The Changing Sun

Learning Resource Type

Lesson Plan

Subject Area

Mathematics

Science

Grade(s)

Overview

Students will observe the changes of the sun over the course of a day and then over a 4 month period. Students will document these changes and then graph them. Finally, students will see the relationship between the patterns of the sun and the effect the pattern has on our daily lives.

This lesson was created as part of the 2016 NASA STEM Standards of Practice Project, a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

Science (2015) Grade(s): 1

SC15.1.9
Observe seasonal patterns of sunrise and sunset to describe the relationship between the number of hours of daylight and the time of year (e.g., more hours of daylight during summer as compared to winter).

Vocabulary

observe
seasonal
patterns
sunrise
sunset
describes
relationship
hours
daylight
year

Knowledge

Students know:

There is a relationship between the relative length of the day and the season of the year.

Skills

Students are able to:

Understanding

Students understand that:

Seasonal patterns of sunrise and sunset can be observed, described and predicted.

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Planning and Carrying out Investigations

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

MA19.1.16

Primary Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

describe how the position of the sun changes throughout the day and year.

describe how the length of the day changes throughout the year.

Additional Learning Objective(s)

The students will be able to practice their use of telling time to the hour and half hour.

The students will be able to graph their findings as observed over the time period.

Procedures/Activities

Day 1:

Pairs of students will go outside to a sunny area. Partner 1 will stand on sidewalk while partner 2 traces his or her shadow. Then they will switch and repeat the steps.

Students will be given handout 1. They will go back outside in 4 hours and record how their shadow has moved by coloring in how far their shadow is over their shape, and the time that they recorded it. The teacher may guide this and tell the students what time they should put next to their shadow.

The teacher will discuss sunrise and sunset with the whole group. During the discussion, the teacher will highlight the differences in time during the seasons using their premade chart.

The teacher will create a graph and record the time of sunrise that day.

Days 2-8

The class will repeat the previous steps once a week every two weeks for the next month. Make sure to do it at the same two times during the day. Be sure to have students make a new chart of their own shadow changes using "Handout 1". Help students keep these in a folder for comparison at a later date.

The teacher will continue to document the time of sunrise each day.

Each time they will discuss how the time of sunrise effects the movement of their shadow.

Last Day:

Students will view the completed chart that the teacher has created and compare it to their completed handouts from the previous activities that have already been completed. The teacher should be sure to point out the relationship between their changing shadows (housed in their folders) and the sunrise times.

Assessment Strategies

Informal Assessments (teacher observation, in-class questioning such as "What happened to the shadow?" or "What direction is the sun moving?")

After the progression has become evident to students (i.e. the students are able to identify that the sun is moving and what direction it is moving in), assess students using the directions in this document. Directions and an answer key are included in the assessment file.

NOTE: A good time for the final assessment is after students have completed many different recordings of "Handout 1" and placed them in their own individual folders.

Acceleration

Students may use online weather websites such as www.weather.com to look up the sunrise and sunset times for the days and create their own chart similar to that of the teachers.

Intervention

These students may go out every two hours throughout day 1 to see a more immediate change in their shadow instead of a gradual change.

The teacher can extend the activity over a longer period of time.

Total Duration

Greater than 120 Minutes

Background/Preparation

Student Background:

-Knowledge of the patterns of the sun

-Basic computer skills (including but not limited to knowledge of a processing software, presentation manufacturing software, etc., working knowledge of how to search using the internet).

Teacher Preparation:

-Pre-made chart of sunset and sunrise times of two different days of the year in two different seasons. Teacher may include a picture of the season of each of the days that are charted. See this example: "Teacher Chart Example".

Materials and Resources

Paper

Chalk

Pencils

Pens

Handout 1 (1 copy per student)

Access to a Sunny Sidewalk

Chart Paper (to use for graphing sunset and sunrise time)

Crayons

Whiteboard

Technology Resources Needed

Computer

Document Camera

Internet Access

Projector

Approved Date

2016-01-13

Owner2

alynn