Science: Which Planet Could We Live On?

Here is an introduction to lessons at CGK Afterschool.

CGK's eight-week-long project works will be based on the main “Driving Question”.

Here are the Driving Questions for this "Science" lesson.

"The Earth is running out of room and we need to find another planet to continue building houses on. Which planet would be the best to do this on and why?"

We followed this question with fun lessons each week that drew the student's interest.

Here are the comments of Mr. Bobby, the teacher who was in charge of the lessons.

Week 1

The entry event started with the class reading a letter from a friend named Bill Dirty asking the CGK first graders on what planet he can build houses. The students then watched a few different videos about planets and also about resources that our planet uses.

Week 2

The students created Think and wonder charts about each planet. Each student started at a different planet and for five minutes and to think up questions, or something they know about the planet. The class was very difficult but the student came up with great questions like why there got the names of planets and why they are certain colors.

Week 3

The class was spent looking at their charts they made and think of pros and cons about living on or building on that planet. The students watched a few more videos about planets in our solar system.

Week 4

Students used their findings from last week to think about what planet they will be building on. One group picked Mars and a second group picked Neptune. The groups jobs was to answer the questions that they thought of on their anchor charts.  At the end of the class the groups presented the planet they were choosing and why.

Week 5

Students watched a few videos about terraforming on mars and what it would be like to live on other planets. The students then created a short presentation about the planet they chose and started working on their home designs.

Week 6

The Student teams drew up their home designs thinking about what humans need to survive and how they will make that happen on their planet of choice. After their drawings were finished they begin to pick the materials they will need to build models of their homes.

Week 7, 8

The class was spent working on their designs and building the models of the homes they created. Before presentation time, the teams practiced their presentations and made notecards with talking points they wanted to share.

In the presentation, each group was able to present their own idea of a house, while also properly explaining why they came up with the house they did.

This lesson was a good opportunity for the students to appreciate the fact that they are able to live without inconvenience on the earth and to think about taking care of the earth.

The next lesson is learning how to make public facilities (parks, etc.) in the city more sustainable.

What we learn at CGK may be a small step in protecting the environment, but I believe that the time we spend investigating and thinking together with the children will lead to the future.