Exploring the Solar System Project - Middle School Space

Blast off on an exciting expedition through our cosmic neighborhood with this immersive 6-part solar system project! Students will embark on a journey of discovery to expand their knowledge of the planets that orbit our sun.

The adventure begins by surveying key characteristics of the planets. Students will compare and contrast attributes like composition, size, moons, and more using interactive charts. These activities will build a foundation of knowledge about our stellar surroundings.

Each student will then adopt an alien identity from one of the planets. Their mission is to gather intelligence about their new home world to create an engaging planetary fact file. This top-secret document will contain maps of unique features, details about survival in extreme conditions, and the planet's orbital path. Students will encrypt their findings in informative infographics.

The quest continues as student aliens form contacts with beings from other worlds. In their teams, they will decipher similarities and differences between their planets using techniques like Venn diagrams. Patterns between planetary traits will become clearer.

The students will then band together to design hidden settlements tailored to their adopted planet's environment. Infrastructure, culture, geography, and survival needs will dictate the layout of these extraterrestrial cities. Teams will create coded maps, diagrams, and written records to conceal their covert communities.

Immersing themselves in alien personas, students will log journal entries chronicling daily life on their assigned planets. By pretending to inhabit these cosmic spheres, perspectives will be broadened.

Finally, the project concludes by welcoming visitors to an intergalactic Planets Fair. Student aliens will showcase their classified findings by hosting creative exhibits about the celestial bodies we call neighbors. This galactic get-together celebrates exploration of the wonders in our solar system and beyond!