Astronomy, like the size of the solar system, is such a vast subject that it can be a challenging one to teach. It’s a fascinating topic and there are so many angles to choose when trying to effectively teach astronomy.

Our experience is that most public schools teach astronomy in a way that does not inspire awe and elicit the interest the topic warrants. Most astronomy courses are not interactive and this is definitely a topic that needs to be hands-on. Powerpoints and lectures won’t cut it.

So we created a lesson plan drawn from The Thousand Yard Model or The Earth as a Peppercorn created by Guy Ottewell.

This lesson gets kids outside and keeps them energized and engaged. The goal is to teach the size and scale of the universe in a way that is realistic – a challenging endeavor given the enormity of the topic!

Lesson Plan Title: How Big is the Solar System?

Concept / Topic To Teach: An understanding of the scale of the universe by teaching the relative size and spacing of the planets.

Goal: To help students obtain a clear understanding of the size of the sun and the other planets in our solar system. Help students grasp the concept of the vastness of our universe.

Age Range: This lesson plan applies to a vast age range – ages 6-18. The basic activity remains the same for all ages. The teacher’s discussion questions will vary greatly according to the audience. This particular lesson plan applies to ages 6-10.

Specific Objectives:

• Engaging students to be excited and in awe of the huge world we live in!
• Teaching basic concepts of measurement and distance (inches, yards, miles)
• Strengthening knowledge of planets in the solar system
• Increasing understanding of size of the sun and other planets
• Learning the scale of the solar system
• Encouraging children to explore the universe on their own (e.g., get a telescope for backyard viewing)

Materials:

• Sun - any ball, diameter 8.00 inches (a bowling ball is this size but that is too heavy, try an inflatable ball)
• Mercury -a pinhead, diameter 0.03 inch
• Venus - a peppercorn, diameter 0.08 inch
• Earth- a second peppercorn
• Mars -a second pinhead
• Jupiter – a chestnut or a pecan, diameter 0.90 inch
• Saturn – a hazelnut or an acorn, diameter 0.70 inch
• Uranus – a peanut or coffeebean, diameter 0.30 inch
• Neptune a second peanut or coffeebean
• Pluto - a third pinhead (or smaller, since Pluto is the smallest planet)
• Pieces of paper or cards to pin/place planets on
• Label each piece of paper with the name of the planets
• The pinheads will need to be pinned to labeled cards or paper to make them visible.
• A megaphone (not essential, but helpful)
• Find space near the school (playground/field) where you can walk one thousand yards (preferably in a straight line). It is not imperative that it be in a straight line if that is not possible. This may be tough to find.

Anticipatory Set (Lead-In):

Here are some questions to start the conversation:

• Does anyone know what makes up our solar system?
• Who can tell me what is the biggest planet?
• Does anyone know how far it is from the Sun to the Earth?
• Who knows something really interesting about the solar system that you want to share with the class?

Teacher’s Explanation:

• The solar system really is too big for us to imagine. It is more than 9,000,500 miles.
• From the Sun to the Earth is about 93,000,000 (93 million) miles.
• The average distance from the Sun to Pluto is much larger, about 40 times the distance from the Sun to the Earth.
• The Sun to Pluto distance is typically referred to as 3.7 BILLION. To give you a sense for how far this is, imagine you are driving to Pluto on the highway at the speed of 60 miles per hour, it is going take you about 7 thousand years to reach your destination!
• Planets are so small and the distances between them are unbelievably large.
• In order to understand the size of the planets and the distances between them, we’re going to go outside in a few minutes and imagine ourselves as the sun and planets. Before we do that, lets review a few things.

Step-By-Step Procedures:

1. Put the objects out on a table and place them in a row. Explain to the class that these objects will be used to create your class model of the solar system.
2. Now is a good time to review the number of planets -9- and their order.
3. You have probably already taught a mnemonic like “My very easy method just speeds up names” or “My very educated mother just served us nine.”
4. Ask the class “How much space do we need to make the solar system?” Children may think that spacing out the objects on the table is enough.
5. Now is the time to introduce the concept of scale.
6. Explain to the class - “This peppercorn is the Earth we live on.”
7. Ask the class “Does anyone know how wide the Earth is?” The Earth is eight thousand miles wide! The peppercorn is eight hundredths of an inch wide.
8. Ask the class “Does anyone know how wide the Sun is?” It is eight hundred thousand miles wide. This ball representing the sun is only eight inches wide. Explain that one inch in the model represents a hundred thousand miles in reality.
9. Explain to the class that one yard (36 inches/3 feet) represents 3,600,000 miles. Take a pace (one big step) and explain to the class that this distance in your scale of the universe model represents “three million six hundred thousand miles.”

Mnemonic Refresher

10.  This is a good time to review the scale and measurements. It may be helpful to create a handout of the scale or simply put this up on the chalkboard.

Real In model

11.  Ask the class, “Who remembers what the distance is between the Earth and the Sun?” In our model it will be 26 yards.

12.  Ask a student to start at one side of the room and take 26 paces. S/he comes up against the opposite wall at about 15 paces. This should help the class begin to grasp the concept of scale.

13.  Tell the class it’s time to create your solar system outside as there is clearly not enough room inside. Get the class energized and enthused by telling them its time to take a space journey. Lets stretch our legs and build our solar system!

14.  Before you leave, distribute the Sun, the planets, and the labeled paper to members of the class. Make sure that each student knows the name of the object he or she is carrying. As this model calls for participation from eleven students, you’ll want to pair up students and assign a planet to more than one child.

15.  Take the class to a pre-determined point where you can walk a thousand yards (preferably in a straight line) from one end to another. This may not be easy. A straight line is not essential and you don’t have to see from one end of it to the other. You may have to circle back. It may be more memorable if you label the thousand yards such as, “from the playground to the back parking lot.”

16.  Put the Sun ball down, and march away from it as follows. (After the first few planets, ask a student to be responsible for the pacing so you are free to talk and move around. Give this person a special name like “Pace Craft” or “Pace Explorer.”

17.   Take 10 paces. Call out “Mercury, where are you?” and have the Mercury person put down his/her card and pinhead.

18.  Take another 9 paces. Ask Venus to put down her peppercorn. At this point you may want to take out the megaphone so everyone can hear you. This is not essential but it may place less strain on your vocal chords.

19. Take another 7 paces. It’s Earth’s turn.

20.  Ask the class if they notice anything amazing so far? Point out that Mercury is so close to the sun but we never see it (except sometimes in the Sun’s glare at dawn or dusk). It is like a scorched rock and it is lost in space. And as for the distance between Earth and the Sun, can you believe that it warms us so well and we are so far from it?

21. Take another 14 paces. Mars.

22. Take 95 paces from there to Jupiter.

23.  As you or the Pace Explorer is taking paces, continually ask the class questions such as “Who knows an interesting fact about Jupiter?” What is so amazing about this? Point out that Jupiter is so large that you could fit all the other planets inside it. And in our model it is just a chestnut, more than a city block from its nearest neighbor in space!

24.  Another 112 paces. Saturn

25.  Another 249 paces. Uranus

26.  Another 281 paces. Neptune

27. Another 242 paces. Pluto

28.  At this point, the Pace Explorer has marched more than half a mile! The distance in the model adds up to 1,019 paces. A mile is 1,760 yards.

29.  Ask the class again “What observations they have about the model? Point out that the sun ball is no longer visible even with binoculars from the pinhead Pluto. The inconceivable size and wonder of space may now start to set in.

Follow-Up

An interactive exploration of the size of the solar system like this, may make your students eager for more. One way to keep up the momentum is to repeat the activity and vary it a bit. Perhaps ask student pairs to write up fun facts on their planet cards about the planet they represent. Have them share their facts and see who can guess which planet they are.  Or you can do the walk once more from the Sun to Pluto and them immediately in reverse, starting with Pluto. This will help reinforce the concept of the scale of the solar system through repetition.

Maintain their interest and enthusiasm by encouraging students to get binoculars and explore the universe at night. There are specific dates and times of the year when certain planets come into view. Sky and Telescope.com, Cloudynights.com and the Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events 2010 are resources that provide these details, as well as much more interesting information about astronomy.

Please note that this lesson plan is a work in progress. We will add more suggestions to this document in order to increase the learning opportunity. This lesson plan on the scale of the universe is the first of many to come. We aim to provide lesson plans on conventional topics that are anything but conventional. Our goal is to make the learning effective, fun and inspiring. If you have any suggestions for this lesson plan, we’d love to hear from you. And if you are interested in us creating innovative lesson plans on other topics, we want to hear from you!

An example of a decision tree can be found by visiting the website of ATS Trust. ATS Trust offers hassle free oil tank removal and even oil tank removal grants.  Oil tank removal grants give homeowners at least $3,200 and as much as $5,200 for oil tank removal and replacement. ATS uses the answer wizard as a tool to help people learn all about oil tank removal. Click here to go to the ATS Trust Answer Wizard.

By using the answer wizard, people can find out how ATS Trust can help with an oil tank problem, see possible outcomes for repair and get the answers they need to proceed with their project. Educators seeking to teach the value of decision trees may benefit from applying a similar format used in ATS Trust’s Answer Wizard.

What is National Lab Day?

National Lab Day activities include upgrading science labs, fostering a sense of community for science and math teachers and also helping to support interactive, hands-on learning. The foundation partnership plans to work with more than 10,000 teachers and 1 million students within a year.

“The general mission is to get kids interested and excited in science. We want professional scientists to play a practical and professional role,” National Lab Day Coordinator Samantha Israel said. She said students should be seeing how science really functions and they should become more engaged in hands-on learning.

Israel said the program is needed for many reasons. “Kids are losing interest in science at a young age,” she said, commenting that what is being currently taught “is not practical, and it should be fun.”

Israel shared that many students do not understand science properly and the amount of learning that is being taught on this subject has been decreasing.

But the event isn’t for one day only—classrooms can complete their Lab Day activities anytime.

How Does it Work?

National Lab Day is using an online platform to reach a large number of people for this initiative. The process is simple: teachers post a project and then the NLD system helps connect them to scientists, engineers and other Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) professionals.

The main functionality of the site includes project requests, which are ideas from classroom teachers that can’t be completed without expert perspective.

Currently, the site has about 2,000 project requests. It works like this: teachers sign on, post their project plans and then scientists sign on and can agree to help with projects that fit their area of specialty or interest.

The project requests are broad concepts. The projects do not have to be about a particular subject. Current projects include Using GIS to Study Local Glacial Change, Cooking with Solar Power, Working Windmills and Acid-Base Chemistry.

The National Lab Day Video Contest is a feature of the initiative, where the first prize winner can score a $1500 shopping spree to DonorsChoose.org and a flip video camcorder.

To learn more about this program and the contest, visit the official website at www.nationallabday.org.

By Kelly Mclendon.

But multicultural education also includes an intercultural approach where many perspectives are taken into account.

“Successful learning requires an intercultural approach where students are responsible for listening (and reading and experiencing) to understand–both the perspectives of others (peers, authors, faculty) and for understanding their own perspectives and how they acquired them,” Lee Knefelkamp, Professor of Higher and Adult Education, Teachers College, Columbia University said in “Effective Teaching for the Multicultural Classroom.”

Practical methods for teaching

“One should never ignore the fact that, at any one time, there are a variety of diverse cultures, beliefs and practices represented in the classroom. Whether or not multiculturalism should be the core component to an educational program or form a part of it, is not the point. We must design environments that encourage our students to learn and operate in a policy of inclusion rather than exclusion. If this means being sensitive to other cultures then this is what we have to do,” an English and TESOL teacher from Australia said.

Some school districts also have Departments of Multicultural Education to help with these efforts. Take for example the Palm Beach County School District. This website links the district’s teachers with up-to-date multicultural teaching methods in the classroom, as well as current events.

Students can learn appropriate cultural behavior

“Student can also learn that there are patterns of values, speech, preferences, and behaviors associated with different cultures, and they can learn that there are as many differences within cultural groups as there are across different cultures. This helps students break down cultural stereotypes in the society as a whole,” Knefelkamp said.

Making your classroom “a living laboratory”

After being able to identify the different behaviors of different cultural groups, students can expand their knowledge while being able to look beyond their differences.

“Using these methods, students learn that they each may have a unique learning pattern and this realization of their own “multiple subjectivities” can help them understand the multiple and interlocking identities in the people and groups around them. The classroom then becomes a living laboratory for negotiating individual and group differences as well as for negotiating ideas about the content and concepts of the class,” Knefelkamp said.

By Kelly McLendon.

Teaching multiculturalism in the classroom is important. Especially when the total number of international students enrolled in schools in the United States has been on the rise in the past few years, according to College View, a worldwide recruiting service.

At the basic level, multicultural education provides a fundamental education for all students, with the purpose of eliminating discrimination because of ethnic origin and background. By incorporating many cultures into the classroom, schools can celebrate diversity, learn about cultures around the world and raise awareness.

Here are four steps to bring multiculturalism into your classroom.

1.      Provide a basic education for all students

Keep in mind that there are stereotypes for international students. By understanding that you will be teaching students from many different walks of life, you will have won half the battle. Therefore, do not favor or ignore international students specifically. You may feel like you should favor these students so you can teach them more, but it is important to treat all of your students, international or not, with the same respect and understanding.

2.      Address language and cultural norms

• Dispel myths that are often associated with certain cultures
• Avoid using jargon while speaking
• Be willing to use multiple forms of communication to convey ideas
• Repeat and recap information
• Use visual aids for clarity
• TESOL, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Inc. encourages the usage of multiple modes of learning: including logical, mathematical, literate, kinesthetic, music and spatial methods.
• Active listening may also help when there is a moderate language barrier
• Reading material on cultural norms may also help with transitions. Gestures in one part of the world may not mean the same thing in others.

3.  Make it a learning experience

If you have just a few international students in your classroom, the best way to integrate their new perspective into your classroom is to integrate their cultures into the curriculum as well. One of the best ways for younger students includes incorporating fairy tales and folklore into the learning. Storytelling is a great way to have your students learn about new customs.

Other ways to connect:

• Have guest speakers: Invite West African Jenbe drummers or Russian ballerinas into your class for a performance and question session. Students can watch the ethnic art and ask questions about the countries the performers are from after the show.
• Penpals: Using Sincerely Yours Penpals, your students can connect to other students the same age around the world. Just fill out the information on the site and your class will be on its way to be assigned a group of penpals to write letters and send pictures.
• Poster projects: Encourage your students to get creative with paper and markers by having them research a country of their choice and make a poster about it. While this seems simple, the research your students will have to do will provide them with basic knowledge of places they may have never heard about.
• International Night: You can host an International Night in your classroom by incorporating many different cultures into one evening. Or you can choose just one country and have a themed night with stations and food that features the country of your choosing. Invite students and their parents to school to participate in the activities.

4.      Celebrate Diversity

While initially it may seem difficult to incorporate many different cultures into the lesson plans of only one classroom, keep in mind that international students can teach you and your students’ new things as well. They may tell you folk stories you would have never read in books, or they may bring in a food for snack that you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to sample.

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

Pre-K

• Creative Movement: Schedule yoga or dance class for your students to encourage creative movement. It could be as easy as turning on the radio in the classroom and allowing your students to “freestyle dance,” on their own. Check out the Yoga for Kids series for ideas on how to bring that concept into your classroom.
• Musical expression: Encourage your Pre-K students to become interested in musical instruments. Have plenty of drums, recorders and other equipment in your classroom so that students can try out different instruments.

Elementary

• Plays and Theatrical Performances: Take your students on a field trip to the ballet and introduce them to the performing arts.

After the show: After the show ask your students how the music made them feel, what they liked best about the performance and also what they didn’t like. Many elements of the show can be successfully incorporated into many lesson plans—one day you could have a section about theater costuming and the next, you could tie the performance into history with a simple explanation of Shakespeare.

Ballet vocabulary: Check out this example from The St. Louis Ballet for ideas on developing a lesson plan centered around ballet.

Middle School

• Journals: Have your students keep a journal and give them daily prompts, such as “If you could have any superpower, which would you choose?” or “If you could give one million dollars to any person, who would you give it to?” Questions like these will get your students thinking. When your classroom goes on Winter or Spring Break, or a fieldtrip, encourage them to write about their experiences as well.

Journal sharing: As a good way to connect students with their feelings and allow them to share their viewpoint on a particular subject, encourage a view volunteers to read their journal entries out loud to the rest of the class.

Comic drawing: One day, instead of having your students write about a particular subject or prompt, have them draw it in comic-strip form. Check out this lesson plan, complete with blank comic strip templates.

High School

• Video projects: If your school has the capabilities and the resources, you should assign your students the task of making short video documentaries. They can direct and film the scenes themselves and then edit with programs such as iMovie, or Windows Movie Maker. Then play each group’s film and host an official screening party, complete with popcorn.

A group video project can increase and enhance:

• Leadership skills
• Communication skills
• Problem solving and team building skills

As well as allowing students to be creative and think of their own film script, characters, dialogue and any special effects creating a video will also provide students with editing experience.  And if you assign a broad topic, students will have even more creativity to really narrow in on the content they want to show.

Documentaries in Action

Oakland High School students worked the together to create video projects with The Urban Dreams Video Project. The film, “Just Try To Stop Us, A Portrait of Four Youth Activists,” was about four students at the school who were politically active. The students were able to bring light to serious issues like civil rights and social justice, just by making a series of documentary-like films for the program.

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

Basic Elements
Neurolinguistic findings about the brain’s language functions show that in the integrated brain, the functions of one hemisphere are immediately available to the other, producing a more balanced use of language. Whole-brain teaching emphasizes active learning, in which the learner makes connections that tap both hemispheres.

Another aspect of whole-brain teaching is managing the emotional climate, to reduce the “downshifting”–or primal thinking–that occurs during distress. To relax learners, instructors may offer clear, realistic predictions of barriers (such as, “Advancement may be sporadic”) and progress (such as, “Sooner or later, this will become easier”). Plus, instructors may try enhancing the learning experience with music or soothing colors.

In whole-brain learning, imaging is seen as the basis for comprehension. For this reason, learners are encouraged to visualize, draw, and use drama as they develop new ideas, in order to retain them. A reading teacher, for instance, might present new vocabulary words by building a story or skit that uses them–but doesn’t define them–in context. The teacher then might play music while reading the definitions, leaving time for listeners to draw images of the words. The teacher next might use guided meditation to build a relaxed state containing memories of success before the listeners hear the definitions again. And the learners might even act out the words’ meanings or construct stories of their own.

Reading
T. Buzan, Use Both Sides of Your Brain. NY: Dutton (1976).

G.L. Rico, Writing the Natural Way. Los Angeles, CA: Tarcher.

D.H. Schuster and L. Vincent, “Teaching Math and Reading with Suggestion and Music,” Academic Therapy, vol. 16(1), 69-72 (Sept, 1980).

The content on this page was written by On Purpose Associates.

Youth apprenticeship is a learning system that prepares students for work by giving them a combination of classroom instruction and paid on-the-job training. In this education model, students obtain a set of well-defined occupational abilities by learning concepts in the classroom and applications in a work setting.

Discussion

Youth apprenticeship systems in the U.S. have been influenced by successful apprenticeship models in Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, and Austria. About 66% of the youth in these European countries use an apprenticeship system to prepare for the workforce.

Apprenticeships range in occupation from baking to banking. Apprenticeship systems are run by a partnership of government, educators, and employers. Employer committees play a significant role in designing, monitoring, and evaluating apprenticeship programs. Programs begin accepting youth at age 15 or 16 (once they have finished their requisite education), and run for three to four years.

U.S. policy makers have been trying to develop a youth apprenticeship system that is more flexible and fits into our nation’s structure of education, governance, and business.

How Youth Apprenticeship Affects Learning

Curriculum–The curriculum for specific occupational skills generally has been perceived as rather narrow. This is because content in the classroom mainly focuses on the applications called for in the workplace. However, most European apprenticeship programs have broadened their curriculum to focus more heavily on technology, critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, and project management.

Instruction–In the past, the popular opinion has been that academic instruction in apprenticeship–and other occupational–programs is neglected or weak. However, today there is a strong movement to add rigorous academic standards to apprenticeship programs, and to integrate the academic activities with the occupational skill training. Instruction at the work site varies: Some sites offer very formal and prescribed programs, while others provide informal mentoring by a master in the trade or profession. Critics charge that large companies tend to replicate classroom or laboratory training without providing much hands-on learning, while small companies often exploit apprentices as cheap labor without offering much real instruction.

Assessment–Assessment in the academic classrooms has traditionally relied on tests and grades. In the occupational laboratories, however, assessment includes a combination of traditional testing and project completion. At the workplace, assessment is generally authentic and includes feedback from supervisors, mentors, and co-workers. Since students are working while learning, there is continual feedback on the quality of their efforts.

The content on this page was written by On Purpose Associates.

Instructional technology is just what it sounds like: using computers, CD-ROMs, interactive media, modems, satellites, teleconferencing, and other technological means to support learning.

Discussion

Some educators believe the use of interactive, computer-based technology is crucial to improving classroom learning. These educators contend that advanced technology will fundamentally change the learning process and structure. Other educators believe technology is merely a tool that has minimal impact on the quality of learning.

How Instructional Technology Affects Learning

Curriculum–Advanced technology has the potential to significantly expand the breadth and depth of the curriculum. With the Internet, for example, students can access information far beyond the scope of their traditional textbooks. Curricula can be individualized and adapted to students’ specific learning styles. Instructional technology has the power to enhance overall knowledge accumulation, instead of just focusing on content mastery.

Instruction–Advanced technology could significantly affect the role of teachers, as well as the structure of schools and classrooms. The use of instructional technology changes the teacher’s role from expert to facilitator or coach. Plus, instruction is no longer limited to the school building or classroom. For example, students can take courses from a global satellite feed or on the Internet. Learning can take place at home, at work, or anywhere else that has the capacity for a television, phone, or computer.

Assessment–Instructional technology will focus more and more on building feedback loops directly into the learning process. Students can obtain frequent and accurate feedback, make corrections to their work, and structure learning experiences around their individual needs. Assessment can be monitored by offsite instructors, plus it can be ongoing and cumulative.

Reading

Lewis J. Perelman, School’s Out.

The content on this page was written by On Purpose Associates.

School-to-work programs provide ways for students to transition successfully into the economy, either through paid employment with a business or self-employment. Numerous studies reveal that, upon high school graduation, many students who aren’t college-bound are neither prepared for nor connected to employment opportunities.

Basic Elements

In general, building a school-to-work transition program entails the following three approaches:

1. Integrate the long-separated “tracks” of academic and vocational education. From middle school on, schools should orient youth to work, help them explore different types of jobs, provide guidance about career paths, and assist them in finding work relevant to their needs and interests. Vocational education is considered too narrow and specific, outdated by modern technology, and ineffective in building language and math skills. Academic education is criticized for being too conventional, driven predominantly by standardized tests, and ineffective at motivating most students.
2. Link schooling with the demands and realities of the workplace. Through employment-related experiences and on-the-job learning, students can receive significant exposure to the workforce and can prepare for their future work environment.
3. Develop programs to closely coordinate secondary and post-secondary education with employers. Apprenticeships and school-business partnerships are just two of the many ways educators and businesspeople can produce a shared view of youth learning and development.

These changes have extensive learning implications, particularly for high schools, including:

Curriculum–Develop new models that integrate vocational and academic education, from revamping the guidance counseling system to creating a coherent sequence of courses related to broad occupational clusters.

Instruction–Focus on experiential, project-based learning. Also, reduce the “tracking,” or segregation, of students into either academic or vocational studies.

Assessment–Use portfolios to gauge a student’s employability.

The content on this page was written by On Purpose Associates.