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Essential Questions
What objects make up our Universe?
How do those objects move through the Universe, and how can we observe them?
To be successful:
1. Students will demonstrate that change in length and position of shadows relates to Earth's rotation and the period of its rotation.
2. Students will sequence images of the Moon during it's cycle and explain why the moon appears as it does throughout the cycle.
3. Students will be able to identify that the Earth is one of several planets in a solar system that orbits the sun, and make comparisons between them.
4. Students will design a presentation that demonstrates their knowledge of the natural patterns of the objects in the universe.
Engagement Resources
Copernicus and Galileo-Learn as much as you can about these extremely old (if they were still alive!) scientists.
Especially answer these questions:
When did they live?
What did most people believe about the universe at this time?
What did they prove? How did they do it?
http://kids.yahoo.com/science/space/article/copernicus
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/academy/lesson110_assignment2_4.htm
http://kids.librarypoint.org/early_astronomers
http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/ess05_vid_galileosys/
Now that you have taken note of many extremely interesting facts about these fascinating scientists, I would like you to close your eyes and pretend that you are a regulation, plain old citizen of Italy. Choose one of the time periods and scientists you have just studied. You just heard about the ideas that your scientist has, and can't wait to write home to your family about it. Be sure your letter includes facts from your research...and a little fun! We are pretending here! Post your letter to Edmodo.
What objects make up our Universe?
How do those objects move through the Universe, and how can we observe them?
To be successful:
1. Students will demonstrate that change in length and position of shadows relates to Earth's rotation and the period of its rotation.
2. Students will sequence images of the Moon during it's cycle and explain why the moon appears as it does throughout the cycle.
3. Students will be able to identify that the Earth is one of several planets in a solar system that orbits the sun, and make comparisons between them.
4. Students will design a presentation that demonstrates their knowledge of the natural patterns of the objects in the universe.
Engagement Resources
Copernicus and Galileo-Learn as much as you can about these extremely old (if they were still alive!) scientists.
Especially answer these questions:
When did they live?
What did most people believe about the universe at this time?
What did they prove? How did they do it?
http://kids.yahoo.com/science/space/article/copernicus
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/academy/lesson110_assignment2_4.htm
http://kids.librarypoint.org/early_astronomers
http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/ess05_vid_galileosys/
Now that you have taken note of many extremely interesting facts about these fascinating scientists, I would like you to close your eyes and pretend that you are a regulation, plain old citizen of Italy. Choose one of the time periods and scientists you have just studied. You just heard about the ideas that your scientist has, and can't wait to write home to your family about it. Be sure your letter includes facts from your research...and a little fun! We are pretending here! Post your letter to Edmodo.
How can we describe the rotation of the earth? Shadows:
Rotation Animation
Rotation Animation
- We will be playing with our shadows today! We will start by choosing a nice sunny spot on the playground where we will set up a "sundial". The classes will take turns marking the time and the location of the shadow each hour today.
- There is a picture of the "sundial" we created previously on the server in our classroom file. Insert this into a Notebook file, and save it to your flashdrives as "Shadows". I would like for you and your partner to work together to type in a description of what is happening in the photo using words that an astronomer would use. *Don't forget to save!*
- A scoring guide named "Science Journal/Blog Scoring Guide" for the Notebook file can be found on this page.
- Next we will be creating a model of the earth's rotation. This takes quite some time to accomplish, and LOADS of fiddly directions, so we made a video for you to watch so you can rewind it over, and over, and over to create a model that WORKS!
- Video Directions
- We are going to start by taking a look at the shadows we recorded and discussed previously. Let's make some predictions about where these shadows will fall when it is 3 months from now? Six months from now? Add a second page and type your predictions into the "Shadows" Notebook file you created.
- Take a look at this link for the sunrise-sunset times for Joplin: http://www.sunrisesunset.com/USA/Missouri.asp
- Create a calendar for these months: September, December, March, and June. Take note of the times. What is happening to the times, and Why? Add your thoughts to the Notebook file.
- We are going to create a model of the earth's rotation and revolution (orbit). Materials you and your partner will need are: One styrofoam ball, one skinny popsicle stick, one copy of the earth paper, one nail, one flat piece of styrofoam, and 2 marker colors (thin tipped).
- Once everyone has gathered their materials, we will start making the model.
- The instructions can be found below by clicking on each picture..
1. Get one piece of green foam and your bag of goodies from when we made the Earth models. You will also need to reach into the center hole of your table and get out a protractor. Now, you will need to use your protractor to measure the angle of the Earth’s tilt. What is that angle???Image 1 of 6
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2. Stick the Earth’s axis into the foam at the measured angle so that it looks like this…Image 2 of 6
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3. Next, the green person from each table will need to get a flashlight, and the yellow person will need to get three science books. 4. Use a piece of duct tape to hold the flashlight on the book. 5. Now position your Earth in front of the flashlight so that it looks like this if you are a blue/yellow... Red/greens, help as much as you can. 7. When the classroom light is off look for the shadow that your nail makes. Pick one color of marker and trace the shadow. 8. Red/Greens will now repeat steps 6-8.Image 3 of 6
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9. NOW Red/Greens you will need to move your Earth to this position... Blue/yellows you will need to assist. 10. Repeat steps 7 and 8 picking a new color. Blue/yellows will need to do this also.Image 4 of 6
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11. This time blue/yellow will go first. Your new Earth position looks like this. Keep following the directions and taking turns with your partners.Image 5 of 6
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12. Your final position is this... Continue as before, taking turns with your table partners. Be sure that you have used all four marker colors at your table, one for each position that we put the Earth in.Image 6 of 6
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- Your next move is to open the "Shadows" Notebook file that you started before. Using pictures from the model we made-you will pull the pictures from this page-explain what we were modeling.
- Look back at the predictions that you made last week about the sunrise and sunset times. (Remember this page??) Add to them any new knowledge you and your partner have gained. Adjust your predictions to reflect what you have learned from making our model.
Monday, October 10 at 7:30pm Thursday, October 13 at 8:30pm
Monday, October 17 at 9:00am* Thursday, October 20 at 9:00am*
Monday, October 24 at 12:00pm* Thursday, October 27 at 12:00pm*
Monday, October 31 at 7:30pm Thursday, November 3 at 7:30pm
*during the school day
For our lessons this week we will be discussing why the moon appears as it does AND where it is in relationship to both the Earth and the Sun AND predicting what it might look like on the next observation.
Here is the observation sheet in case you lose yours!
Our final product will be totally delicious. How can we use an understanding of the planets' physical features to help us explore them? What makes life on Earth possible? Use this google search to find out. Just type in the question and click on Search! Be sure to organize your information so that others can understand it. You may use any type of presentation software you like. We will be making a stay and stray gallery walk to share and compare information.
Now that you are an expert about life on Earth, let's take it a bit further. Add your thoughts on this question to your presentation:
What might you need to take with you to explore other planets?
We will share this information in the same way as before. In order to decide more specifically what you will need to sustain your life while exploring the planet you chose, you will need to do more research about the planet. You will need to use this comparison organizer to decide how to combat the elements of your new environment.