Day 1

• Students watch 2 videos about falling stars.
• Video: Bootid Falling Stars #1
• Video: Bootid Falling Stars #2

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• Students ask and write questions about falling stars on sticky notes.

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• Students watch Video: Bootid Falling Stars #3 and find patterns in observations of falling stars. Students write more questions about found patterns.

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• Students arrange their questions on the DQ board and form the DQ, “Why do falling stars fall?”

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Day 1

• Students are introduced to a new sub-question, “What are the properties of falling stars?”

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• Students measure the properties of falling stars and record the properties in their SEN.
• At the end of Day 1, collect all pieces of falling stars from students and mix with twigs, etc. so that each group has a bag with a combination of falling star pieces and rocks for Day 2.

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Day 2

• Students compare similarities and differences in the properties of falling stars and rocks to identify falling stars from a sample of Earth materials. Students write down observations in their SEN.

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• Students complete Exit Slip 1-2.

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Day 1

• Students are introduced to a new sub-question, “Is the sun a star?”

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• Students watch a Video Lesson 2-1: Sun and share their observations.

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• Students make observations of stars via Stellarium software.
• Download software at http://stellarium.org. Teachers should download Stellarium on both teacher and student computers.

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Day 2

• Students read the Article: How Bright are Stars? In partners and answer questions in their SEN.

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• Show PowerPoint Lesson 2-1: Drawing the Properties of Stars to the class. Students get into groups and are assigned stars to cut and color. Students will write its size and other properties including the star’s distance in light years from earth.

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Day 3

• Students share their answers to the Article: How Bright are Stars?

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• Students develop their arguments to answer the question, “Is a falling star a star?” using the data tables from SEN on properties of falling stars, Article: How Bright are Stars? And the Exit Slip 1-2.

• Students share out what they have figured out. Then, the teacher adds the new question, “Why is the sun brighter than other stars?”

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Day 1

• Students discuss ideas about why the sun is brighter than other stars and decide to investigate how distance affects brightness.

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• Students are introduced to the Investigation 2-2: Light and Distance. Teacher demonstrates how to use the light meter with student volunteers.

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• Students (guided by the teacher) plan out the investigation by answering questions in their SEN.

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• Students carry out the Investigation 2-2: Light and Distance and collect data.

Room setup:

• Divide students into groups. Each group will measure how bright the light source is from 3 different distances. Have each group use a meter stick. Use masking tape to mark each distance.
• Make the room as dark as possible.

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Day 2

• Students interpret the data they collected from Investigation 2-2: Light and Distance and complete “Light and Distance (Questions)” in their SENs.
• Groups share answers to questions from the Investigation with a partner who was not in their investigation group.

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• Students review what they have learned from the investigation and connect to the next investigation to answer, “Why is the sun brighter than other stars?”

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Day 3

• Students discuss as a class whether they can answer the question, “Why is the sun bright than other stars?” and review what they learned from the investigation of how distance affects brightness.

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• Students review the Article: How Bright are Stars? And read the paragraph from the article, to discuss about “light years”.

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• The whole class develops one model of the Space System Model that includes 8 stars as its components. Groups of students are assigned to the same star as in Lessons 2-1.

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Room Setup:

• A large space to assemble the model (e.g., hallway, cafeteria, library)
• Photograph the model (if possible) and place the photograph on the DQ board).

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Day 4

• Display PowerPoint Lesson 2-2. Students review what they did in class to see if they have enough evidence to answer the question, “Why is the sun brighter than other stars?” Students record their evidence in Handout 2-2: Organizing our Evidence in their SEN.

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• Students construct an explanation individually to answer the question, “Why is the sun bright than other stars?” on the last page of the Investigation 2-2: Light and Distance in their SEN.
• Students share their arguments to class.
• Provide Feedback to students using Teacher Rubric 2-2.

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Day 1

• Students are introduced to a new sub-question, “Why do day and night occur?” on the DQ board.

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• Students watch Video Lesson 3-1: Sunrise and make observations of night and day. Students also see a sunrise image from PowerPoint Lesson 3-1: Sunrise, Atlantic. Students have a short discussion about the video and the image to talk about their prior knowledge and experiences.

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• Students answer questions on SEN Entry 3-1: Observations of Day and Night.

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• Students develop their first individual Solar System Model.
• Show the relationships on Earth and the sun in their models.

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Day 2

• Students look at PowerPoint Lesson 3-1: Student with Shadow and describe the image in a whole class discussion.

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• Students set up the Investigation 3-1: Shadows.
• Students practice collecting data using a flashlight to to represent the sun.

Setup:

• Select a designated area outside the school for consistent shadow measurements (ideally not blocked by trees or buildings)
• Plan for students to measure shadows 3 times per day for 1 day.

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• Based on on the shadow length data in PowerPoint Lesson 3-1: Predictions, students make predictions on what will happen to the length of the shadows on the third day in “Investigation 3-1: Shadows (Investigation Plan)”.

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Day 3

• Students go outside to collect shadow data for Investigation 3-1: Shadows and record shadow length in the data table.

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Day 4

• Students analyze the data by graphing the shadow length for Day 3 (the data they collected). Students share their group’s graph with another group (Jigsaw).

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• Based on the Shadow length data on Day 3 on PowerPoint 3-1, students have a class discussion to make the observation that the data points connect in a pattern with a specific shape. Students compare Day 3 graphs with teacher shadow length data from days 1 and 2.

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• Students go on Stellarium on the computer to complete Investigation 3-1: Sun’s Positions by marking sun’s positions in their SEN. Students engage in a class discussion to connect patterns in the shadow data to the patterns in the sun’s position data.

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Day 5

• Students test their ideas of why day and night occur with a physical model of the Solar System.
• Students assemble the physical model in their groups.

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• Students work in their groups to test their ideas on why day and night occur.
• Big Take-Away: Earth rotates, which causes day and night.

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• Students complete Exit Slip 3-1 individually.

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Day 1

• The students are introduced to a new sub-question, “How do we see falling stars at night?” from the DQ board.

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• Students complete the Investigation 3-2: Nighttime using the Stellarium (laptop) and go through Bootes, Leo, and Perseus in order.

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• Students discuss in groups to answer questions:
1. What is the pattern in the constellations’ positions?
2. Did finding the pattern of constellations’ positions help us answer, “how do we see falling stars at night”?

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Day 2

• Students represent Stellarium observations of constellations from the Space view with the Earth model (Styrofoam ball).

Set Up

• Have the Earth model prepared with the light bulb/lamp before class begins.

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• Students engage in a class discussion, “What components do you include in your model? How are you showing the relationships between the components in your model?”
• Students revise their Solar System Model.

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• Students have a discussion in their groups, led by the teacher about how we can see falling stars at night.
• Students write questions on a post-it note (if any) and place them on the DQ board.

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Day 3

• Students take out their data from previous investigations (Shadows, Sun’s Positions, and Nighttime). Students begin writing an explanation individually to answer the question, “How do we see falling stars at night?” in their SEN.
• Few students share their explanations to the class.

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Day 4

• Students develop the class consensus Solar System model through a class discussion.

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• Students review that they have figured out about why we can see falling stars at night, and connect to the next question, “Why do we see falling stars at certain times in the year?” from the DQ board.

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Day 1

• Students review the new sub-question, “Why do we see falling stars at certain times of the year?” and look at the Star table in PowerPoint: Lesson 3-3.

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• Students (in partners) complete Investigation 3-3: Star Observations in a Year in their SEN, using Stellarium on their laptops.
• Students also complete Investigation 3-3: Star Observation (Questions).

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Day 2

• Students take out Investigation 3-3: Star Observations in a Year and discuss patterns of the stars they observed at different times of the year as a whole class.

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• Teacher introduces the components of a physical model of the solar system. Students test their ideas for the question in their groups, “Why do we see falling stars at certain times of the year?”

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1. The sun, represented by light.
2. Earth, represented by the styrofoam ball.
3. Earth’s axis, represented by the pencil in the styrofoam ball.
4. Falling stars in one constellation position, represented by hanging mobiles.

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Room Setup:

• Move desks to the edge of classroom to make space for students.
• Use styrofoam balls of Earth from Lesson 3-2.
• Hang 2 mobiles on either side of the sun.
• Place a light in the middle of the room.

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Day 3

• Students revise their individual solar system model to include Earth’s orbit.

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• Students (as a class) revise the class consensus solar system model by adding components to represent the orbit of Earth around the sun, and the falling stars intersecting with orbit of the Earth.

• Students complete the Exit Slip 3-3 individually.

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• Students review what they figured out from this lesson: why we see falling stars at certain times of the year. Connect to the next question, how some falling star rocks end up on Earth?

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Day 1

• Students are introduced to the new sub-question, “What makes falling stars fall to Earth?”

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• Students read Article 4-1: Texas News Report with their partner and highlight sentences in the article that they think may help them answer the sub-question. Students also watch video from PowerPoint 4-1: Texas News Report Video.

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• Teacher drops a book, rock, and a feather on the ground. Students also participate in the challenge by jumping 3 times, trying to “jump into space.” After the activity, students talk to their partner to answer the question, “Why can’t you jump off of Earth and into space?” and make predictions about what makes falling stars fall to Earth. Teacher introduces gravity to the students.

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Day 2

• Students develop an initial model of Earth (Gravity) in their groups.
• Check whether all groups know what components will be included in the model, if gravity is included, and evidence for Earth’s gravity.

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• Students will be presenting data from NASA. Students obtain information from PowerPoint Lesson 4-1, that will help their discussion.

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• Groups discuss and make additions to their Earth models. Students use information they collected from the videos to represent how gravity pulls towards Earth’s center from all directions.

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Day 3

• Students present their group solar system models with evidence to the whole class. Students ask questions or offer an argument with evidence to agree or refute any part of the presentation.

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• Students write an explanation individually to answer the question, “What makes falling stars fall to Earth?” in their SEN.

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• Teacher summarizes ideas about gravity and connects to the Driving Question, “Why do falling stars fall?”

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Day 1

• Students re-watch the original falling star video from Lesson 1-1, Video: Bootid Falling Stars #2. Students discuss with their partners what they have figured out about falling stars and space systems.

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• Students complete their individual solar system model, by incorporating the group Earth model, gravity, Earth’s orbit, and Earth’s rotation.

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• Students, as a class, revise the class consensus solar system model and continue the class discussion of the DQ, “why do falling stars fall?”.

• Students review what they have figured out and look at some images taken by the Hubble and International Space Station on PowerPoint Lesson 4-2.

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