Over the course of the school year, students collect weekly data about the sun's position at a specific time of day, resulting in creating a figure "8" that shows the path of the sun called an analemma.

Why is the spinning motion so special? Brian Jones details the dizzyingly wide array of ways that spinning affects our lives. [3:57]

This kinesthetic activity will demonstrate concepts like rotation and orbit, clarify movement and direction, and help young scholars understand why earthlings see different things in the sky.

This interactive globe allows you to get any view of the earth by entering latitude, longitude and season criteria.

Understand the rotation of the earth and the appearance of movement of other bodies in the sky.

What objects are in the day sky and the night sky? How do they seem to move? Come and explore with us as we discover the sun, moon, planets and stars! This detailed lesson plan includes pictures and videos of the lesson in action,...

An insightful website from NASA that presents a series of different questions about the rotation of the Earth.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart illustrates a view of the earth from space and how day and night happens.

This activity will allow you to model day and night cycles. A rotating student holding a map (provided) models the earth. A lamp is used to model the sun. Numerous worksheets (pdf) and additional website resources are also provided.

Find out what all results from Earth revolving around the sun every 365 days as well as the rotation of the Earth every 24 hours.

[Free Registration/Login Required] In this flipchart students will understand how the Earth rotates during a 24 hour period giving us day and night.

Students model the interaction of the earth and the sun. The activity is designed for the playground. You will need chalk, but all the other worksheets are provided.

This simulation allows the user to see the sun's arc in the sky anywhere in the world at any time. By changing the season settings the user can see how seasons affect the height of the sun's arc.

[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read about how the tilt of the Earth on its axis affects sunrises and sunstes. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

A slideshow exploring Earth's rotation and revolution around the sun. Learn that because of Earth's axis tilt we experience the seasons!

Misconceptions about the causes of seasons and day and night are common through all ages. Use the information on this site to help your students understand these concepts. Included are links to many resources and lesson plans for...

Learn how Greek mathematician Eratosthenes used geometry to estimate the circumference of the Earth.

Third graders will gain an understanding of why stars appear to move across the night sky.

In this lesson, students will observe and communicate how the stars are in the sky both day and night. The extremely detailed lesson includes photos and videos of the lesson in actions, examples of student's work, materials, parent...

This unit will use demonstrations and student examples to help young scholars gain an understanding of rotation, revolution, and orbit. Through hands-on activities students will explore the concepts of day and night. Technology will be...

A worksheet regarding the axis of rotation within each of the planets. PDF