Goal: Students will be able to understand the relationships between gravitational constant and mass on different planets of the solar system

20 fifth grade students

OBJECTIVES1. Given a computer with Internet connection the

student will identify the mass of the nine planets during 80 % of the time

2. Given a computer with Internet connection the students will interpret the concept of gravitational constant of the planets, defined by Newton during 80 % of the time

3. Given a computer the student will compose a model with three different relationships between gravitational constant and mass on different planets with 80 % of accuracy

Instructional Activity

1. Teacher will provide Three websites where the students can find Information on the solar system and nine planets

- http//planets.homedns.org - http://kids.nineplanets.org/-http://virtualfieldtrip.jpl.nasa.gov/smmk/top/

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Instructional Activity

2. Students will identify the mass of each of the nine planets, and paste them in a Microsoft Excel document , labeling each one with different colors.

Instructional Activity

3. Teacher will give an information about what is the concept of gravitational constant and how the mass affects the theory described by Newton

4. Students will download and install the software simulator for their laptops. The software is available here: The next step is to change the variables of the gravitationalconstant and see how the planets behave.

Solar System SimulatorFEATURES: kidmode, a mode where the focus is (mostly) locked on the application, and interesting changes are initiated by merely banging on the keyboard. This mode is aimed at 1-5 year olds. Center-of-mass following: it is possible to follow the center of mass of a subset of the planets. Thus, if you have a sun-moon-planet system, you can have the view automatically track the moon-planet pair. Can display kinetic, potential and total energy of the system. Both the gravitational constant and the gravitational exponent can be changed. There is a simple control panel that makes it possible to see and change the simulation options. Zooming, panning, and centering on the center of mass

Information (input)The gravitational constant, denoted G, is an

empirical physical constant involved in the calculation of the gravitational attraction between objects with mass. It appears in Newton's law of universal gravitation and in Einstein's theory of general relativity. (wikipedia)

Instructional Activity

5. Using Mind 42(mind map) the students must compose a model by creating in scale of approximation the solar system making the difference of each planet with the color given at the beginning and showing the mass and gravitational constant of each planet

Mind 42 (mind maps)

FINAL QUESTIONS

1. What is the mass of the planet earth?2. How many planets are there in the solar

system?3. Explain the gravitational constant theory

defined by Newton