Space: The Funky Frontier

Black and white illustration of an alien in a cowboy clothes, riding a four-legged alien

Audience

This lesson is designed for campers who are at about a middle school reading level and who can find and follow the directions and links in a Web site. The Web pages used in the lesson include information that is appropriate for this audience, as well as for more advanced students.

Objectives

By the time your campers have finished this lesson, they should be able to name the nine planets in order and to state specific information about Uranus. The activities described in the worksheet will encourage them to do some creative writing and think about celestial bodies and how they are named.

Web Site

The Nine Planets, by Bill Arnett
www.asi.org/nineplanets

Presentation

Limit lecture time to allow campers time to practice, explore, and learn at their own pace. Here is one way you can organize this lesson:

  • Present a captivating introduction to the lesson. For example, talk about an interesting fact about space or one of the planets.
  • Provide an overview of today's activity.
  • Distribute the activity worksheet and facilitate today's activity.
  • Summarize and discuss what was learned today.