The Connections Are Strong In This One: Investigating Star Wars Planets and Their Erosional "Forces"

The theme of Star Wars: A New Hope is playing, the familiarity sparks my students interest as soon as they enter the classroom. I am standing by the door, listening to the emerging conversations about how Dagobah is more cool then Hoth and Alderaan is destroyed so it is no longer a planet. There are no directions present, no agenda written on the board. A slide show is slowly clicking on the smart board displaying only a fraction of the myriad of different planets in the Star Wars universe. Students start welcoming people into the room with, "May the 4th be with you." It starts to become clear to those who were curious as to why the theme for the day is Star Wars. They begin to hum the Cantina Theme as it begins to play. "Remember in the movie when Han solo kills that guy and the music stops for a second then just begins to play again, that was hilarious." and "I love the scene when Leia is rescued." The conversations are all now 100% about the days theme. It is awesome to listen to. The bell rings and my students get quiet waiting to see what their task for the day is.

I ask them, music still playing in the background, to explain the "forces" behind weathering, erosion, and deposition. They do this easily. We talk about Earth and its various ecosystems, which we have already studied. As well as the similarities and differences that these forces would have on deserts, forests, grasslands etc. They are patient but still waiting for me to tell them how this ties to Star Wars. Then I point to the slide show. "What forces do you think shape these planets? Let's find out." I have them research two planets and decide which one interests them the most. Then they investigate the characteristics of their chosen planet. They discover the land forms, animals and plants that inhabit the planet. The climate and any qualities that may lead to storms or catastrophic events thus succession. How do these storms shape the planet- weathering, erosion, deposition. The conversations are buzzing about the Star Wars universe. Characters, movie trivia, which planets were destroyed by the Death Star. Where each race comes from. They are engaged.

Today they are researching and drawing blue-prints of the models. Tomorrow they are building models of their planet and demonstrating the "forces" that cause change on their Star Wars planet. I can't wait to see their finished products.