A WebQuest for 4th Grade (Science/Language Arts) Planet Quest A WebQuest for 4th Grade (Science/Language Arts) Created by Mrs. O’Brian

Planet Quest Introduction Standards Tasks Process Planets Evaluation Handouts Creating Crew Patch Space Links Conclusion Teacher Page

Planet Quest Please view the National Geographic video to help you decide which planet you want to visit and explore.

Planet Quest - Standards Reading Standards: Students will demonstrate use of different skills and strategies to read. Students will demonstrate an understanding of what they have read. Students will read different materials for a variety of purposes.

Planet Quest - Standards Science Standards: Students will gain an understanding of the relationships of the Earth and other objects in the solar system. Students will be able to describe the distinguishing characteristics of the known planets in the solar system. Students will be able to describe various objects in the sky (e.g., asteroids, comets, stars, meteors/shooting stars).

Planet Quest - Standards Writing Standards: Students will demonstrate understanding and use a writing process including multiple revisions to improve content, and publishing work to share with an audience. Students will demonstrate ability to write clearly and effectively. Students will analyze and evaluate effectiveness of their written work and set goals to improve own work.

Planet Quest - Introduction You are an astronaut on a mission to another planet in our solar system. You will join a crew to gather information about your destination. When you become experts, you will voyage to this planet. After exploring it, you will contact Mission Control on Earth by cyber postcard to communicate your impressions and data.

Planet Quest - Tasks Pre-flight Requirements Data Collection Your job is to collect data about your planet. Your crew of astronauts will work as a team to collect this scientific information. You will need to show your data sheet #1 to Mission Control before blast off. Pre-flight Requirements Data Collection Exploration and Communication Debriefing session

Planet Quest - Tasks Pre-flight Requirements Know your destination (planet) Name your mission and design a patch (badge)

Planet Quest - Tasks Data Collection Namesake (Who is your planet named after?) Distance from the Sun (How many kilometers?) Diameter (The distance across your planet.) Period of revolution (How long is one year on your planet in Earth years?)

Planet Quest - Tasks Data Collection – Continued Rotation period (One day on your planet equals how many hours/days on Earth?) Moons (How many? What are their names?) Atmosphere (What gases are in the atmosphere?) Temperature (How hot or cold is it?) Composition (What is your planet made of?) Other Interesting facts (Special features. Does it have volcanoes, craters, lakes, rings, valleys, etc..?)

Planet Quest - Tasks Exploration and Communication Create a Cyber Postcard using a virtual postcard site (contact Mission Control).

Planet Quest - Tasks Debriefing session Present your data as a crew to your peers and Mission Control.

Planet Quest - Process First, Mission Control (your teacher) will assign you to a crew (3 students). Contact Mission Control for your planet destination. Design a patch for your mission. To learn how, click on the following link for directions on Creating a Crew Patch Print out each of the Data Collection Sheets (#1, #2, #3), each crew member will complete one data sheet.

Planet Quest - Process Decide which data sheet each crew member will be responsible for completing with information about your planet destination.  You are now ready to start collecting data. Remember, only make/jot notes. To do your research, click on the name of your planet destination listed at the bottom of this page. 

Planet Quest - Process Next, click on one of the Web Site links for your planet. Read the information and make/jot your notes under the correct headings. When you have finished reading the first Web Site, view another Web site link for your planet. Read the information and decide if there is any new information that should be added to your report.   

Planet Quest - Process Now you are ready to write the rough copy for your cyber postcard.  Click here and print out draft sheets for each of your crew.  Using the notes you have made on your Data Collection Sheets, each write a paragraph to Mission Control on your draft sheet.   

Planet Quest - Process Be sure to include facts about your planet. Share some of your 'adventures' too!  Remember to write the postcard paragraphs in complete sentences. Be sure to spell correctly, and use capital letters and punctuation where appropriate.   

Planet Quest - Process Peer conference with another crew to edit your rough copy. When you are finished editing, you are ready to create your cyber postcard. Click this link to go the virtual postcard site, follow the instructions, and send your message to Mission Control (your teacher's email account). Print a copy of your postcard for each crew member.   

Planet Quest - Process Finally, your crew will share the information you've collected about your planet at a debriefing session back on Earth at Mission Control. As a crew, first practice how you will present your data. Use a clear, loud voice. Make eye contact with your audience. Hold your paper still and away from your face.  Print out and use the Crew Checklist to ensure you have completed all the steps of your task. 

Planet Quest - Process Print out and complete a self-evaluation sheet. (See Evaluation.)  Present your data and cyber postcard at the debriefing session with Crews from other missions at Mission Control.  Hand in ALL your work for evaluation.  

Planet Quest - Mercury MERCURY 1 2 3 Enjoy your Quest!

Planet Quest - Venus VENUS 1 2 3 Enjoy your Quest!

Planet Quest - Neptune NEPTUNE 1 2 3 Enjoy your Quest!

Planet Quest - Mars MARS 1 2 3 Enjoy your Quest!

Planet Quest - Jupiter JUPITER 1 2 3 Enjoy your Quest!

Planet Quest - Saturn SATURN 1 2 3 Enjoy your Quest!

Planet Quest - Uranus URANUS 1 2 3 Enjoy your Quest!

Planet Quest - Evaluation Your mission patch, data sheets, cyber postcard, and presentation about your planet will be evaluated. There is a checklist to help you make sure that you have completed all the necessary steps of the Planet WebQuest Print out this checklist. Check to confirm that you have completed all the steps. Your teacher will also evaluate your WebQuest using this rubric.

Planet Quest - Handouts Cyber Post Card – 1st Draft Data Collection Sheet #1 Data Collection Sheet #2 Data Collection Sheet #3 Self Evaluation Evaluation – Crew Checklist Evaluation – Rubric Useful Space Links

Planet Quest – Creating Crew Patch What should our crew patch look like? Each space mission crew has had a specific patch design. The names on the patch are those of the crew members, and the symbols represent something about the purpose of the mission. Click on the following links to view crew patches used during some of the NASA space missions. Use your toolbar back button to return to this page.

Planet Quest – Crew Patch Samples Project Mercury Project Apollo Project Gemini Additional links to NASA space patches can be found in the Resources section.

Planet Quest – Creating Crew Patch Making a crew patch: Use a blank sheet of paper and trace around a circular lid (or other shape that you like) with a pencil to make a patch outline for each member of your crew. Remember, the patch has to be the right size to wear on a shirt sleeve or pocket. Write the last names of the crew members along the outside edge of the crew patch shapes.  Draw symbols on your patch that shows something about your mission. Be creative, but keep the design "simple". 

Planet Quest – Creating Crew Patch Making a crew patch (Continued): Decide what is best in each drawing.  You will need to trace a new shape to combine the best ideas into one patch. Next hand it in to your teacher so it can be copied for each of you.  Decide as a crew what colors you want to use, then color them carefully with markers. This will be the patch for your crew during your mission.

Planet Quest - Conclusion During your WebQuest, you have learned many facts about your planet, yet there is much more to learn about our Solar System. The vastness of space has given us many challenges and questions. 

Planet Quest - Conclusion Does life exist elsewhere? What are some of the latest scientific findings? How can you use the information gathered in your WebQuest to help others? Check out some of the links below to learn more about space. Can you find other web sites that have interesting information about space? 

Planet Quest - Conclusion Choose picture books, novels or poems in the science- fiction genre. Does this literature contain factual information? On what scientific facts has the author chosen to base his or her story? Why? Write a response to a selection in your Journal. NASA's Solar System Exploration: Kids Arty the Part-time Astronaut Planets - Zoom Astronomy Windows to the Universe

Planet Quest – Useful Space Links Amazing Space (Lots of information, different activities, pictures and games) Arty the Part-time Astronaut Astronomy and Space Exploration (Good pictures, information, and lots of options to choose.)  Galileo Legacy Site (For the first time ever, two spacecraft are simultaneously exploring an outer planet.) Hubble Telescope (Cool space images for your presentation) Kids' Space (University of Michigan space games & fun for kids) NASA Mission Patches or NASA Mission Patches (A link to all the Mission Patches) Nine Planets (A Multimedia tour of the Solar System)

Planet Quest – Useful Space Links Nine Planets for Kids (Kid-friendly look at the Solar System) Odyssium Home Page (Edmonton's space and science centre) Planets - Zoom Astronomy Voyager - Greetings From Earth (Greetings to the Universe in 55 different languages) Welcome to the Planets (A tour of the solar system with information on all the planets) Welcome to Star Child: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers (Lots of information, different activities, pictures and games)  Welcome to Voyager Web Site (Voyager project home page, general info & great links)

Planet Quest – Teacher Pages The following Space Links and Rubric provide resources and evaluation for the Planet WebQuests completed by your students. Scott Roresman SCIENCE Instructional Resources: Offers a variety  of activities that help students think about scientific issues and how they might become involved with them.  Performance tasks involve a wide range of thinking, language, and numeric skills geared toward scientific topics and methods.  It contains a Test Generator, User's Guide, Question and Test Guide and a computerized test bank CD-ROM as Teacher's Assessment Package.

Planet Quest – Teacher Pages www.LearningResources.com - Inflatable Solar System: An easy system to display in any classroom, durable, hands-on demonstration set, washable and easy to store kit.  It can be used as a colorful and interactive hanging display for the classroom or as a hands-on model to demonstrate different characteristics of the solar system.  It is full of activities and facts that help students get a better understanding of the solar system.   

Planet Quest – Teacher Pages www.educationworld.com The Science Machine: Teachers can find online resources they could use to teach and reinforce important science skills.  They could use it in the school's computer lab or schedule students to use these activities on computers in their classrooms. 

Planet Quest – Teacher Pages www.webquest.org Students could write a story about the topic selected, write a poem about a planet based on photos from space telescopes or probes.  They could design a monument to some aspect of space exploration over the last 50 years and write a song that says things about various planets. 

Planet Quest – Teacher Pages www.coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu Students could visit and discover who constructed telescopes to survey the night sky and do experiments about Infrared Astronomy.