Lesson Plan

Lecturer’s name: Georgette B. Matin Date: November 8, 2021

Course: Bachelor of Secondary Education Duration: 60 minutes

Subject/Unit: Earth and Space Level: Grade 8

Topic: Minor Member of the Solar System

Aims of lesson:
 To teach students the similarities and differences of comets, meteors, and asteroids
 To explain the formation of comets, meteors, and asteroids
 To differentiate meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites
 To discuss whether or not beliefs and practices about comets and meteors have scientific bases

Lesson objectives: Students will be able to…

 compare and contrast comets, meteors, and asteroids;
 explain how comets, meteors, and asteroids were formed;
 differentiate meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites and;
 discuss whether or not beliefs and practices about comets and meteors have scientific bases.

Assumed prior knowledge:

The students are expected to have prior knowledge about the layers of the atmosphere and major
heavenly bodies. Likewise, they will identify the layers of the atmosphere and major members of
the solar system.

Resources:
PowerPoint presentation Science 8 Module
Laptop Learning packet
Assessment (how learning will be recognized)
The students will have an activity to test their prior knowledge about minor member of the solar
system. They are going to compare and contrast comets, meteors, and asteroids; explain how comets,
meteors, and asteroids were formed; differentiate meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites; and discuss
whether or not beliefs and practices about comets and meteors have scientific bases.

Differentiation (addressing all learners’ needs)

Since the school implements “Flexible Learning” through the conduct of online
classes due to pandemic, Power point presentation, laptop, learning packet, and textbook will be used
as learning materials in the delivery of the lesson.
Skills for Life / Key Skills to be addressed
Communication/literacy
 Reasoning and inquiry skills
 Critical thinking skills
Number/ numeracy
Ensure that the allotted time for the activity/ies will allow students to accomplish the
assigned task on time.
Information Technology
Use of ICT for educational purposes. Ensure proper application of its uses and appreciate its
importance.
Time Content & Teacher Activity Student Activity

5 minutes Register

Greetings
Good morning class! May I request  All: Good morning
everyone to please turn on your camera. ma’am!

Prayer
Anyone who would like to lead the prayer?
Yes, _____ kindly lead the prayer.
 ______ will lead the
Thank you so much. I will now record the prayer.
meeting

How are you today class? Are you ready for

today’s lesson?
 All: We are fine ma’am.
Yes, we are ready for
By the way class before we formally start today’s lesson.
our lesson, let me introduce myself first. I
am Georgette, a student teacher and I will
be your teacher for today’s lesson.

Recap of last session

This morning, we will discuss about the

Minor Members of the Solar system namely
5 minutes comets, meteors and asteroids. If you have a
Science textbook, please refer to page 152-
158. But before that, let us recall first your
previous knowledge about the composition or
what’s inside the Earth’s atmosphere. Let us
recall the layers of the atmosphere.

.
 Now, I have an illustration of
the layers of the atmosphere
here. Anyone knows what is the
arrangement from closest to
farthest from the earth?

 Very good. The layers of the  Student: Troposphere,

atmosphere would help us to Mesosphere,Stratosphere,
understand better the Exosphere
phenomena when comets,
meteors and asteroid enter the
earth’s atmosphere.

Class you may raise your hand if you

want to answer or you may also drop
your response in our chat box.

 In your previous year, you

have learned about the
major members of the
solar system. Can you cite
 examples of the major
heavenly bodies in the
solar system?
 Student: sun, moon, stars,
 Very good class. Your galaxies, planets
answers are all correct. I
see that most of you are
familiar with the layers of
the atmosphere and the
major members of the
solar system. That is a
good thing because you
will understand better our
lesson for today about the
minor members of the
solar system.

 Before we proceed, do you have

any questions? If none, let us
proceed to our lesson for this
morning.

Tell students the aims of the session

1. Presentation
 Student: None
Today, we will discuss about the minor
member of the solar system. At the end
of this lesson, you are expected to:

 compare and contrast comets,

meteors, and asteroids;
 explain how comets, meteors, and
asteroids were formed;
 differentiate meteoroids, meteors,
and meteorites; and
 discuss whether or not beliefs and
practices about comets and meteors
have scientific bases.
40 2. Discussion
minutes
 Take a look at this picture. These
three pictures are the minor
members of the solar system.
From the left, that is a meteor,
next to it is a comet and the last
picture is an asteroid. By just
looking at the pictures we can
already tell the difference between
them based on the appearance.
 Now, how can you describe the
first picture?

 Very good class!

 The first picture is a meteor. It is
referred to as “shooting star”
 Have you ever heard or someone
told any of you that if you see a
 shooting star in the night sky you
can make a wish and it will come Student: it’s like a rock
true? Have you tried it?

 Meteor or shooting star is a

rocky space debris that enters the
Earth’s atmosphere. Rock debris
smaller than asteroids and could
be a size of a pebble or a grain of
sand. Its name originated from the
 Yes /No ma’am
Greek word meteoron which
literally means “thing high up”
 A meteor is a meteoroid traveling
within the atmosphere.

 Take a look in this illustration.

Which of the following you think
is the rocky space debris located in
the outer space? Is it meteor,
meteorite or meteoroid?

 Very good class!

 Second question, which rocky

space debris is traveling within the
earth’s atmosphere?

 Very good!

 Last question, it is a rocky space

debris that successfully landed the
 Student: meteoroid
earth’s surface?

 Very good class! All of your

answers are correct. It is called
meteor if it is in the outer space.
Meteor if it’s in motion and
passing through the earth’s
 Student: meteor
atmosphere and meteorite if it
landed in the earth surface.

 In the beginning of our lesson, I

asked you about the layers of
atmosphere. Take a look at this
picture. Meteoroids are outside
 Student: meteorite
these layers of the atmosphere.
Once it enters the Earth’s
atmosphere, specifically in the
mesosphere with enough gases
that can create friction and heat it
will burn up.

 Where do you think meteoroids

come from? Any idea class?

 That’s correct, meteoroids are

rocky space debris which may
 come from asteroids and comets.
 When asteroids collide with each
other, the impact causes the
disintegration of its materials. This
space debris can be pulled by the
magnetic field of the earth,
causing it to enter the atmosphere.
 As a comet travels towards the
sun, it leaves fragment or debris  Student: Asteroids and comets
along its orbit or path. When the
Earth happened to pass through
the comet’s orbit, those debris or
fragment will be pulled by the
Earth’s gravity and may create
meteor showers.

 Anyone from the class who have

witnessed a meteor shower? How
would you described it?

 There are also different group of

meteorites such as stony meteorite,
iron meteorite and stony- iron
meteorite

 Now, I’ll introduce another minor

member of the solar system.

 Take a look at this picture. What

do you think is in the picture?

 Very good! That’s comet.

 Student: I have/I have not.
 A comet is often described as
“dirty snowball”. It came from
the Greek word kometes meaning
“long-haired”
 It is a chunk of ice, gas, and dust
that orbit the sun in a long, narrow
elliptical orbit. It is famous for its
beautiful tail.

 What are the parts of a comet?

Can someone guess?

 Very good! Comet has nucleus,

coma, tail, dust tail and ion tail.
 Student: Comet
 Now,where do you think comets
are located?

 Very good class! Comets are

located in Kuiper Belt and Oort
Cloud. But, maam what is Kuiper
belt and Oort cloud? I am sure
some of you know what are these.
Kuiper belt is a donut-shaped
region of icy bodies beyond the
orbit of Neptune.
 Oort Cloud is a predicted
collection of icy objects farther  Student: Comet has nucleus,
away than everything else in the coma, tail, dust tail and ion
solar system. Here is a picture of a tail.
Kuiper belt and Oort cloud where
comets are located.

 Also, did you know class that

there are 2 groups of comets? The  Student: Kuiper Belt and Oort
short-period comet and the long Cloud
period comet. The short-period
comet has orbital periods of less
than 200 years and believed to be
located in the Kuiper Belt. And the
long-period comet has orbital
periods of 200 years or more and
believed to be located in the Oort
cloud.

 Now, I have here the last picture.

Anyone who would like to tell us
what is in the picture?

 Very good! That is an asteroid. An

asteroid are chunks of rocks or
fragments of planet-like material
of varying sizes floating in space.
 The term asteroid comes from the
Greek word asterocides meaning
“star-like”.
 Unlike comets, they don’t have ice
materials that would melt in turn
into a coma or tail.
 They are seen when they reflect
the light coming from the sun.
 Anyone know where the asteroids
are located? In between of what
planets?

 Very good! It is mostly located in

the region between Mars and
Jupiter.
 Student: Asteroid
 Other smaller asteroids are found
in a region closer to the Earth.
These asteroids are called NEOs
or Near-Earth objects.
 Asteroids also have groups. These
are the s-type, c-type, m-type, and
e-type.

Can you still follow class?

Alright. I’ll be asking you some

questions. Since we have discussed
about the meteor, comets and asteroids
I want to check if you can tell if the
statement is a superstition or a fact.  Student: Mars and Jupiter
Comment F if it is a fact and S if it is a
Superstition.

 1. Meteors were caused by

witches.
 That’s correct. Witches have
nothing to do with the meteors.
Meteors are in the outer space held
by the gravity of the sun not by
witches.

 2. A comet approaching the Earth

signifies world war III.
 Another superstition, nobody
knows if there will be world war
III and if that will happen it’s  Student: Yes, ma’am
because of the conflicts between
nations not the comet.

 3. Shooting star can make your

wish come true.
 Correct. There is no scientific
basis saying that shooting star can
make wishes come true. Wish
come true if you work hard and do
something to make it happen.

 4. A comet entering the earth is

extremely dangerous?
 It is a superstition. According to
 Student: S
space.com asteroids are more
dangerous because the impact
would be 100 times than of a
comet of the same size. Also,
majority of the comets reside at
the extreme outer edge of the solar
system.(Oort cloud)

 5. A comet caused the extinction  Student: S

of the dinosaurs.
 Correct! It is a fact. According to
CNN.com dinosaurs have been
wiped out by a comet that crashed
the Earth 66 million years ago. It
leaves a huge crater called
Chicxulub crater located in
Yucatan, Mexico.
 Student: S
Very good class! I am happy that you
know which of these beliefs are facts
and superstitions.

Let’s check your progress

 Students will have an activity
entitled Compare and Contrast.
I will provide the terms and
 supply it in the Venn diagram  Student: S
based on the answers of the
students in the chat box.

Let’s Wrap Up

 Meteoroid, Meteor, Meteorite

 Comets

 Asteroids

 Superstitious beliefs
 Student: F

 Do you have any questions?

 If none, that would be all.

Thank you so much for your
participation. God bless you all
and keep safe.

5 minutes

5 minutes

 Yes/None, ma’am