6th Grade: Chalk Planet Aliens

This was probably my favorite middle school lesson. Basically, I gave each table a different planet. I used the Sun instead of the Earth and no Pluto:( 

Each group researched all about their planet (or Sun) and kept a fact sheet as a group. Then, using chalk pastels, they drew their planet onto a black paper. They were supposed to include surrounding objects, like moons, asteroids, etc. that they learned about during their research. For example, I did four of Jupiter's moons in the background. They added stars afterwards. 

I then had students create an alien that could survive on the planet they were given. For example, mine had tentacles because Jupiter has no solid surface, so my alien could float/ swim around. My alien also had three eyes because Jupiter is farther away from the sun. (Disclaimer: I understand that the alien part of this is NOT scientifically sound, but it was cute)!

Students also had to add one personal object to their alien, hence my alien's guitar. 

Here is one student's example and her explanation:

Last, they cut out their aliens, glued a few pieces of cardboard to the back (to make it stick out), and glued it to their planet background. Here are some of the results:

^Personal favorite (alien on the Sun)

"He's supposed to be sideways because he has gravity shoes"