Jennifer Roland’s fifth-grade science classes at Wellington Elementary School recently learned all about planets. The students were excited to complete a few activities learning about the universe. Students researched planets, wrote essays and worked in pairs to paint planets to scale. The class also calculated the distance between the planets. Students stood along 100 feet of sidewalk, representing each planet, the asteroid belt and the sun, allowing the students to visualize that the inner planets are much closer together than the outer planets. They also got a feel for the vastness of space. Roland made the lessons exciting, and she hopes the students reach for the stars in sixth grade. Shown above are fifth-graders Rayna Forist, Kyle Grant, Enzo Amador, Emma Franks, Amparo Lavado-Moreno, Sophia Coyle, Nicholas Vitrano, Leora Zimmerman and Nathan Alfaro.
