Grade 1 - Planet Builders

What outer space event happened 4.6 billion years ago that involved a collision of gas and swirling particles?! The birth of our solar system! And these 1st graders can tell you all about it in with this project called Planet Builders!

For this space science Studio project, we began by examining the composition and position of the eight planets in our solar system. Many of the 1st graders came into the Studio already knowing so much about our solar system. Quite impressive minds! We talked about the fact that the planets closest to our sun are made of rocks and minerals. Planets farther from the sun are made of gasses like helium and hydrogen. And each planet has special properties that make it unique.

Then, with all of this expert knowledge in hand, the 1st graders set out to create their very own planet in a way that replicates their formation billions of years ago. Each student created a clay form planet and painted it a solid color of choice. On planet creation day, each student put their clay formation in a star bag (because you can’t have a planet without a star!) added a couple accent paint colors, some glow paint, and “solar particles”. We whirled and swirled the planets in the star bag and came out with some amazing new planets. In addition, each student created a constellation backdrop and named their planet. The planets are on display and will come home with the students soon! The students did an out of this world job on their planets!