Astronomy Project  

Project Due: Friday, March 8th, 2019

Name: ___________________________________ Assignment: ___________________

 

February 05, 2019 

Dear Parents, 

  We  will  soon  be  learning  about  our  solar  system  and  other  wonders  in  the universe, and we are 
excited to have the opportunity to become space researchers.  Your space explorer will be completing a 
Google  Slide  presentation  and  creating  a  model  of  a  planet  or  a  poster  of  an  important  person  or 
astronomy  topic.  During  this  project,  your  student  will  create  a  Google  Slide  Presentation  in  Library. 
Please be sure your child is present for Library each week ​(Tuesday 2:00-2:45)​. If they are absent during 
the  project  time,  they  will  need  to  attend  a  make-up  session.  ​Students  will  be  responsible  for 
completing Google Slide presentations at home if Library time is not used wisely​. At home, your student 
will  create  EITHER  a  3-D  model  of  his/her  planet  OR  make  a  tri-fold  poster  display  of their person or 
topic to present during our Astronomy Open House (March 11th).  Two grades will be given – one for the 
model  or  poster  in  science  and  one  for  the  Google  Slide  Presentation  in writing.  Students creating a 
poster  MAY  NOT  print  off  the  Google  Slides  and  create  a  poster  from  them.  Please  be  sure  to  use 
originality and creativity in the model or poster. As the schedule currently stands, each class only has 3 
Library  sessions  to  complete  the  presentations.  They  have  received  some  instruction  on  how  to  use 
Google Slides prior to receiving this assignment.  

***A note regarding plagiarism from GFA’s Academic Integrity Policy: 

“​Plagiarism​: taking another person’s work or ideas and using them as your own. Examples of plagiarism 
include:  Paraphrasing  text  from  a  book  or  website  without  citing,  cutting  and pasting or copying text 
without  quoting,  copying  and  using  an  image  without  saying  what  it  is  and  where  it  came  from,  or 
submitting a paper written by a parent or tutor as your own.” 
“Students  involved  in  cheating  or  plagiarism,  as  determined  by  their  classroom  teacher,  will 
automatically receive a -0- grade for the assignment. The Administration will be notified with a referral 
from the teacher. Parent will be contacted.”   

It  is  important  for  students  to  turn  in a work written in his or her own voice.  Quoting data or 

statistics is allowed, but descriptive details should be written by the student.  If you have any questions 
or concerns, please contact your child’s teacher. 

The  3-D  model  needs  to  have  the  correct  characteristics  and  colors  of  the  student’s  favorite 
planet.  For  example,  if  your child is assigned Jupiter, he/she would include the Great Red Spot on the 
planet  as  well  as  the  whites,  oranges,  and  yellows  for  the  planet’s  colors.  Refer  to  the  information 
collected  in  the  graphic  organizer  to  guide  the  creation  of  the  model.  Regarding  the  creation  of  the 
planet  model,  we  are  looking  for  creativity  and  out-of-the-box  thinking.  Students  can  use  any 
multitude  of  materials  to  create  this  model.  A  few  materials  that  we  have  seen  in  the  past  include 
modeling  clay,  Styrofoam  balls,  paper  mâché,  cake,  cardboard,  spices,  compact  discs,  Legos,  and  pipe 
cleaners.  Truly,  the  sky  is  the  limit  here.  We  will  accept  a  planet modeling kit that your student has 
assembled; however, we ​will not​ accept a pre-made planet that your student brings in. 

If  your  student  is  creating  a poster, please make sure the poster is ​able to stand upright on its 

own  (i.e.  tri-fold,  foam,  project  display  boards,  etc.)  The  poster  should  include  a  few  pictures.  These 
pictures  can  be  drawn  or  printed  and  pasted  on  the  board.  The  poster  should  also  include  a 
representation of important facts about the topic or person.  These should include the more fascinating, 
unique, and interesting (stump the teacher ​☺​) facts that your student discovers during his/her research. 
These  facts  should  be  typed  and  spelled  accurately.  See  the  attached  ​Criteria  for  Success  for  specific 
requirements. 

Most importantly, we want the students to have fun with this project, and we are so excited to 
see what these creative astronomers can make!   
Blast off to learning and creativity in 3, 2, 1… 

Thank you for your support. 

Mrs. Erwin, Ms. Gonzalez, and Mrs. McIntosh 

Planet Project Timeline 

Date   

Tuesday, February 5th, 2019  Topic choices go home t​ o be returned by 

Thursday, February 7th​. 

Friday, February 8th, 2019  Students receive assignments and begin working 
on model or poster a​ t home. 

Week of February 11th, 2019  Students begin research at home. Google Slides 
will be worked on during Library class time. 

Friday, February 22nd, 2019  Model or Poster should be halfway done! 

Week of March 4th, 2019  Students should complete Google Slide 

presentations in Library. 

Thursday, March 7th, 2019  Make sure model or poster glue is dry. 
Double-check criteria for success! 

Friday, March 8th, 2019  Model/Poster and Google Slide DUE!  

Monday, March 11th, 2019  Astronomy Open House 2:15-3:00 PM  

 
 
Criteria for Success Rubric – Google Slides  

  5 points  4 points  3 points  2 points  1 points 

Content  Slideshow stays on  Deviates from  Deviates from topic  It is unclear what  Slideshow is 
topic.  topic 1-2 times.   3-4 times, few  the slideshow is  incomplete.  
details.  about. 
Organization  The presentation  1 slide missing or  2 slides missing or  Multiple missing  Slideshow is 
contains an appropriate  out of order.   out of order.   slides and/or no  incomplete. 
topic, logical sequence  logical sequence. 
of sections and data.  
Creativity  Use of 5 or more  Use of 3-4  Font is illegible, use  Slides are  Slideshow is 
appropriate add-ons  appropriate  of 2 or less  difficult to read  incomplete. 
(colors, fonts,  add-ons.  add-ons.  and/or not 
animations,  interesting.  
backgrounds) 
Writing  Less than 1 error in  2-3 errors in  More than 3 errors  Multiple  Sentences do not 
Conventions  spelling, punctuation,  grammar  in grammar  incomplete  make sense and 
and capitalization.  conventions.   conventions.  sentences with  are incomplete.  
numerous 
grammatical 
errors. 
Word Choice  Use of interesting verbs  Use of specific  Most words used  Words are very  Very difficult to 
and quality adjectives;  nouns, verbs,and  correctly, no  simple (ex. good,  understand, 
precise word usage and  adjectives;  descriptive words,  stuff, fun) or  words are 
strong vocabulary.   conveys a clear  hard to gain a clear  used incorrectly.   repeated and not 
meaning.  picture.  interesting. 
 

Google Slides Grade: ____ / 25 

Additional Comments: ___________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________ 

 
Criteria for Success Rubric – Poster  

  5 points  4 points  3 points  2 points  1 points 

Presentation  Uses an appropriate  Uses a poster  Uses a poster board  Uses a poster  Poster is 
poster board, topic is  board that does  that does not stand  board that does  incomplete. 
correctly spelled, all  not stand on its  upright, topic is  not stand 
information is typed.  own, topic is  misspelled,  upright, topic is 
correctly spelled,  information is  misspelled, 
all information is  typed.  information is 
typed.  not typed. 
Content - Facts  Includes at least 10  Includes 8-9  Includes 6-7  Contains 3 or  Poster has less 
accurate facts.  accurate facts, no  accurate facts or 1-2  more inaccurate  than 5 accurate 
inaccurate facts.  inaccurate facts.  facts.  facts or is 
unfinished. 
Content -  Includes at least 4  Includes 3 pictures.   Includes 2 pictures  No pictures  Poster contains 
Pictures  pictures.  or pictures are not  included.  no color and is 
relevant to topic.  unfinished or 
missing. 
Organization  Demonstrates out of the  Demonstrates  Some attention to  Not creative and  Poster is 
and Creativity  box/unique approach,  unique approach,  detail, information  bland poster  incomplete, 
well organized and  good attention to  is mostly organized.  presentation,  information is 
shows exceptional  detail, all  some attention  disorganized and 
attention to detail.  information is  to detail,  hard to follow. 
organized.  information is 
mostly organized.   
 
Poster Grade: ____ / 20 
 
Additional Comments: ___________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________ 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Grading Scale – 3D Model  

 
Indicator  Description  Points  Points 
Possible  Earned 
Accuracy   Colors, surface, relative size, etc. are represented accurately.   10   
Creativity  Use of unique materials.   5   
Neatness  Project is visually appealing, well put together, and neat.   5   
 
3D Model Grade: ____ / 20 
 
Additional Comments: ___________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________ 
 TOPIC CHOICES

1. The Sun 23. Challenger

2. Mercury 24. New Horizons
3. Venus 25. Halley’s Comet
4. Mars 26. Constellations
5. Ceres 27. Orion
6. Jupiter 28. Ursa Major
7. Saturn 29. Ursa Minor
8. Uranus 30. Star Navigation
9. Neptune 31. Stars
10. Pluto 32. Meteors and Asteroids
11. Haumea 33. Galileo
12. Makemake 34. Hubble Telescope
13. Eris 35. NASA
14. The Moon 36. Eclipses
15. Phases of the Moon 37. Yuri Gagarin
16. Apollo 11 38. Galaxies
17. Nicolas Copernicus 39. Apollo 13
18. Dr. Mae Jemison 40. Neil Armstrong
19. The International Space Station
20. Sputnik 41. ___________________ YOUR CHOICE
21. Milky Way OF ASTRONOMY TOPIC (must be
22. Andromeda approved)
 
___________________________________________________________________ 

STUDENT NAME: _________________________________________ 

CHOICE #1: ____________________________________________ 

CHOICE #2: ____________________________________________ 

CHOICE #3: ____________________________________________ 

This page is due on Thursday, February 7th, 2019.  

 

 
PLEASE SIGN AND RETURN THIS SLIP 
 
STUDENT NAME: ___________________________________ 
 
ASSIGNED TOPIC: ___________________________________ 
 
PARENT SIGNATURE: _______________________________________________ 
 
I understand that my child will need to create a 3D model OR a poster AT HOME for this project. I also 
understand that missed Library days must be made up after school on the days given in order for my 
child to work on his/her Google slides.  
 
 
 
 
PLEASE SIGN AND RETURN THIS SLIP 
 
STUDENT NAME: ___________________________________ 
 
ASSIGNED TOPIC: ___________________________________ 
 
PARENT SIGNATURE: _______________________________________________ 
 
I understand that my child will need to create a 3D model OR a poster AT HOME for this project. I also 
understand that missed Library days must be made up after school on the days given in order for my 
child to work on his/her Google slides.  
 
 
 
 
PLEASE SIGN AND RETURN THIS SLIP 
 
STUDENT NAME: ___________________________________ 
 
ASSIGNED TOPIC: ___________________________________ 
 
PARENT SIGNATURE: _______________________________________________ 
 
I understand that my child will need to create a 3D model OR a poster AT HOME for this project. I also 
understand that missed Library days must be made up after school on the days given in order for my 
child to work on his/her Google slides.