Solar System Adventure
for 4th Grade
by Diane Runnels
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Solar System Adventure for 4th Grade |
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by Diane Runnels |
How many planets make up our fantastic Solar System? Have you ever wanted to take a trip to Mars or the earth's moon? What about Saturn or Jupiter, did you ever wonder how cold it is there or how it would look on the surface of those planets?
Today we are going to begin an adventure; a virtual trip into the Solar System. Along the way you will need to gather facts about your assigned planet. You should pay special attention to anything that you think makes your planet a good place to visit (or NOT). You will need to copy and past or write down any facts you might want to use in your special Kid Pix slide show about your planet. You can also save pictures of your planet right into your folder to use in the slide show!
So put on your space suit, buckle yourself into the space ship drivers' seat and press the throttle (mouse button in this case) because our adventure is about to begin.
In the first part of our adventure we are going to experience what planets look like from a selected space craft. From the Solar System Simulator you will select your planet in the Viewpoint and Target section and choose the space craft (start with The Cassini Spacecraft). Make sure the date and time are selected and then view your planet from 30 degrees by clicking on the Run Simulator button. Now try it from 60, 90, .005 degrees and see what your planet looks like. Also, while at this site, choose a different spacecraft and try it again.
From the maps section, take a look at your planet from a different viewpoint.
Now let's have some fun.....click on the Art button and find a picture of your planet either from the Surface Renderings or Flyby Renderings section and download the image into your folder. To download, just hold down the mouse button until you get the little window like the one below. You must choose Download Image to Disk, then select your folder to save the image.
| Open Image in New Window |
| Download Image to Disk |
| Copy Image |
| Reload Image |
If you are using Safari, you simply click on the picture and drag and drop it into your class folder. Later we will use these in your slide show!
Now it is time to take a tour of the solar system. Click on the planets in the heading photo, and hold down the mouse button and see a spectacular shot accompanied by music. From the outline, select your planet and find some facts or myths. Pluto planet or not?
Here are some other sites to try just for fun on our tour.
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/research/stereo_atlas/SS3D.HTM
When you have enough fascinating facts and pictures, you will be ready to begin your slide show project. Open Kid Pix, click on the Kid Pix window and make your first picture and save it as SolSys1_your initials. The next one will be SolSys2_your initials, and SolSys3_your initials, continue until you have all your facts on Kid Pix pictures. To place your downloaded pictures into your Kid Pix pictures, click on the Add menu and select Add Graphic. Click on the desktop button on the left side and find the picture you want. Once your have them complete, you will then create a slide show to share with the entire class. For a really fun shot we might use one of those picture scapes and put you right into the shot---this will take less time than you think!