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Description of Unit

In this task, sixth-grade students will explore the physical properties and locations of various bodies in the solar system by becoming real estate agents for Terrestrial Real Estate (a fictional real estate company in outer space). They will learn about the Goldilocks Zone and what constitutes Goldilocks conditions (i.e., conditions that allow a planet to be hospitable for life or colonization). After learning what causes the Goldilocks conditions on Earth, students will search for locations within the solar system that have similar conditions. Students will produce a commercial or real estate sales pitch for three different locations in the solar system that represent the inner planets, outer planets, and Kuiper belt.

This guide links the Terrestrial Real Estate unit to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for sixth graders. Terrestrial Real Estate is a science unit that allows students to study the physical properties, locations, and movements of our solar system’s planets, asteroids, meteors, and comets. Terrestrial Real Estate also has interdisciplinary connections to the English language arts and reading disciplines. Students will use prewriting strategies to create persuasive essays that will be used in an advertising campaign to sell real estate on locations in the solar system. The following document includes the applicable TEKS and the details of the Terrestrial Real Estate unit. The final section of this document presents the applicable Texas College and Career Readiness Standards adopted by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) on January 24, 2008.

Phase I. Learning Experiences

  1. The Power to Persuade
    The teacher will find a real estate commercial online and show it to the students (most national real estate companies have commercials available on their websites). Students will brainstorm a list of qualities that real estate agents must have to be successful salespeople and write the list on a piece of chart paper. They will then brainstorm a list of qualities that a person must have if they have power to persuade and write it on the chart paper. The students will look at the two lists to see how they compare.

    In this unit, students will need to understand the components of persuasive prewriting. Important components that the teacher will want to discuss include the following:

    • Choose a position
    • Understand the audience
    • Conduct research
    • Identify the most convincing evidence

    Salespeople (e.g., real estate agents), need to know their goal (choose a position), they need to know their client’s needs (understand the audience), they need to be informed about the market (conduct research), and they need to convince their client that the available real estate meets the client’s needs (identify the most convincing evidence).

  2. Terrestrial Real Estate
    The teacher will announce that the students have been hired as real estate agents for a fictional real estate company named Terrestrial Real Estate. The new agents will be selling real estate around the solar system.

    Teacher Notes: See the “Terrestrial Real Estate Training Session” PowerPoint attachment. As you modify the slideshow for use in your classroom, be sure to fill in the teacher’s name on the eighth slide. To make the fictional scenario look more convincing, you might even bring in another adult to play the role of the trainer. You can have the trainer wear a business jacket and name tag.

  3. Earth 101—Geosphere
    Students will research the Earth’s inner structure and use found objects to create a model that includes the inner core, outer core, mantle, crust, asthenosphere, lithosphere, and magnetosphere. The model must be labeled and include explanations of how these features work together as a system.

    A critique checkpoint will be made before final submission so that students can share their model design with the other students and receive feedback. Suggestions for improvement on the models will be made by classmates, and students should be allowed time to make modifications before final submission.

    Engineers, artists, and other creative fields use critiques to improve projects before the final submission of work. To start the activity, all students should be given a grading rubric to help guide the construction of the model and the student critiques. Ground rules for critiquing other students’ work should be set before the models are shared. The teacher may want to provide constructive sentence stems to help students frame their praise and suggestions for the work with the proper justification. Students may want to start the conversation with, “I noticed that... but have you considered...” This type of sentence stem steers the conversation away from feelings and more toward helpful criticism. Gifted/talented (G/T) students often need guidance with communicating feedback without hurting the feelings of their classmates. Guidelines like Three Warms and Three Cools (three praises and three suggestions) also help to balance the conversation, as many G/T students fear failure and criticism.

  4. Earth 101—Atmosphere
    Students will investigate the greenhouse effect and create a greenhouse simulation. In this experiment, students will first lay three thermometers on a sunny sidewalk and record the temperature of all three after five minutes. Once the data has been recorded, the students will place one thermometer in an empty jar and close the lid. They will place the second thermometer in an empty jar and close it with a lid that has holes poked in it. The third thermometer will remain outside on the sidewalk under the Sun. The students will record the temperatures of all three thermometers every minute for the next nine minutes. Using the collected temperatures, students will design a chart to display the data and create a graph to visualize and interpret the results. They will analyze the chart and graph and write a conclusion on the changes in temperature for the three thermometers (the recorded temperatures in the closed jar should be higher than those in the vented jar and those on the sidewalk). The teacher will give an explanation of the greenhouse effect and how it was replicated in this experiment.

    Teacher Notes: The first jar with the solid lid represents a planet that has a thick atmosphere that traps heat from the Sun—similar to Venus. Because the heat cannot escape, the jar will reach a higher temperature. The second jar with a lid that has holes represents the Earth’s atmosphere. It will trap heat from the Sun, but it will also allow some heat to escape because it is not a thick atmosphere. The trapped heat keeps the temperatures on Earth steady throughout the day (but not so hot that life cannot exist). The third thermometer represents a planet that has no atmosphere, just direct heat from the Sun—similar to Mercury.

  5. Earth 101—Hydrosphere
    Students will investigate the hydrosphere system by creating a still to capture the liquid evaporated from a cup. They will fill a clear glass jar a quarter of the way to the top with water. They will then heat the uncovered jar on high in the microwave for one minute. Using an oven mitt or towel, they will carefully remove the jar from the microwave, place the saucer on top of the jar, and place a handful of ice cubes on the saucer. Students will observe the condensation that builds on the bottom of the saucer and the eventual precipitation of the previously evaporated water.

    The students will conduct further research on the Earth’s hydrosphere and watch Zachary Metz’s TEDEd video, “Where did Earth’s water come from?” (https://ed.ted.com/lessons/where-did-earth-s-water-come-from-zachary-metz). They should consider the following questions as they explore the concepts further:

    • How is the model like the Earth’s hydrosphere?
    • What can the model not show about the Earth’s water systems?
    • How can we modify the water model to show additional sources of water?
    • Where did Earth’s water originate?

    Teacher Notes: The idea of the water cycle is a review for sixth graders. However, students at this grade level may not have considered water collected through underground sources, such as aquifers.

  6. Earth 101—Other Spheres
    After learning about the geosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere, the teacher will lead a class discussion about how these spheres interact with each other. For example, the hydrosphere directly affects weather conditions in the atmosphere. The atmosphere causes weathering on the crust of Earth’s surface, as does the water in the hydrosphere. The students will brainstorm about different interactions and create a list on chart paper.

    Earth system science includes six spheres that can interact on the planet. The other three spheres are the biosphere, the cryosphere, and the anthrosphere. The teacher will pose the question: “Using your knowledge of Greek and Latin roots, what do you think the prefixes of these six spheres mean?” Students will consult online resources to check the direct meaning of each sphere in the Earth’s system.

  7. Goldilocks Conditions on Earth
    Students will conduct research on the Goldilocks conditions of Earth and why these conditions can sustain life. They will also investigate the habitable zone of stars and search for news stories about potentially Earth-like planets discovered in space. Students will form small groups and brainstorm a list of the factors that make Earth hospitable to life. They will then share their findings with the class to create one big list of factors that help the Earth host life.

    Some examples of helpful resources include the following:

Phase II. Independent Research

A. Research process

  1. Selecting a topic. Students will review the original Terrestrial Real Estate Training Session presentation and a sample advertising campaign from the Mars real estate company, Phobos and Deimos Realty. Once they have seen the sample sales pitch, they will form small groups of three to five students and be asked to choose a property card with three solar system real estate listings that they must sell (see the “Terrestrial Real Estate Listing Cards” attachment). The student groups will research the solar system listings and come up with a persuasive real estate campaign to sell the properties.

    Teacher Notes: Allow the students to review the “Terrestrial Real Estate Training Session” PowerPoint attachment, and show them the “Phobos and Deimos Real Estate” sales pitch PowerPoint attachment. Print the “Terrestrial Real Estate Listing Cards” attachment on cardstock. Cut out each individual property card and allow each group to select one.

  2. Asking guiding questions. Student groups will begin by designing a data collection chart to aid with research on their locations. Chart designs should include the following information about each of their property listings:
    • Location in the solar system
    • Distance from the Earth
    • Distance from the Sun
    • Atmosphere
    • Water
    • Geological activity
    • Rotation
    • Orbit
    • Interesting features
    Students will consider the following guiding questions in their research:
    • Keeping in mind the Goldilocks conditions of Earth, what elements of the location will help sustain life?
    • Some locations may only have some of the Goldilocks conditions of Earth—what will have to be done in order to sustain life on your location?
    • Human beings love points of interest when they vacation; how can your location provide points of interest that could potentially become selling points for your sales pitch presentation?
  3. Creating a research proposal. Students will brainstorm ideas in their group for how to find the answers to the guiding questions and fill out their data collection charts.
  4. Conducting the research. Students will consult the librarian to find relevant books, Internet resources, or news stories to aid in their explorations. Student groups will keep careful notes of primary and secondary sources used in the research of the project and cite them in the sales pitch that they create.

B. The product

Each student group will create a persuasive sales pitch to sell real estate on the three solar system locations they selected. The sales pitch will take the form of a multimedia presentation, slideshow, or commercial for Terrestrial Real Estate. The sales pitch for each location should compare the environment to the conditions on Earth and disclose any life support systems or special measures that will be needed to survive. The intent of the sales pitch is to persuade someone to purchase real estate at the different locations by using researchable facts as convincing evidence. A works cited page and a bibliography of primary and secondary resources should be included.

C. Communication

The student groups will share their real estate pitches in the forms of a multimedia presentations, slideshows, or commercials. The products will be presented to other classes or shared on a school website.

D. A completed project consists of:

  1. A model of the Earth’s inner structure
  2. A chart and graph displaying the data from the greenhouse effect experiment
  3. A research data collection chart to inform the final product
  4. A persuasive real estate sales pitch in the form of a multimedia presentation, slideshow, or commercial
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