Task

Do you think Pluto should still be listed as a Planet?

1. http://www.barbarafeldman.com/should_pluto_be_a_planet.html

2. http://uplink.space.com/showflat.php?

    Cat=&Board=askastronomer&Number=561180&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=1&o=0&fpart=

3. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/sedna_pluto_040317.html

  Background Information
                                                                                     Pluto as a planet
                                                                                  Who discovered Pluto?

My fifth grade class will be using the following websites to find information on when Pluto was a planet, the discoverer of Pluto, and other important information. They will be able to find information about The Kuiper Belt Kings, and it's meaning. They will learn about Pluto's moon, what are 'Ice Dwarfs' ?, they will be able to find out the distances between Pluto and the earth's moon, and the amount of time it will take for Pluto to evolve around the earth's moon.

First we will talk about the characteristics of a planet, what makes a planet. According to the Greeks, the word planet means Wanderer. During this lesson, you will be finding out other definitions of a plant. Up until recently there were nine known planets, but because of the recent discovery made, there are only eight known planets. Our inquires will lead us to find out just how, and why this discovery was made. When we study complex topics, there is usually a lot more to a topic than we learn after a quick exploration. In the following Web Quest, you will use the power of teamwork to learn all about Pluto the lost Planet. Each person on your team will become an expert on some aspect of Pluto the lost Planet and then you will come together at the end to share and get a better understanding of the topic as a whole.




1.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pluto
 

2. http://libproxy.shepherd.edu:2052/universe/doclist?(Lexi-nexi)_m=afc4dda226e2aa95b9e4a6ee488b16ae&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkVb&_md5=7cc9f3e8ca57031203be85b26ccdc91d   Google online

3. http:// pluto.jhuapl.edu/science/scienceOver.html
 

                                                                        PROCESSES AND RESOURCES
First we will talk about the characteristics of a planet, what makes a planet. According to the Greeks, the word planet means Wanderer.
You will be able to find other definitions for planets, as well.
Up until recently there were nine known planets, but because of the recent discovery made, there are only eight known planets. Our inquires will lead us to find out how, and why the discovery was made.
When we study complex topics, there are usually a lot more to a topic than we learn after a quick exploration. In the following Web Quest, you will use the power of teamwork to learn all about Pluto the lost Plane. Each person on your team will become an expert on some aspect of Pluto the lost Planet and then you will come together at the end to share and get a better understanding of the topic as a whole.


3.http://dictionary.reference.com/

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pluto
2. http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/science/scienceOver.html


3. http://libproxy.shepherd.edu:2052/universe/doclist?(Lexi-nexi)_m=afc4dda226e2aa95b9e4a6ee488b16ae&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkVb&_md5=7cc9f3e8ca57031203be85b26ccdc91d Google online

These roles were chosen because they each define the most important elements of Pluto the lost Planet. Each of you has been assigned a particular role with links and instructions below. Here are the general instructions for all of you. Please see your specific instructions and use the following links to answer the questions below.

http://libproxy.shepherd.edu:2052/universe/document?_m=64effc54a7e1a272ec4aaec391405050&_docnum=24&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkVb&_md5=cabb5cf2e57e5a99ff3ee4dd96d57875

                                                                                                 

  Instructions

 

                                                           What is a planet:? what are the physical characteristics of a planet?

                                                                        If it's Round and Orbity? It Must be a Planet, right?




1. Read through the files designated for your group. You can print out pages and underline the parts that you feel are important or cut and paste from the webpage into a word processor.

2. Remember to include the URL of the page you take information from so you can return to it and use it as a citation.

3. Focus what you've learned into one main opinion that answers the Big Question) or Task.

role, job or perspective #1:

 

 

 

Group one's topic:
                               Pluto as a planet

They will use the links found below to answer the following questions.

How was pluto discovered, and who discovered Pluto?
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pluto
2.This group will be using the following websites to find such information as when pluto was a planet,who discovered pluto?
3. http://space.com/scienceastronomy/060228_stern_interview.html

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

5.In-text: Couper,H.,& Henbest,N.(1992)How the Universe works.

6.In-Text: Seymour Simon.(1998). The Universe

7. http://mips.as.arizona.edu/stansber/Planet.html



Questions:
A Blink Comparator ; it takes Z photos of an object, if the object moves (has an object), it will seem to jump from picture to picture, while stars remain still.

A. What method of discovery was used to locate & identify Pluto as a planet? What is unique about this method?

B. Because of the eplliptical orbit of pluto around Neptune, Pluto is sometimes closer to the sun than is Neptune:

C. Why do pluto and Neptune occasionally switch places in their orbit of the sun? When has pluto been closer to the sun than Neptune?

D. If the two planets Pluto and Neptune are constantly moving around one another, and sharing the same space, why do they never collide?

E. Compare the mass of Pluto with that of Neptune and write the differences. Compare Pluto's period of revolution with that of Mars.
Compare Pluto's distance from the sun with that of Jupiter, and write the differences.

role, job or perspective #2:

Group two's topic:
                                     Who discovered the truth about Pluto?

A. Write a one page page summary describing the events which lead to Pluto's new classification.
1. Who was responsible for this recent discovery, include the year.
2. What are your conclusions about Pluto? Share with the rest of the group how you felt about Pluto not being a planet.

B. Describe how you would feel If you were one of the science researchers, and you had to determine if Pluto was indeed a planet, or not. Would you want to keep this discovery a secret, or would you inform the public? Give reasons for your answers.

1. would anyone be able to find out the status change about Pluto if you didn't tell them? Explain your reasons.

2. Do you think people other than scientists would be able to locate Pluto. Explain.
3 .Even if you had use of a  High Reflective Telescope, (HRT), would you be able to find Pluto? Explain why you could, or could not.

C. Estimate the percentages of people who you believe would have the necessary tools to explore the planets, compare to those who do not; compare your findings with the world population.

D. if one-eighth of the people living in the world owned High Reflector Telescopes (HRT), what percentage of people would that be?
 1. If only one-eighth of World population owned HRT, how many would own telescopes?
 2. If one-half of people living in the US owned HRT,how many people would not own them? If one-third of US population owned HRT telescope, how many people do not own one?

1. If about one million people on the Earth owned powered telescopes, what percentage of the world would that be?


E. Would you be able to find Pluto yourself? explain how.
this group will explore the following links.
1. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/08/25/pluto-reaction.html
Task:
2. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14489259/
3.http://libproxy.shepherd.edu:2052/universe/document?_m=7e3d44e274fbd1a0cfb06a1054a15b35&_docnum=3&wchp=dGLzVzz-zSkVb&_md5=78460a13e042d51cd124072fc3bd7c65

4.http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop

role, job or perspective #3:

Group three's topic:
                                  Much Ado about Pluto

A. Was Pluto a popular planet before the planetary discovery? Write a one page explanation about Pluto before this latest discovery.


Pluto has recently been made a topic of controversy. Sometimes things of little importance can suddenly become of great importance.
 

B. Name some situations when this has occurred. Compare these situations with that of Pluto's new discovery.
1. Give specific examples.

C. Think of new discoveries being made in the Universe, and compare to Pluto's discovery. Be able to give examples.
1. Write your reactions to these and other future events.

 

D. Pluto' distance from the sun is about 39.44 (AU) from the sun, Saturn is about 9.54 from the sun, what is the difference between the two?.


. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1843914,00.html



This group will explore the following links.
1.  http://science.nasa.gov/NEWHOME/headlines/ast17feb99_1.htm
2.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pluto
3.  http://libproxy.shepherd.edu:2052/universe/document?_m=b53758c0a78ceca7967a1b698f85e4e6&_docnum=5&wchp=dGLbVtb-zSkVb&_md5=1f8a5907af0488346f58e617bb258478

role, job or perspective #4:

Group four's topic:
                                 Pluto kicked out of the planet club

A. Do you think it was fair to kick Pluto out of the planet category, even though it's not as large as the rest of the other remaining planets?
1. Is it really that important the size of Pluto determined it's position as a planet? share your opinions.
B. Can you find other reasons for Pluto to stay in the planet category? Write your reasons.

C. Pluto's diameter is 0.18 and Mars is 0.53, approximately how many times the diameter of Mars, than Pluto?.


C. Talk with at least three other people and find out their reactions to Pluto's planetary category. Share your experiences.
1. http://science.nasa.gov/NEWHOME/headline/astlfeb99
2. http://libproxy.shepherd.edu:2052/universe/document?_m=f408b0b8fd85858b26e50a4860dd8f2a&_docnum=1&wchp=dGLbVtb-zSkVb&_md5=4e9e477c2c799931106476f47131c6e1

3.http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=281850&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_new

role, job or perspective #5:

Group five's topic:
                                   Questions and other concerns about Pluto
1. Use the following links to hear how other people feel about Pluto.
They will explore the following links.

1. http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=624

2.http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/iau0601/iau0601_Q_A.html.

3. http://libproxy.shepherd.edu:2052/universe/document?_m=0dff3f52acf3ae85d086d98fcf28718e&_docnum=21&wchp=dGLbVtb-zSkVA&_md5=4496450578d395c8a840a9e223417f57

 

                                                                    Lesson Plan/ Content Standards:

Number and Operations Objectives

students will: read, write, order and compare all whole numbers

MA 5.1.1
MA 5.1.6 Uses whole numbers to compare the revolution of Pluto and Mars

MA 5.1.6
MA 5.1.1.7
MA 5.1.12 Compares fractions by determining percentages of population who owns high-reflector telescopes to those who does not.

MA 5.1.6
MA 5.1.1.3 Compares Pluto's distance from the Sun and from Saturn

Subject: Science and Math for grade 5

Topic: Pluto the Lost Planet

Learning Objectives:
Student will: Learn the reasons why Pluto was declassified as a planet. They will learn about the features which constitutes a planet.


Key concepts: 1. Pluto was found not to have the identifiable features necessary to
remain in the planet Kingdom.

2. Pluto still possesses some features that could identify with the eight
remaining planets.


Standards: Subject: science
Grade: 5

Standard 1: History and the nature of science (SC.S.1)

Student will: demonstrate an understanding of the history of science and
the evolvement of scientific knowledge.

Students will: Be able to identify, and to understand that Pluto was
originally the ninth planet, but is no more.


History and the Nature of Science Objectives
Students will:SC.5.1.1 realize that scientists formulate and test their explanations of nature using observation and experiments.
 

SC.5.1.1 scientists used observations and experiments to make changes
Re; Pluto’s planetary status.

SC.5.1.2 articulates the historical significance of scientific discoveries.

 

Performance descriptors (SC.PD.5.1)

Distinguished
The student demonstrates and exemplary performance with distinctive and
Sophisticated  application of knowledge and skills that exceeds the standard in
history and the nature of science. Student s evaluate changes in scientific
Knowledge over time.


                                                                                  References


1.  Cooper, H., & Henbest, N. (1992). How the Universe Works, The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. Pleasantville, New York. Montreal

2.  Simon, S.,(1998).The Universe, Morrow Junior Books, New York

3.   Lauder, P., (1987). Journey To The Planets, Crown publisher, Inc. 225 Park Avenue South, New York10003

Journal: Irion, R., (2006). The Planet Hunters, The Smithsonian Group Publishing

Phase 3 - Reaching Consensus
You have all learned about different parts of Pluto the lost Planet. Now group members come back to the larger Web Quest team with expertise gained by searching from one perspective. You must all now complete the Task as a group. Each of you will bring a certain viewpoint to the answer: some of you will agree and others disagree. Use information, pictures, movies, facts, opinions, etc. from the web sites you explored to convince your teammates that your viewpoint is important and should be part of your team's response. Your Web Quest team should write out an answer that everyone on the team can live with.

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Content by Lily Bright, lbrigh01@shepherd.edu Last revised Mon Nov 13 10:37:14 US/Pacific 2006