It surely does not matter how “old” your students may be, the more hands on the activities the better the students understand the material. Moving on with the solar system, the students thankfully had a very in-depth inquiry study on each of the planets earlier. I created a unit that allowed students, in groups, to create research questions for the planets and then become experts on their assigned planet. The students had the concept of the solar system down, but it was still very abstract to them. I would use phrases such as “we only know a small portion of space [being our solar system] and yet that is still HUGE”. The class would nod and agree but I questioned whether they truly understood just how large everything is. I found a lesson online that taught me how to take a 3-pound ball of play dough and mold it out into a scaled model of our solar system. With my cooperating teacher on board, we order enough play dough (30 lbs. to be exact) so that each student could, in groups, create the model. I did the lesson with my roommates and friends at home so I could perfect it for the students and created a worksheet to go alongside the lab.

I got the students in groups and went ahead to explain the purpose of this assignment. I started with “today, we get to play with play dough” and everyone tried to hide their excitement by saying things like “play dough!? Really??” or “we aren’t in kindergarten.” I acknowledged my students comments and just explained to them that this lab would allow them to create the solar system…right in front of them. I knew that I was using a method often used in lower elementary but I also knew it would do the trick and allow students to visualize and better understand the size of our solar system.

After we completed the lab, and made each planet step-by-step as a class and in groups students were surprised. I heard many comments like “Pluto is that small!?” or “Jupiter is HUGE” I saw that the students were finally getting it. Yes, our planet Earth is not reference for the rest of the planets because there are some planets (gas planets) that are huge! Listening to the conversations the students were having with each other and throughout the day regarding the activity showed me two things. First, it is okay to go back to methods that are intended for a young audience as long as they challenge the students. Second, when students are discussing the concepts, explaining the assessment given, and are connecting the solar system to the scaled model they created you know that your idea for teaching that day worked. And it worked amazingly!

Miss. P