Planets & Outer Space Unit for Middle & High School Students

An Outer Space & Planets Unit Study for Family-Style Homeschooling with Students in Middle and High School.

In this Planets and Outer Space Unit Study, your middle and high school students will learn about meteors, the types of galaxies, all about solar energy, the history and use of telescopes, and go on an adventure through the solar system.

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Planets & Outer Space Language Arts

Independent Readers

Read C.S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet, the first book in the space trilogy. The author of Narnia based the hero of this book, Dr. Ransom, on his friend J.R.R. Tolkien. Dr. Ransom is kidnapped by an evil physicist and his minion and taken to their red planet. Find out if he escapes and is able to return to Earth!

If you have younger students and would like for everyone to be on the same page, so to speak, have your secondary students read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle instead of the Lewis selection. This book won the Newberry Medal in 1963. It is the first book in the Time Quintet series. The L’Engle series would also be an easier read for middle schoolers than the Lewis series.

Writing: Vocabulary

Your students can show their mastery of the outer space vocabulary words by writing a short story that contains the 13 vocabulary words. The printables are included in the Planets and Outer Space Unit Study Bundle.

Writing: Research Essay

This week, review Solar System and Beyond in the Exploring Space book or The Solar System in the Young Oxford book. (see more info about these books in the Science section below).

Then, write a five to seven-paragraph essay describing the planets in our solar system for your middle schoolers; high schoolers’ essay should be longer (at least nine paragraphs). There should be paragraphs for an introduction, a conclusion, and at least 3 paragraphs in the body. The body paragraphs should detail facts about the planets, including distances from the sun, relatives sizes, and temperatures of each planet.

Grammar

If your family uses narration as a way to learn grammar, grab a copy of the Planets Narration for Middle & High School from the free resource library. This week’s quotes are from Gail Gibbons’ The Planets.

For the narration pages, select the passage that best matches your child’s writing and spelling abilities. Then, read the passage to your student all the way through first. Then read it again, 2 or 3 words at a time, giving them time to write it down. Tell them to do their best, but not to get “caught up” in making sure it’s all spelled correctly while they are writing. They can go back when they are done to fix any spelling if they want.

When they are done, give them the original page (that you read off of) and let them “check” it and fix any spelling or punctuation mistakes. Talk to them about any spelling or punctuation rules that they used, just to help cement it in their brains. It’s really important for them to check it, not you. It seems to give them ownership of it and makes them remember the correction.

Use the Rockets & Spacecraft Copywork Worksheets in the Free Resource Library to practice grammar and handwriting. There are 3 pages in 3 different levels for early elementary, upper elementary, and middle/high school. The early elementary and upper elementary levels come in both print and cursive.

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Planets and Outer Space Poetry

Read this poem, The Meteor, by Hannah Flagg Gould with your children. Encourage them to memorize it. The Planets & Outer Space Unit Study Printables contains a printable copy.

The Meteor
Ye, who look with wondering eye,
Tell me what in me ye find,
As I shoot across the sky,
But an emblem of your kind!

Darting from my hidden source,
I behold no resting place;
But must ever urge my course
Onward, till I end my race!

While I keep my native height,
I appear to all below
Radiant with celestial light,
That is brightening as I go.

When I lose my hold on heaven,
Down to shadowy earth I tend,
From my pure companions driven;
And in darkness I must end!
~Hannah Flagg Gould

Reading Comprehension

After your family reads Galaxies, Galaxies by Gail Gibbons and The Planets by Gail Gibbons, (or similar titles) check your student’s reading comprehension with the Galaxies worksheet for Middle & High School and The Planets Worksheet for Middle & High School learners in the Free Resource Library.

Look up all of the books for this unit study in my Amazon Storefront Astronomy to Astronauts Book List

Planets & Outer Space STEAM

Science

Exploring Space by Martin Jenkins is a comprehensive look at the history of astronomy and space exploration. Use this or a similar title, such as The Young Oxford Book of Astronomy by Simon and Jaqueline Mitton, as your main spine book for your secondary students for the whole four–week unit.

This week, read Solar System and Beyond in Exploring Space or The Solar System in the Young Oxford text.

If the younger children in your family are creating art this week with UV photosensitive paper, have your older kids research how this paper works. Then let your older kids explain the scientific process to the younger kids.

Listen to Sky Tour Astronomy podcast to see what’s in the night sky this month.

Watch this demonstration by Mark Rober that shows just how large our solar system really is, using a soccer ball as the scaled model of the sun.

Listen to Tumble Science Podcast “Pluto and the Planetary Pandemonium”

Visualize the Earth’s rotation in the Milky Way Galaxy with this video.

Planets & Outer Space Hands On Science Fun

Have your secondary students learn about solar energy by making a solar oven.

• Use these directions for a pizza box solar oven.
• Or try these directions using an Amazon box.
• If you have more than one student at the secondary level, have them make ovens using different materials and compare their efficiency. Which one gets hotter and cooks faster?

Measure out the relative distances between the planets with toilet paper with these instructions from TeachBesideMe.com

Technology

Learn about the history and use of the telescope:

Watch a documentary about the history and use of telescopes, Eye on the Skies.

Find out how to use a telescope with this video.

For more information on what telescopes are currently looking for, listen to The Quest for the Hidden Planets from TumbleScience podcasts. Learn how scientists confirmed the existence of planets outside of our solar system a mere 20 years ago.

Become a Civil Air Patrol’s Aerospace Education Member ($35 fee for a lifetime membership) and apply for a telescope and instructional materials from their STEM kits program (FREE! once you’re a member). There are 14 different STEM kits available, including rocketry, robotics, and quadcopters.

Math

Learn how gravity affects the weight of objects (but not their mass) in this informational article from NASA’s Space Place along with how scientists use exponential numbers to shorten really BIG numbers (like the mass of the planets).

Art

Galaxy paintings are a popular art choice for teen rooms. Create one with acrylics with these directions from Step by Step Painting or use watercolors and follow the directions in this video from Studio of MM.

Planets & Outer Space Historical Biography

Men of Science, Men of God by Henry M. Morris presents over 100 biographies of scientists who were also Christians that believed science did not contradict God’s Word. This week, read the biographies of Galileo and Copernicus.

Planets & Outer Space Devotions

If your student plays guitar, have them learn to play “Indescribable” by Chris Tomlin. Chords and lyrics and included in this video. If they don’t already play guitar, they can just learn the lyrics.

If you have younger students, your family may want to do your devotions together with the devotional book Indescribable: 100 Devotions about God and Science by Louie Giglio. These five-minute devotions are filled with wondrous facts about God’s amazing creation.

The following devotions match up nicely with this week’s planets and outer space study: pages

• 8-9
• 30-31
• 36-37
• 116-117
• 172-173

If your secondary student is the youngest, or prefers to do his or her own devotions, use these Bible verses to journal or create SOAP notes.

• Genesis1:1-3
• Isaiah 40:26
• 2 Timothy 1:7
• 1 John 3:18

More Ideas

Family schooling naturally has an overlap between learner’s abilities. That’s why morning baskets and unit studies work so well for homeschool families with more than one kiddo! Therefore, there may be activities at another level that will benefit your family even if you don’t have any students working at a different level. Check them out below:

Planets and Outer Space: Early Learners, Upper Elementary

Be sure to follow my Pinterest board Astronomy and Astronauts for more great ideas for your Planets and Outer Space unit! And follow Whole Child Homeschool on Pinterest so you don’t miss any posts!

Finally, don’t forget to pin this post so you can refer back to it during your Planets and Outer Space study.