Comets, Meteors, and Astroids by Seymour Simon

Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids

by Seymour Simon

Summary: Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids presents basic information about comets, meteors, and asteroids. The author explains each space object, what it is made of, and where it can be found. The book contains full size illustrations. The text is great to use as reference guide.

SC Science Standard: 4-3 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the properties, movements, and locations of objects in the solar system. (Earth Science)

SC ELA Standard: 4-2 The student will read and comprehend a variety of informational texts in print and nonprint formats.

Indicator: 4-2.4 Create responses to informational texts through a variety of methods (for example, drawings, written works, and oral presentations).

Activity/Lesson: The teacher will break the class into three groups. Each group will be provided with a copy of the text. Each group will be assigned one of the three topics: Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids. The group will read their section on their assigned topic. The groups will be provided with additional research tools such as computer time and other reference books on space. The students will prepare a presentation to the class.

Objectives:

• The student will demonstrate an understanding that there are other celestial objects other than the sun and the planets in our solar system.
• The student will identify the characteristics of the following: comets, asteroids, and meteors.
• The student will create a 5 min presentation on their assigned topic

Materials:

• Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids
• Poster board
• Markers
• additional reference materials (science texts, articles, computer time, magazines, encyclopedias)

Procedures:

1. The teacher will talk about the night sky. What kinds of objects do we see in the night sky? What kinds of things exist in our galaxy? In our solar system?
2. The teacher will do a picture walk through Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids, highlighting important facts and captions.
3. The teacher will break the class into three groups. Each group will be assigned one of the three topics: asteroids, comets, and meteors.
4. Each group will read the section on their topic in Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids.
5. Each group will be given additional time to further research their topic.
6. Each group will prepare a presentation (min 5 minutes) for the class. They must illustrate their topic on a poster board.
7. The following questions must be addressed in their presentations: What is the celestial object researched? What does this celestial object look like? How big or small can this celestial object be? When and how did we discover this celestial object's presence in our solar system? Where in the galaxy is this celestial object typically found and/or how can we detect this object in the night sky? How does this celestial object affect life on Earth?
8. The groups will present their presentations to class
9. After the presentations the teacher will review what was presented on each topic.