ECE 221B

LONG FORM ACTIVITY PLAN

Activity Title Our Solar System

Curricular Earth, Space and Environmental Science
Domain
Additional Art
domains that may Fine Motors Skills
be enhanced by Geometry
this activity Creative
(incidental Color Recognition
learning
opportunities)
Age of Children 5-8 years old
Number of Dependent on class, each student can work individual or can take turns
Children in a group making a group mobile.
Location for Classroom or Art room
Activity (indoor or
outdoor)
Materials ● 10 Styrofoam balls with at least one larger than the rest (for
the sun) per student or group
○ For a better scale
■ 1 - 5”, 1 - 4 ¾”, 1 - 4”, 1 - 3”, 1 - 2 ½”, 1 - 2”,
2 - 1 ¼”, 2 - 1 ½”
● Coloring Materials
○ Markers or Paint (paint brushes)
○ Colors: yellow, orange, blue, green, dark blue, red,
yellow, light blue, cobalt blue.
● Wood dowel (1.4” x 30”) or clothes hanger
● Black string/yarn
● Hot glue or regular glue or tape
● One orange pipe cleaner or something similar
● Scissors
● Wooden skewers
● Planets and Sun names printed out
Vocabulary Planets Each Planets Name Moon
Space Astronomy Atmosphere
NASA Telescope Pilots
Space Shuttle Observatory Mobile
Solar System Astronaut Star
Procedure: Intro: “Do you want to do some work or something fun?”, “Something
Opening, Body, fun, hmmmmm. How about….. space...yes, who wants to make a model
Closure of our solar system?”, “You think you can handle all the exploring,
creating, and crafting?”
 Directions:
Inquiry Tools: 1. First step is to have the students color the pieces
a. If the dowel rod isn’t black, paint/color it black
b. Next are the planets and Sun:
i. Sun = Yellow
ii. Mercury = Orange
iii. Venus = Blue/Green
iv. Earth = Dark Blue
v. Mars = Red
vi. Jupiter = Orange
vii. Saturn = Yellow
1. Glue orange pipe cleaner around for
the ring, then glue
viii. Uranus = Light Blue
ix. Neptune = Cobalt Blue
2. Cut the string, with each piece being 2-3” longer than the
last. 9 pieces total.
3. Tie each piece of string onto the dowel and tie a knot that
end.
4. Arrange the planets in the correct order, then glue the knots
into the skewer hole on each planet.
5. Tie a long piece of string to both ends of the dowel, this will
be what you hang your mobile from.

“What was your favorite part of this? Why?”

“What was the coolest thing about our solar system? Why?”
“Which planet did you like best? Why?”
“Who can tell us what a astronaut is?”
“What planet do we live on? What’s one planet near us?”
“Which planet would you like to visit and what would you do
there?”
Evaluation Classroom discussion where each student will tell us their favorite part
Criteria : of this project and the coolest thing they learned. Then they ask the class
one question about what they learned.
Differentiation Advanced: Assist any friends who are not complete or in need of
assistance. Ask them to detail Earth, with our Continent, Country, or
State depending on their knowledge.

Simpler: Assist in putting the colored planets in the correct order and
attach to the mobile. Label the planets for them. If another student is
already done, allow them to assist their friend.
Technology used? Would have a documentary video playing in the background that is
talking about our Solar System.
If using Class Dojo or similar, have student take pictures of their project
and send to guardian. Also allow students to take pictures of them
working to share.

If tablets are present, then have a app that will share facts about planets
and our solar system that they check out once they finish painting each
planet.

Play audio documentary about our solar system.