This spring, students in grades 2-6 participated in learning about space in their science class. In a mixed age group, we discussed what the word “astronomy” means and then had students share what they knew about astronomy. We started the unit by talking about early astronomers and their discoveries/ models. Students created a timeline of when astronomers explored the solar system. We talked about the 8 planets and learned about the order of the planets and their characteristics. Students explored the planets by working in pairs at stations to research information from several books. They created poster boards with information about the 4 inner planets and created a model of their assigned planet. Students also learned about the phases of the moon and why the moon has a different appearance every few days. We’ve explored the moon phases by using Oreos, shaping the Oreo cream to look like the moon phase they were assigned and placing them in order.