Ending Our Study of the Planets

Mrs. Casey's class has been studying all about the planets, sun, meteors, asteroids, and comets. We ended their study with a little election of the class's favorite planet. Mrs. Casey teaches two science classes, so that's why their are two posters featured. First, I read Meet the Planets by John McGranaghan. The students really enjoyed this book because of it's silly humor in presenting each planet along with it's facts. Then I divided the students into groups. Each group was assigned a planet to research. The groups used classroom books, library books, and the internet to gather their facts first. Then, they had to make a poster with an illustration, at least 10 facts, and one favorite fact. They also had to come up with a neat way to present their poster like Pluto did in the book.

The students absolutely loved this project. I like that it involved reading, researching, art, science, and even a little drama with their presenting. They really got into the theatrics of presenting their planet! Some groups even shared facts to the beat of popular songs. When it came time to vote on the class favorite planet, we first covered the facts that made the planets so interesting. Then we had a anonymous voting. After the results were in, I awarded the class favorite with it's winner ribbon. We talked about which planets we voted for and why. Then I added the class posters to our hallway display!