pictures. The students will use either PowerPoint or Zoho show to create a presentation. In this presentation, at least two identifying characteristics must be mentioned. A picture of the planet must be included along with identifying whether or not the planet has moons. A sample presentation can be found [|here]. Each group is responsible for writing a short report about the assigned planet that will be turned in to the teacher for evaluation purposes. Students will use Zoho to create and edit their reports, as well. This link must be shared with the teacher. This will be done so that the teacher can ensure that all group members participated equally. Presentations will be given in the same order as the planets are found. This will help students to remember the order. During presentation time, students who are not presenting should be taking notes on each planet. If laptops are available, students can use Zoho notebook to take electronic notes. Otherwise, paper and pencil is acceptable.

I chose to have students use Zoho to edit their reports in order to allow all students from the group to write, view, and edit the report at the same time. The same is true as well if the students choose to use Zoho show to create their electronic presentation. By doing so the students become more familiar with other tools that they can use in the future instead of relying too heavily on Microsoft products. By using presentation materials, students will have visual and auditory representations of the material. This will serve to increase learning, comprehension, and retention of the material, while addressing different learning styles. The students also learn collaboration and team work while working on the project together.
 * __Rational for use of tools:__**

The students will be evaluated based on the product that is turned in and presented. In order to fully assess the students, the teacher will ask them to choose two planets to compare and contrast in written form. One of these planets may be the one their group studied. They will also be evaluated on how well they worked together on the project. Additional evaluations can be made regarding individual contributions to Zoho. This will be taken into account during the grading process. The students will also provide feedback on the different tools that were used. The students will comment on their successes and failures and their overall feelings about the programs used. Zoho will be evaluated based on these comments and the functionality of these tools.
 * __Evaluation__**