It can be difficult to teach students about objects in space that are far away and impossible to touch. The authors found that reading nonfiction trade books, modeling relationships using everyday objects, and synthesizing ideas through writing and drawing helped their students improve their understanding. An added benefit of the integration was that teaching about the solar system during language arts freed up time in their schedule to introduce students to the complex world of engineering in science class. While designing and building "Mars landers," fourth-grade students engage in important engineering practices such as making models, testing designs, and comparing the effectiveness of different models. Students also create nonfiction books as they learn about different objects in the solar system. In this article, the authors describe the distinct, yet related parts of their integrated unit. (Contains 4 figures.)