Solar System Prop Box

Before introducing the Solar System Prop Box to a classroom, I would first engage them in an introductory lesson on the solar system. We would cover the eight planets and some of their characteristics, as well as other objects that are present in the solar system. I would then introduce the box and its content to the students, demonstrating how they may be used and offering suggestions for enrichment activities. I would probably then allow the students to explore the contents and activities, but the box would be out for their use during station time, as the entire class could not use it at once.

Outside of the box- you could definitely spruce this up a bit and decorate it however you wish!

Books 

Below are a collection of books I have chosen to include in the box as a way for children to gather background information on the solar system and outer space. I included a sampling of both fiction and nonfiction texts. 

1. Solar System SOS by Arlen Cohn
2. First Graders from Mars by Shana Corey
3. Stargazers by Gail Gibbons


4. Amazing Space Q & A by Mike Goldsmith
5. Our Wonderful Solar System by Richard C Adams
6. Magic Treehouse Research Guide: Space by Mary & Will Osborne

Prop Box Materials List

Activity 1: Creative Constellations

Have children brainstorm a shape that they think would make a great constellation in the night sky, then draw it onto a piece of black paper with a while colored pencil. When they have finished drawing, they use their pencils to poke holes in the paper along the outside of the shape. Finally, all the new "constellations" are hung on the windows so that the sun shines through the holes an the "stars" twinkle. 

Creative Constellations cue card

Creative Constellations materials

Activity 2: Paint Galaxies

Students will have learned that galaxies in space have certain characteristics and how they are structured. This activity gives students to paint their own galaxies on paper plates (which make it easy to form the rings), using the colors they have seen, while allowing for some creative license.

Paint Galaxies cue card

Paint Galaxies materials

Activity 3: Orbits

Inside the blue file folder, a sun is drawn with connect-the-dots orbits circling it. Students are to trace out the orbits (by connecting all the dots with the same numbers) to form each planet's orbit. Then, they place each cut out planet (which are labeled with each planet's name) on its correct orbit path. They may take turns quizzing a partner on their knowledge of the correct planet order.

Orbits cue card

Orbits materials

Activity 4: Solar and Lunar Eclipses

This activity requires 3 different children, each with their own roles. One child holds the flashlight and is the "sun." Another holds the purple ball a distance away from the sun and is the "earth," while the third child holds the softball, or "moon" between the sun and Earth. The children then experiment with putting the moon between the earth and the sun and the earth between the sun and the moon, to explore the differences and effects of both solar and lunar eclipses.

Solar and Lunar Eclipses cue card

Solar and Lunar Eclipses materials

Activity 5: Solar System Memory Matching

This activity is pretty self-explanatory. There are cars with different parts of the solar system and outer space on them, and corresponding cards (written in the same color) with a fact about that part of the solar system, or a definition of it. Students are to lay every card out in rows, with the writing facing down, and play the game Memory with the cards, making matches when they find the correct definition or fact about each aspect they turn over. 

Solar System Memory Matching cue card

Solar System Memory Matching materials

      The closing activity that will allow me to assess what new knowledge students have gained from completing these prop box activities is a writing prompt. In it, students are to write a letter home to their family or friends, pretending they are an astronaut who has been on a flight to outer space, outlining what they have seen, done, and learned while on their journey.

Closing writing prompt