University of Houston

5E Lesson Plan
Teachers Name: Layla Aweineh
Strand: Earth and Space
Basic Lesson Components

Grade Level: 3

Time Estimate: 45

Science Content: The students will need to identify where the sun, earth, and moon are in our
solar system. The students will need to understand their positioning. The students will need to
understand how the sun stands still and the earth rotates around the sun. The students will
need to understand the positioning and orbiting of the earth and moon. The students will need
to know that the moon rotates around the earth, which causes night and day.
The students will need to know the names of the planets in the solar system. The students will
need to name each planet in order, closest or farthest from the sun. The students will be able to
understand why they need to know the order of the planets. The students will need to be able
to name the planets as they are being called on and the planets place from the sun. Example:
earth is the 3rd planet from the sun; Mercury is the first planet, or closest planet to the sun. The
students will need to know and understand the vocabulary: orbit, position, model, and planet.

TEKS: 3.8. (C)(D) The student knows there are recognizable patters in the natural world and
among objects in the sky. The student is expected to: construct models that demonstrate the
relationship of the Sun, Earth, and Moon, including orbits and positions AND identify the
planets in the earths solar system and their position in relation to the Sun.

Content Objective(s): (C)(D) The student will be able to construct models that demonstrate the
relationship of the Sun, Earth, and Moon, including orbits and positions AND identify the planets in
the earth’s solar system and their position in relation to the Sun.

ELPS:
Listening: (c) Lean new language structures, expressions, and basic and academic vocabulary
heard during the classroom instruction and interactions. (d) Monitor understanding of spoken
language during classroom instruction and interactions and seek clarification as needed.

Speaking: (e) share information in cooperative learning interactions. (j) Respond orally to
information presented in a wide variety of print, electronic, audio, and visual media to build
and reinforce concept language attainment.

Reading: N/A

Writing: (b) write using newly acquired basic vocabulary and content-based grade-level
vocabulary.
Language Objective:
I can speak, listen and write about the solar system, the different planets, the relationship
between the sun, moon, and earth, and new science vocabulary with my teacher and peers in
class.

Vocabulary: Definition: Cognate (T or F):

1. Orbit 1. The path one object takes as it
2. Position revolves around another object in 1. Orbita (T)
3. Model space 2. Posicion (T)
4. Planet 2. Where an object is located in space 3. Modelo (T)
3. A representation of something found 4. Planate (T)
in real life
4. A round body in space made of rocks
or gases
Misconceptions:
There are many different misconceptions that the students can come across while I am teaching this lesson.
One major misconception can be the differences between each planet, because there are so many of them.
If I notice that the students are having trouble with this, I will create a Venn diagram with the inner and
outer plants. I will explain each one again, and discuss differences and similarities that are between the
planets. I will also have a video that explains each planet and its characteristics. After the video, I will put the
students into two different groups, inner and outer planets. Once they are in their groups, they will be able
to discuss with other students the group they have been assigned to (inner or outer planets) and the
characteristics of them, and the same for outer planets. This will give the students more details and
explanations of the planets.
Materials/Resources/Technology Needs:
Materials: “Science Rock – Space” video (from STEMscopes.)
8 different colors of clay, models of the sun and moon (made by the teacher).
“Content Connections Video- Space” video (from STEMscopes.), dry erase board, and markers
Ping-Pong ball, tennis ball, and soccer ball
Notebook paper, pencil
Notecards and cup with popsicle sticks that have student’s names on them.
Book: No books.
Technology: “Science Rock – Space” video (from STEMscopes.)
“Content Connections Video- Space” video (from STEMscopes.)
Safety:
The teacher will make sure the students are not doing anything they are not supposed to with the clay
that is given to them to create their model of a planet. The teacher will make sure they do not eat,
throw, play, or do anything else that they are not supposed to be doing. The teacher will do so by
monitoring the students closely during that portion of the lesson.

5E Instructional Procedures
What Teacher Does
Engage The teacher will ask the students to join
on the carpet with nothing with them. The
teacher will say to the students, “okay
boys and girls, today, we will be talking
about our solar system and how our
planets (the teacher will now define
What Students Do
The students will join on the carpet on a level 0.
After the teacher directs the students when hey
can turn and talk with a partner, they will go
from a level 0 to a level 1. When it is time for the
students to watch the video, the students will be
directed to be on a level 0. They will be focusing
 planet: A round body in space made of on the video and paying attention to as many
rocks or gases) and how they relate to the details as possible. After the video and the
sun. The teacher will ask the students the students are asked to turn and talk with their
following questions/lead the following partners again, the students will be directed to
discussion: go from a level 0 to a level 1. During the time the
What is one thing you know about your students are discussing, they will be expected to
solar system? Turn and talk with a partner stay focused as well and pay attention to what
Which planet is furthest from the sun? their partners are saying, and vise versa .
Turn and talk with a partner
Which planet is closest to the sun? Turn
and talk with a partner
Teacher will be on the carpet as well,
listening to the student’s discussions and
intervening when necessary.
After the discussion, the teacher will say”
okay guys, we are going to watch a quick
video about our solar system and how it
relates to the sun.
Teacher will then play “Science Rock –
Space” video (from STEMscopes.)
After the teacher will lead with the
following questions:
How many planets are in our Solar
System? Turn and talk with a partner
What is the center of our Solar System?
Turn and talk with a partner
What is another way to remember the
order of the planets? Turn and talk with a
partner
What is the furthest planet from the sun?
Turn and talk with a partner
What is the closest planet from the sun?
Turn and talk with a partner
Teacher will be on the carpet as well,
listening to the student’s discussions and
intervening when necessary.
Explore For this portion of the lesson, the teacher While the teacher is giving instructions, the
will give the students directions while they student will be on the carpet, on a level 0.
are still sitting on the carpet. The teacher However, after, once the students are in their
will tell the students that they will be group, they will be directed to be on a level 1-2.
creating a model (the teacher will define They should be collaborating with their partner,
model: A representation of something deciding on how to create a model of their
found in real life) of the sun, earth, moon planet. They should be discussing on ho big it
and their relation to the planets. The should be and where it should be placed on the
teacher will group her 16 students in two model where the sun and moon are.
groups (1 group for each planet). The
teacher will then assign the students to
their partner and assign both of them one
planet. Once the teacher has done so, she
will walk over to the station where are the
materials are for this part of the lesson to
show her students. The teacher will then
say, “okay class, at this station where I am
standing, you can see I have created a
model of the sun and moon and 8
different colors of clay.” The teacher will
also say, “ in the video we watched, they
showed us the order of each planet from
the sun and I want to see if we can get the
order correct.” The teacher will then say, “
When I your planet, I want you to come
get the color of clay I give you. After, you
will go find a spot in the room and create
a model, just like I have created for the
sun and moon.” The teacher will then call
each group of students to come get their
color of clay to create a model of their
planet and give them 2 minutes to find a
spot in the room. After all the groups have
been called and found a spot in the room,
the teacher will then say, “Once you have
finished, I want you and you partner to
come and place your planet in the order
of closest to the sun to furthest from the
sun.” The teacher will then say, “I only
want to see one group go and place their
planet at once. I should not have multiple
groups at once placing their planets in the
model.”
While the students are working on their
models, the teacher will be walking
around asking the following questions:
Why did you create you planet model in
the way you did?
Why is the model of your planet that
specific size?
Where do you think that should be placed
on the model, closest or furthest from the
sun?
After the kids have placed all of their
planets in the order that the teacher has
required of them, the teacher will ask
everyone to gather around the carpet,
again.
The teacher will go over the placement of
each planet and ask the following
 questions:
Listed in order, what are the planets?
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
What do we call the four planets closest
to the Sun? Inner planets
What separates the inner and outer
planets? Asteroid belt
How are the planets alike? How are they
different? Answers may vary: Rocky or
gaseous, small or large, close to Sun or
farther away, etc.
The Earth revolves around the Sun like
____ around ____. Answers may vary:
bees around a flower, birds around a dizzy
head, etc.
What do you think would happen if the
Earth stood in one spot? Answers may
vary.
How is modeling how the Earth, Sun, and
Moon move helpful? What are some
limitations of this model? Helpful: shows
revolution for Earth and Moon, move
independently. Limited: Sun does not emit
light, bodies are not spheres, bodies are
not to scale, etc.
What is an orbital (the teacher will define
orbit at this time: The path one object
takes as it revolves around another object
in space) path of a planet? The path a
planet takes around the Sun.
How is modeling a planets orbital path
helpful? Answers may vary: We can see
that the planets are not lined up and do
not move at the same pace. Planets are in
different positions (the teacher will define
positions: The path one object takes as it
revolves around another object in space)
Around the Sun, etc.
Explain For this portion of the lesson, the teacher During this portion of the lesson, the students
will keep the students on the carpet. The will have their eyes and ears on the teacher
teacher will tell the students, “okay class, and the video once the video begins playing.
now that we have gone over the basics, They will be focused, and attentive. When
we are going to go more into detail about the teacher is talking, the students will be on
our planets and how they relate to the a level 0. Once the video is playing, they will
sun and moon. The teacher will play the be on a level 0. However, once the teacher is
video, once the video gives the teacher asking questions, the students will ALL be
directions to pause and think with her
students, that is exactly what she will do. involved in the discussion and answer
The teacher will pause the video and say, questions as they are being called on. The
“okay, I want to draw a picture of the sun, students will be aloud to be on a level 1 once
earth, and moon.” The teacher will ask 3 the teacher is asking them to answer
different students to come and draw their questions or discuss.
representations of the earth, sun, and
moon on the dry erase board. Once the
students have done so, the teacher will
play the video again. Once the video starts
talking about what a sun, the teacher will
pause after and ask the students
questions and go over the information
that was given to them. The teacher will
say and write under the drawing of the
sun as she is talking, “The sun does not
move.” The teacher will then ask the
question, “what else did the video say
about the sun?” the teacher will expect to
hear an answer like: it is a star, hot ball of
gas in the center of our solar system. Once
the video is finished talking about earth,
the teacher will pause the video and ask
questions/take notes for the students to
see. The teacher will say, “so, the earth
orbits the sun.” the teacher will also write
this under the drawing of the earth. The
teacher will then ask, “does the sun orbit
the earth, or does the earth orbit the
sun?” The teacher will then play the
video. Once the video starts discussing the
moon, the teacher will again pause the
video and take notes on the board. The
teacher will say, “the moon revolves
around the earth.” And the teacher will
write this down under the drawing of the
moon. The teacher will then ask 3
different students to grab a physical
representation of the sun, earth, and
moon from the teacher’s desk (they can
grab a Ping-Pong ball, tennis ball, and
soccer ball. The Ping-Pong ball will
represent the moon, the tennis ball will
represent the earth, and the soccer ball
will be the sun. With those items, the
teacher and 2 other students that the
teacher will call on will model how the
earth, moon, and sun relate (just like the
example from the video). After the
 teacher will continue to play the video.
Once the video begins to discuss the order
of the planets, the teacher will pause and
ask the students to think to themselves
and remember the order of the other
planets. After the teacher has given the
students enough time to think, she will
play the video again. As the video is
playing, the teacher will list the other
planets that are being discussed on the
board (8 planets). After, the teacher will
continue to play the video. The teacher
will pause the video once the video
introduces the acronym to remember the
order of the planets from the sun. The
teacher will then ask the students what
they think of the acronym and call on
students to understand what their
thoughts are. The teacher will also write
the acronym on the board, so the
students can use it for the next activity.
After, the teacher will continue to play the
video until the end. The teacher will ask
the following questions to see if the
students are up to speed on the content
that is presented to them:
What is the 3rd closest planet to the sun?
Name the larger planets.
Name the smaller planets.
Does the earth revolve around the sun or
does the sun revolve around the earth?
Does the sun stand still or move around?
Does the earth? Does the moon?
Elaborate For this portion of the lesson, the teacher The students will be on the carpet; on a level 0
will tell the students they will be playing a while the teacher is giving instructions on the
fun game. The teacher will have a list of game that they are going to play. Once the game
notecards with planet names/vocabulary begins, the students will be aloud to help each
words/ characteristics of planets/the other, communicate with each other, and use
sun/the moon. The teacher will have the materials on the board and the model that
these shuffled. The teacher will say the we, as a class made. However, once the teacher
description, definition, or characteristic on calls on ONE student, only that one student will
the notecard. The teacher will give the have permission to talk. If there are other
students a couple of minutes to think students talking, they will miss their turn once
about their answer. The teacher will call they are called on in the future.
on students randomly using her popsicle
sticks. Once the teacher calls on the
student she has chosen randomly, if the
student gets the correct answer, the
 student will receive a small prize from the
treasure box, if not, the students will have
another chance at being called to try and
get the correct answer.
Evaluate For this portion of the lesson, the teacher For this portion of the lesson, the kids will
will ask the students to return back to continue to be on a level 0, working
their seats on a level 0. Once there independently. The student’s will not be
students are at their assigned seats, the discussing their answers or sharing their
teacher will tell the students that she will thoughts with the other students. The students
be passing out an exit ticket. The teacher will be answering 3 out of the four questions in
will tell the students that the exit ticket complete sentences. One of the questions will
will have 4 questions on it that they need require them to draw a picture, not write a
to answer, on their own. The 4 questions sentence. The students will answer the 4
will be written on the white board questions on their notebook paper and after,
(everything else will be erased from the when the teacher instructs them to, they will
previous portion of the lesson). The stack their things to switch to the next class.
teacher will tell the students, “on a level
0, please take a notebook paper out from
your binder and a pencil.” The teacher will
then say, “there are 4 questions on the
board that I would like you to answer,
independently, on a level 0.” The teacher
will say, “I do not want you to copy the
questions down, just answer them. Make
sure you number the questions in the
order that is written on the board.” The 4
questions will consist of:
Which planet is farther from the Sun than
Venus, but closer than Mars? Answer: The
Earth is the third planet from the sun.
Which of the following is a correct
description of the motions of the Earth,
Sun and Moon? Answer: The Earth orbits
the sun.
Draw a model of the relationship between
the earth, sun, and moon.
Is the sun a star or a planet? Answer:
The sun is a star.
The teacher will then say, “once you have
answered all 4 questions, please turn your
notebook paper over and wait for me to
pick it up.” Once the students have
finished and the teacher picks up their exit
ticket, the teacher will then say, “please
stack your things on your desk, it is time
for us to switch classes.”
Models students made during the explore: