Planets and Solar System | Research Report

Engage your students with this fun, comprehensive, 43 page resource to help your students produce a research report on Planets and the Solar System. Our packet contains templates, organizers, and tools to help students create, develop, write, edit, illustrate, present, and assess their planet research report.

Students will stay engaged and focused and will be able to communicate or "show what they know" about planets and the solar system.This report (or performance task) is also designed to not only to learn and explain the new information, but answer some higher level thinking questions (Common Core Essential Questions) to apply the knowledge they have learned.

Our resource is designed to have your students choose one planet to research and complete this report. You can decide whether or not to include Pluto as a dwarf planet, a planet, or omit depending on your current research.

A simple rubric and student checklist is included. You can also add to this report by asking your students to do a model, a large cookie, or a large poster to accompany this report (this would be appropriate also if you are using this as a performance task).

You can use this report template in its entirety, or “pick and choose” the questions that you wish to use and tailor it to your students’ needs. This package contains the following planet report elements:

1. Title Page- Templates Provided-Topic, student’s name, and teacher’s name) We

created gray-scale version if you can’t copy in color.

2. What is your planet and why did you choose it?

3. What does your planet’s name mean and who discovered your planet?

4. What number is your planet and how far is it from the sun (its position in the

solar system) and how many moons does it have?

5. How long does it take your planet to travel around the sun (orbit) and what is

your planet’s size?

6. Describe what is your planet made, what is its temperature, and what does it

look like?

7. What if anything lives on your planet?

8. What are some interesting facts about your planet?

9. Compare and contrast your planet with another planet that interests you. What

are their similarities and differences?

10. If you were to live on your planet, what would you need in order to live there

successfully?

11. How long would it take astronauts to travel to your planet and what would they

need to take with them to travel comfortably there?

12. Illustrate your planet by itself.

13. Illustrate the solar system and put an arrow pointing to your planet.

14. Blank paper to add to any of the questions if more room is needed.

15. Additional Information page for any other facts not discussed in other areas of

the report if needed.

16. Ideas on how to research your report

17. Note taking bullet form template

18. Note taking lined form template

19. Resource pages and Bibliography Template

20. Student Checklist for editing and revising

21. Rubric for Performance Task Assessment

22. Common Core ELA Standard

23. Teacher Notes

Locate the researched planet using this solar system labeling worksheet.

1 PDF file.