2015 Term 2 Discovery the Red Planet

In Week 5 of Term 2 our class focussed on how to write great information reports.

We wrote about the planet Mars as we are in the middle of learning about Planet Earth and Beyond. Learning how to write a geat information report will help us with our self-guided topics in a few weeks time.

Here is my writing, after I have self-assessed and peer-assessed my work.

                  Discovering the Red Planet

Introduction:

Mars is a red planet that is named after the Roman God of war. Even though Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, it is still freezing cold. Have you ever wondered what is on Mars and what is it made out of? Well read along and you will get those answers.

Surface Features:

Mars  has a special mineral on it’s surface that causes this colour, red. Also, it has a rocky dusty surface and a thin atmosphere, which means that humans do not have enough air to breathe. Mars is covered with volcanoes, rocky canyons and also has its own solid crust. The largest volcano in our solar system is on Mars.

Mars’ Orbit:

Even though Mars is our neighbour it orbits around differently. Mars is 227.9 million km’s away from the sun. It turns on its axis for 24 hours and 37 minute. Mars is half a size of earth and its weight is 639e21 kg. Mars planet is different from our planets, it orbits around differently from our planet.

Conclusion:

I hope this information report gives you more information about Mars and guaranteed you to write your own information report. Here is a website if you want to learn more facts about Mars.

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/planets/mars.html

My Information Report Success Criteria:	Self	Peer
My heading:
is an interesting title (I might have phrased the title as a question.)	yes	yes
My opening paragraph:
says what my report is about in a clear way	yes	yes
gives a general “classification” – and maybe a technical classification	yes	yes
outlines the main features of the subject	yes	yes
My main paragraphs:
have sub-headings where helpful	yes	yes
have clear topic sentences  (topic and main point)	yes	yes
are organised so that each paragraph is about a different aspect of the subject	yes	yes
give detailed information (factual descriptions)	yes	yes
include specific, technical vocabulary	yes	yes
are generally balanced (have a similar amount of detail about the different aspects I write about)	yes	yes
may have helpful: tables, pictures and/or diagrams to add information	yes	yes
My end paragraph:
draws the report together/sums up my main points	yes	yes
may give a personal opinion; ask the reader a question and/or tell the reader where further information may be found	yes	yes