In OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

CLIL PROJECT
In our Solar System ■ Play the video. Give students time to fill in the chart
individually. Allow students to watch the video as
Objective: to learn about the solar system and present many times as necessary for them to complete the task.
information about a planet to the class Review answers as a class.

Background information Answers

A solar system is a star and all the objects that travel
in orbit around it. In our solar system, the Sun is
the star. The other parts of our solar system are the
eight planets and their natural satellites (such as our
moon), dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets.
Everything in our solar system moves around the Sun.
The inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and
Mars. They are made mostly of rock and metal.
The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune. They are much larger than the inner planets
and are made mostly of gases.
Jupiter is the largest planet, and Mercury is the
smallest.
Moons are also known as satellites.
■ Have volunteers tell the class what they already know
about our solar system and Earth. Write any facts they
share on the board.
■ Ask students what they would like to learn about our
solar system, Earth, or any of the other planets. Write
their questions on the board.
1 Remind students that they will use the categories in the
Have students look at the picture and ask volunteers to
■ revolve around them, but Earth only has one. Our Blue Planet
say what they see. (a “map” of our solar system)
■ Draw students’ attention to the vocabulary in the map.
mountains
Length of one day: 24 hours, 39 minutes
Length of one year: 687 days
Sun
Number of moons: 2
Features: mountains, valleys, volcanoes
valley
Other interesting information: Answers will vary. Revolve
Possible answers: Mars is called the Red Planet.
Mars is called Earth’s “sister planet.” It is half the Moon
size of Earth. It takes 200 days to go from Earth to desert
Mars. Robots go to Mars to look for living things. Rotate
Axis Planet
Video 4.4 CLIL: Mars
Also known as the Red Planet, Mars is still a
mystery to us, but we are learning more about 1. Complete the paragraph. Use the correct forms of the words in the picture.
it every day. As our sister planet, it has features Our solar system has eight 1 planets . They 2 revolve around the Sun. Our
very similar to Earth even though it is only half the
size. We learn about its moons and its geography. planet is Earth. It is the only planet in our solar system with people on it. Earth is
called the “Blue Planet” because it has a lot of water in lakes, rivers, and oceans.
PROJECT Explain the task. Ask students which planet they Earth also has high 3 mountains , deep 4 valleys , and dry 5 deserts . One day
would like to research and make sure that all the
is the time a planet takes to 6 rotate on its 7 axis . One day on Earth is
planets are equally represented so that project
presentations aren’t about only one or two of the planets. 24 hours. One year is the time a planet takes to go around the Sun. One year on
Earth is 365 days. Some planets have many 8 moons that
row headings to guide their research and fill in the third
(blank) column as they did with Mars. Encourage them to
include any other information that interests them in the is very interesting.
bottom row. Refer them to the questions you wrote on the
4.4 MARS

Say each word aloud and have students repeat. Say the board in Activity 1 for ideas about other kinds of 2. Watch the video. Complete the information about Mars.
words again and have students point to them in the information they may want to share with the class.
picture. Ask volunteers to explain or give an example
■ If the project is done in class, provide students with Name of planet Earth Mars
for each vocabulary word. Make sure they understand
axis (an imaginary line that goes through the Earth these research materials.
Order from the Sun 3rd 4th
between the North Pole and the South Pole), rotate (to
turn around a fixed point), and revolve (to turn in a Materials
Length of one day 24 hours 24 hours, 39 minutes
circle around a central point). Say: The Earth rotates on ● books about the solar system and the planets
its axis. The Earth revolves around the sun. ● index cards with information about each planet
687 days
Length of one year 365.25 days
■ Explain the task and have students complete it ● a list of student-appropriate websites about planets
individually by filling in the words from the picture. (if classroom has internet access)
Number of moons 1 2
Then review answers as a class. ● photocopied articles about the planets
mountains
2 ■ Have students present their information to the class. deserts
■ Draw students’ attention to the chart and the Encourage students to practice their presentations with valleys
a partner first and keep their presentations to a time Features mountains, valleys,
information in the Earth column. To check lakes
limit that you provide. deserts
understanding, ask students about the information in rivers
the chart: What order from the Sun is Earth? (third) oceans
What is the length of a day on Earth? (24 hours), etc. Earth is the only planet in our Mars is called the Red Planet.
■ Explain that students will now watch a video about solar system that has people It is called Earth's sister
on it! planet. It is half the size of
Mars and that they should listen for information to fill Other interesting Earth. It takes 200 days to
in the Mars column in the chart. Suggest that they take information Earth is called the “Blue Planet”. go from Earth to Mars.
notes as they watch the video. The surface of Earth is 70% Robots go to Mars to look
water. for living things.

PROJECT Research another planet in our solar system. Complete the third column of the
chart and present your information to the class. Use pictures in your presentation.

T-117 Unit 4 CLIL Projects

Unit 4 | CLIL Project | 117