Planetary Data

Project #1400 on iSENSEProject.org

The following project highlights a set of data about the planets in our solar system.  The data table was taken from a question on the 2007 8th grade MCAS Science Technology and Engineering Test released by the DESE.

Project: http://isenseproject.org/projects/1400

Source of Data:  http://teacherwiki.assistment.org/images/6/68/G8sci07.pdf

The lesson plan was designed to be used in an 8th grade science enrichment class where the focus of the class is to review science standards/curriculum that students learned between 5th and 7th grade to better prepare them for the 8th grade Science, Technology and Engineering test.

The purpose of the lesson is to have students analyze various categories of data (such as diameter, distance from the sun, density, orbital period and velocity, mass and length of day) about the planets in our solar system to see if there are any direct correlations between the categories. Examples include distance from the sun vs. the orbital period, orbital period vs. velocity, or density vs. distance from the sun. Students will also learn about the characteristics of Earth, in particular. By analyzing the data graphically and by answering the guiding questions, students will be able to understand, according to the standards, that earth is part of a solar system of other planets, Earth's position in the solar system, that Earth rotates on its axis, and that it rotates around the sun.

The following is a link to the lesson plan (which is also attached in the media section):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11NLye9SazOE9Z_3NixTRAVW_fVdV9jjkjzb9zP70qrc/edit?usp=sharing

The following is a link to the guiding questions that students will answer by analyzing the data and visualizations (also attached in the media section):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M3yQTkn0JsKiY_ifFRyfj5eim1OkjapYN2vRHiOSHV8/edit?usp=sharing