The Solar
System
Shawna Younglove
Edu 505
Dr. Yang
A webquest for 3-5 grade students
Introduction
Today you get to be a space explorer and
researcher! You are going to choose one
of the eight planets and research
information about that planet.
Task
You will research facts about one of the
planets.
You must include…
1.
The name of the planet
2. What or who the planet is named after
3. The size of the planet (diameter)
4. The average distance from the sun (in miles)
Task continued
The time needed to revolve around the sun
(length of the year)
6. The time needed to rotate on its axis (length
of the day)
7. Facts about the planets surface
8. Facts about the planets moon
9. Any other interesting facts
Phew… that seems like a lot of work, but you
can do it! Just take it one step at a time.
5.
Task completed when…
When you are finished researching you
will write a research report explaining all of
the information you gathered
 You must write your research paper neatly
and in the proper format
 You will be graded on neatness, how well
you researched the facts about your
planet, and how you put the facts together
in the paper. Good luck!

Resources for Information
about the planets
Mercury
http://kids.nineplanets.org/m
ercury.htm
http://www.kidsastronomy.co
m/mercury.htm
Venus
http://www.windows.ucar.ed
u/tour/link=/venus/venus.
html
http://kids.nineplanets.org/v
enus.htm
More resources about the
planets
Earth
http://kids.nineplanets.org/e
arth.htm
http://www.kidsastronomy.co
m/earth.htm
Mars
http://www.windows.ucar.ed
u/tour/link=/mars/mars.ht
ml
http://kids.nineplanets.org/m
ars.htm
More resources about the
planets
Jupiter
http://kids.nineplanets.org/jupiter.
htm
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tou
r/link=/jupiter/jupiter.html
Saturn
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tou
r/link=/saturn/saturn.html
http://www.frontiernet.net/~kidpo
wer/saturn.html
More resources about the
planets
Uranus
http://kids.nineplanets.org/ur
anus.htm
http://www.windows.ucar.ed
u/tour/link=/uranus/uranu
s.html
Neptune
http://www.frontiernet.net/~ki
dpower/neptune.html
http://kids.nineplanets.org/n
eptune.htm
Students will be evaluated using this rubric
Planet Research Report Rubric
4
3
2
1
Organization of Ideas
You did an outstanding job planning
your report. You developed an
excellent beginning, middle, and
ending. You needed very little help
You have a topic sentence. You
developed and organized your details.
You followed the webquest with little
help.
You needed help with a topic
sentence, or the topic sentence is
missing. Your information is difficult
to follow
You need a clear plan of
organization
Content
You included many excellent details.
You were able to find facts
independently, and add extra facts
You included good details and
information. You needed some help
finding some facts in the webquest.
You included simple basic details. You
needed lots of help finding facts, and
added no extra information.
Details and facts are inaccurate or
missing. You were unable to do
independent research
Sentence Knowledge
You showed skillful use of sentence
variety. You used complete sentences
all of the time.
You restated facts in your own words.
You used complete sentences most of
the time.
Most facts are in your own words
You used complete sentences some of
the time.
You needed help restating sentences
in your own words, or some sentences
are copied.
You need to use complete
sentences.
Sentences need to be in your own
words.
Language/ Vocabulary
You used very good adjectives and
vivid language
You used some adjectives and basic
vocabulary.
You used satisfactory words.
You need to add adjectives and use
age appropriate vocabulary.
Mechanics
You consistently used capital letters,
correct punctuation, proper paragraph
form, and correct spelling without
help.
Most of the time you used capital
letters, correct punctuation, proper
paragraph form and correct spelling.
You needed help to correct your
paragraph form, spelling, capital
letters, and punctuation.
You need to use proper paragraph
form, punctuation, capital letters
and correct spelling.
Quality
Conclusion
You did it! You have become an expert
about one of the planets. When you are
finished writing your report, you may be
asked to share it with a classmate or
even your entire class! Congratulations
on completing the webquest and
becoming such a great researcher about
one of the planets in our solar system.