CK-12 Foundation
Seasons: Shadow Lengths
Before iPhones and calendars, how did humans determine the seasons of the year? Middle school scientists discover how to use shadows to determine the time of year in an enlightening interactive. Pupils manipulate the sun and examine the...
Radford University
Trouble in the Orchard
It's no fun catching a fungus. Scholars first investigate how the seasons affect the angle of the sun and the lengths of shadows. They then apply right triangle trigonometry to determine the height of trees based on their shadows to...
PHET
The Sun: Pre- and Post-Assessment
Want to see how far pupils have come since the beginning of the unit? This activity is designed to be a pre- and post-assessment for a unit on the Sun. The first in a series of 18 that can be combined to form a complete unit. Two...
California Academy of Science
Kinesthetic Astronomy: Birthday Stars
Space explorers take a virtual trip around the sun right within your classroom! They stand in a circle facing away from the "sun" (a lamp) in the center of the room. As they move according to your instructions, they view different...
NASA
Earth's Global Energy Budget
Introduce your earth science enthusiasts to the earth's energy budget. Teach them using an informative set of slides that include illuminating lecturer's notes, relevant vocabulary, embedded animations, colorful satellite maps, and a...
Curated OER
The Sun Affects Earth
Third graders read, write, and listen to information about the sun and its effects on the Earth.as it relates to its axis, orbit, rotate, and revolution. In this solar system lesson, 3rd graders examine how the sun...
Curated OER
What Causes Day and Night?
Why do we have four seasons? A series of questions about the Earth's orbit and its impact on seasons challenge Earth science students.The second page of the resource has nine multiple choice questions, such as "One year on Earth is one...
Space Awareness
Day and Night in the World
How do different parts of the world experience day and night? Introduce scholars to the concept of global citizenship while teaching about animal behavior with discussion of nocturnal and diurnal animals. Then, learners complete...
Curated OER
Relative Positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun Over Time
Teacher pages for four different activities and three assessments are provided in this resource. Topics deal with how the sun's position and Earth's atmosphere affect the amount of solar energy reaching Earth's surface. The concepts and...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Understanding the Greenhouse Effect
The greenhouse effect is important, for without it, life on Earth would not exist. An activity that includes modeling the greenhouse effect and acting out the Earth's energy balance makes up the first part in a series of seven...
University of Waikato
Māui and the Sun
Using a Maori legend, How Maui Tamed the Sun, youngsters are introduced to the importance of sunlight to civilization. Teach them about nuclear fusion that occurs to produce the solar energy we later receive on Earth as...
Curated OER
The Earth and Moon
An outstanding space science PowerPoint is here for your charges. It provides an effective overview of the Solar System; specifically the Earth and the Moon. The slides contain illustrations of the planets and focus on the Earth's...
Curated OER
Cooking with the Sun
Young scholars explore using energy from the sun for heating and cooking as they build and compare the performance of four solar cooker designs. This excellent two-day instructional activity has groups of students build and test a...
Curated OER
Energy from the Sun
In this energy from the sun worksheet, students are given 20 terms to complete sentences about the sun, the energy of the sun, the radiation of the sun, the transfer of energy from the sun and the currents created by the energy of the sun.
Curated OER
Day and Night
Expand your third graders' universe with a science activity about Earth's rotation. They read a short explanation about the direction of sunlight, then draw an arrow to indicate which way the sun is pointed at an illustration of the...
Curated OER
Earth Science
A slide for each of the planets (including recently downgraded Pluto), the sun, our moon, four of Jupiter's moons, and the rings of Saturn make up this visually appealing PowerPoint. A few facts for each body in the solar system...
Journey Through the Universe
How Far is Far?
The earth only revolves around one thing — and it's not any of your pupils. The lesson includes two activities dealing with the distance to the sun and the moon. First, scholars create a pin hole camera and use the rules of similar...
NOAA
The Great, Glowing Orb What You Will Do: Make a Solar Heat Engine
How is solar energy able to move wind and water to control the climate? Scholars explore the concept of solar energy in the first of 10 activities in the Discover Your Changing World series. They follow instructions to build homemade...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Physical Setting Earth Science 2010
Every topic under the sun is covered in this New York State Regents High School Examination. With the focus of earth science, participants answer 85 quesitons about the solar system, geologic time, rocks and minerals, landforms, and...
PBS
Seasons on Earth and Mars
Winter, spring, summer, and fall—Earth experiences them all! But what about Mars? Scholars compare the planets in terms of distance, tilt, and rotation during a lesson from PBS's Space series. Great visual models of Earth and Mars, plus...
Curated OER
The Water Cycle
Your class sets up a mini water cycle model to examine the process. Then they watch an animation, following a water molecule through the cycle. A well-developed lab sheet guides learners through the instructional activity and a...
Curated OER
Measuring the Diameter of the Sun
Ninth graders study the sun and its distance from Earth. For this Sun's diameter lesson students examine how measurement data permits accurate measurement of the sun's diameter.
Curated OER
Day And Night: Interdisciplinary Study of Cyclic Change
Eighth graders conduct a "Length of Day Symposium." They complete a variety of activities and explorations regarding the earth's rotation, its revolution around the sun and the cyclic changes in climate and energy distribution on the...
Scholastic
Study Jams! A Day on Earth
It's good thing that it isn't up to RJ to spin the earth on its axis; he can't even keep a basketball spinning! In this video animation, he and viewers learn about Earth's movements in space. One thing to consider before you use this...