Tabulating Solar System Data
| Grade | Work Samples |
|---|---|
| End of Stage 4 (end of Year 8) | |
| Grade A | Cameron Jessie Robyn |
| Grade B | Shannon Ashley |
| Grade C | Kerry Jordan |
| Grade D | Alex Courtney |
| Grade E | Jamie |
- New Work Samples
- Bailey
Description of activity
Students are provided with a solar system activity sheet that identifies the orbital speed in kilometres per second (km/s) and distance from the Sun in Astronomical Units (AU) for the seven innermost planets of our solar system.
Students construct a table to summarise and sequence the data provided in the text.
Context
Students have undertaken a study of the planet Earth. In the unit The Solar System they are expanding their understanding of how technological advances have increased our knowledge of the other planets within our solar system, including their relative size, movement and distances apart.
Students extract data from a provided resource which enables them to relate the distance of the planets from the Sun and their average orbital speed around the Sun with reference to Earth. Students will organise data into a table and develop skills in identifying trends and patterns in relation to distance from the Sun and average orbital velocity of the planets in our solar system.
Areas for Assessment
Outcomes
A student:
4.9 describes the dynamic structure of the Earth and its relationship to other parts of our solar system and the universe
4.16 accesses information from identified secondary sources
4.17 evaluates the relevance of data and information
4.18 with guidance, presents information to an audience to achieve a particular purpose
Criteria for assessing learning
(These criteria would normally be communicated to students with the activity.)
Students will be assessed on their ability to:
- appropriately sequence in a table numerical data of the planets’ distance from the sun and average orbital speed
- correctly label the table row and column headings using appropriate data from the text
- correctly state the units for the gathered data within the column headings
- accurately transcribe data from the provided text to the correct table cell reference.
Resources
Solar System Activity Sheet