Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: Moon, Planetary Systems, and our Universe Name: Bree Baumgartner

Content Area: Earth Science Grade Level: High School

CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):

HS-ESS1-6: Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s
formation and early history. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using available evidence within the solar system to reconstruct the early history of Earth, which
formed along with the rest of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Examples of evidence include the absolute ages of ancient materials (obtained by radiometric dating of
meteorites, moon rocks, and Earth’s oldest minerals), the sizes and compositions of solar system objects, and the impact cratering record of planetary surfaces.]

Big Ideas/Unit Goals:

Big Ideas
The universe is an ever expanding space that began at a measurable point in time, it is spacious beyond depictive measure.

The Solar System is more expansive than commonly depicted.

The moon orbits the Earth causing lunar phases, based on the observer’s position as well as the moon’s position in orbit.

Unit Goals
Students will grasp a greater understanding of spatial awareness between planets in the solar system.

Students will illustrate models of the lunar phases.

Students will understand the formation of the universe.

Unit Summary:

Students will learn about the surrounding universe, how it formed, its age, and how our solar system lies within it. Students will then be able to determine just how
expansive the universe is in a tangible way so that any student will be able to grasp just how far away we are from surrounding planets. Finally, students will understand the
distance of the moon and how it travels around the Earth and how that affects our view of it on a 24-hour basis.
Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level: Formative: Summative:

KWL Chart: Provide a structure for students to think
about what they know about the universe and their
place in it, note what they want to know, and finally
record what has been learned, and is yet to be learned.
Brainstorming: Students generate terms and ideas
related to the formation of the universe, the size of the
solar system, and the phases of the moon; and form
creative connections between prior knowledge and
new possibilities.
Written Oral Tests and Quizzes: Tests and quizzes
offer direct evidence of knowledge acquisition and
comprehension.
Flow Chart Timeline: Students will write out the order
in which the universe formed in order from the
universe expansion to present day.
Digital Worksheet: Students will fill in worksheet with
important vocabulary left blank so that students will
have to understand subject specific vocabulary
Product- Artistic Expression: Students create a two-
dimensional moon phase project, by hand or via
Photoshop (whichever is preferred to the student).
Showing their understanding of how the moon orbits
around the earth showing subsequent moon phases
from the observation point of Earth.
Product- Students form a graphic organizer of the
universe expansion, labeling its differing parts and
when they happened, along with an artistic depiction of
what that point in time may have looked like.

Venn Diagram: Students will group together each

lesson in the perspectives unit to see what ideas are
overlapping and explain what each has to do with the
other.

Lesson 1 (Teacher Lecture)

Student Learning Objective:
Students will indicate vital
concepts depicting the
formation of the universe.
Acceptable Evidence Lesson Activities:
(Assessments):
Students will complete a worksheet as they follow along with my lecture.
A worksheet is handed out to
students as they are
introduced to the lecture,
they will have to be engaged
in the presentation in order
to grasp the answers to the
subsequent worksheet.

Lesson 2 (iPad Lesson)

Student Learning Objective: Acceptable Evidence: Lesson Activities:

Students will interact with Students will be able to break Students will use a simple algebra formula to scale down the numerical distance between planets to a
tangible sized planets to the commonly misunderstood tangible measurement so that they will be able to map out distance by their physical strides around
grasp a greater thought process that planets campus. They will also create scale model planets out of clay to place in ascending order from the sun to
understanding of spatial and the surrounding universe measure distance and diameter.
awareness between planets
in the solar system.
Lesson 3 (Graphic Organizer)
Student Learning Objective:
is a measurable distance
away from each other, they
will physically show their
classmates just how far away
each planet is from the next
on foot.
Acceptable Evidence:
Students will complete an information gathering worksheet as they use the iPad APP, “Planetarium 3D”.
This APP will take students from planet to planet “virtually” whilst they physically move to the same model
planet they made to scale from the first step in this activity. As they stop at each planet, students will be
required to fill in the blanks on the Planetarium 3D Worksheet that will help them to understand
important information about each planet in our solar system.
Lesson Activities:

Students will independently
illustrate models of the lunar
phases correctly.
Unit Resources:
Students will understand the Students will fill in the graphic organizer correctly by naming each moon phase according to the example moon’s
moons phases, and location in reference to the sun and observation point.
subsequent interactions
between the Earth, Moon and
Sun by creating a two-
dimensional model to
illustrate their understanding
of these concepts.

Big Bang Theory

https://www.stem.org.uk/elibrary/resource/26991

EDSC 410 Physical Earth/ Space Systems; G. Carlson

Scale Model of Our Solar System;

“Planetarium 3D” Apple Application

Useful Websites:

Mt. Nose Lunar Cycle Activity

http://kvmagruder.net/bcp/zodiacal/moon/labprimary.htm

Moon Phases
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ5vty8f9Xc&t=194s

History of the Universe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGCVTSQw7WU

The Big Bang Theory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B7Ix2VQEGo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq6be-CZJ3w

Distances
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWMh61yutjU&t=109s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy7NzjCmUf0