Curated OER
Day And Night
First graders examine how the earth experiences day and night by using a flashlight and a globe as a model.
Curated OER
Knowing North: Understanding the Relationship Between Time and The Sun
Students determine how to find North using a watch and their shadow. In this finding North lesson, students go outside on a sunny day and work with their shadow and a wrist watch to find out which direction that North is. They examine...
Curated OER
Moon Phases, Day/Night
Fifth graders observe a demonstration that shows how the alignment of the sun, moon, earth relate to the phases of the moon that occur each month. They describe the moon's phases after experimenting in a small group setting and recording...
Curated OER
Reasons for Seasons
Students investigate a model of the tilt of the Earth in its relationship to the Sun during the different seasons of the year. They study the solstices and equinoxes, while determining how sunlight hits the Earth with different angles in...
Curated OER
Hello, Sunshine!
Students investigate how the sun travels across the sky at different latitudes using Solar Motion Demonstrator. In this earth science lesson, students explain why seasons change. They study how the tilt of the Earth's axis affects seasons.
Curated OER
Planets
In this planets worksheet, students read about Mercury, Venus, and Earth and then complete 21 multiple choice, 2 true or false, and 1 short answer question.
Curated OER
You Can Die Here – Death Valley California
Students use Google Maps to explore the rain shadow desert. In this climate lesson, students use the Internet, Google Maps, and directed inquiry worksheets to understand how rain shadow deserts form. Students apply climate concepts to...
NorthEast Ohio Geoscience Education Outreach
Hydrology and Landforms
Three days of erosion exploration await your elementary geologists. Learners begin by examining rivers via Google Earth, then they model water flow in sand, and finally, they identify resulting landforms. This lesson is written...
Curated OER
Sun Shadow Cycles
Students use diagrams to review how the Earth rotates around the sun. In groups, they use the same diagrams to explain how the sun shadows are produced and how they differ between seasons. They describe the Earth's rotation and...
Curated OER
Eclipse: Using a Classroom Model to Explore the Moon's Shadow
Students manipulate and observe a 3-D model which simulates the activity of the Sun, Earth and Moon during a solar eclipse.
Curated OER
Sundials: Observing and Using Shadows
Young scholars build sundials and observe changes in shadows over the course of one or more days. They identify patterns in the shadows and discuss how shadows may be used to tell time.
Curated OER
The Earth-Moon System
For this Earth and moon worksheet, students will review the different phases of the moon, how eclipses are created, and how the moon influences tidal patterns. This worksheet has 13 fill in the blank, 8 true or false, and 2 short answer...
Curated OER
Shadow Trackers
Students use online websites to inquire about the cycle of day and night. In this web based activity, students are able to see the movement of the sun and Earth. Students can look at different parts of the Earth as if they were on the...
Curated OER
Waves Through Earth: Interactive Online Mac and PC
Students participate in a JAVA activity to vary the seismic P and S wave velocity through each of four concentric regions of Earth. They match "data" for travel times vs. angular distance around Earth's surface from the source to detector.
Curated OER
Earth, Moon, and Sun
In this earth, moon, and sun orbits worksheets, students will read the cause of four different events that focus on the earth's rotation around the sun and the moon's rotation around the earth. Then students will write in the effect of...
Curated OER
Timekeeping by the Sun
Students measure shadows to learn about the Sun-Earth relationship. In this astronomy lesson, students create a shadow stick of a Pokemon character and record measurements of its shadow in a data chart. Follow-up discussions guide...
Curated OER
Solar Eclipse
In this solar eclipse worksheet, learners solve seven problems about solar eclipses after making a model following five steps. They determine the different orbits for satellites, they determine the lengths of Earth's shadow and they find...
Curated OER
Sundials and Shadows - What Can They Teach Us About Seasons?
Middle schoolers collect and analyze data relating to seasonal changes. They view a video, research web sites and build a sundial to collect their data.
Intel
Plugging into the Sun
What's cooking? A sizzling STEM unit challenges scholars to build a solar cooker that can successfully cook an egg. The unit opens with a study of Earth's rotation, the sun's energy, and shadows. Pupils use a compass and thermometer to...
Curated OER
Eclipses
In this eclipses instructional activity, students are given diagrams of a solar and lunar eclipse. They fill in each diagram with given terms and color the diagram to indicate the process for each type of eclipse.
Curated OER
Demonstrating Moon Phases
Third graders participate in a demonstration of the moon's phases. In this moon phase lesson, 3rd graders watch as the teacher demonstrates moon phases with a bright light and a Styrofoam ball. They answer questions associated with the...
Curated OER
Solar/Lunar Eclipses and the Seasons
How do the moon, sun, and Earth line up to create eclipses? Why do the seasons change throughout a year? The answers to these questions are explained through this series of slides. This apt presentation outlines information using bullet...
EngageNY
How Far Away Is the Moon?
Does the space shuttle have an odometer? Maybe, but all that is needed to determine the distance to the moon is a little geometry! The lesson asks scholars to sketch the relationship of the Earth and moon using shadows of an eclipse....
Star Date
Modeling the Night Sky
Dramatize the stars and planets as they become a visual representation of the solar system in this activity. Young astronomers track and simulate various constellations as they orbit the Earth to learn the position and motion of objects...