Timothy Steele's poem, "Toward the Winter Solstice," offers scholars an opportunity to consider what poets and scientists could learn from each other's work. First, learners examine a NASA image of a star-forming region in the Orion...

Students understand how holidays revolve all around light. In this winter holidays lesson plan, students find the similarities and differences between the winter holidays. Students discuss the winter solstice and how it relates to the...

What can shadows tell us about the changing season? Over several months, astronomy learners record length and position of an outdoor object's shadow, such as a flagpole. They apply the data to a growing hypothesis and note the...

How can December 21 be the shortest day of the year when all days are 24 hours long? Pupils see how to build a model showing the differences between winter and summer solstices and equinoxes. Using this model, classes can then discuss...

Compare surface temperatures when the solstice occurs in the different hemispheres. Young scientists draw conclusions from their investigation of data collected using spreadsheets and a globe.

Fourth graders discover the patterns that create summer and winter storms. Working in groups, they create model storms for summer and winter. Students discuss the reasons why summer storms and winter storms are different and explain...

The sun will continue to rise in the east and set in the west, no matter what. The first lesson in a series of eight introduces the class to solar angles. It makes connections between a person's latitude and the angle of position of the...

Learn about polar bears and the Arctic circle with a lesson about the countries and conditions of the region. After examining how the area differs from Antarctica, kids explore climates, animals, and geographical position...

Students identify how the tilt and position of the Earth causes the seasons. After a discussion of the seasons and when they begin. Using themselves as the objects in the universe, they role play how the rotational movement of the...

Pupils read an article about Winter Solstice celebrations. They consider the symbolism of evergreens in winter and how different cultures have used evergreens in winter celebrations throughout history.

Students investigate the traditions associated with winter holidays. They examine why most of the holidays are associated with light. They examine the origins and customs of these holidays before creating an original holiday.

Middle schoolers identify the dates of the solstices and equinoxes and how they relate to the various seasons on Earth. After discussing how the solstice and equinox affect the seasons, students use their bodies to demonstrate the how...

Winter, spring, summer, and fall—take the learning of the seasons beyond the elementary level to the middle school classroom. Curious learners begin by watching videos about the seasons and the rotation of planet Earth. Then,...

Discover the change of the seasons by modeling the Earth-Sun system. Learners model the orbit of the Earth around the sun and explore how and why the patterns of winter and summer occur.

Students engage in a lesson plan that investigates finding the dates of the solstices and equinoxes. They define the terms related to the concept and conduct research in order to explain the physical occurrences. They also relate to how...

Sixth graders use Internet research to find out about holidays based on the winter solstice, Christmas, and Christmas traditions around the world. They create a PowerPoint presentation about what they learned.

Fourth graders explore the earth's revolution around the sun and the changes in weather that follow this motion.

Students study customs of various winter holidays. In this holiday lesson, students read the book The Reasons for the Seasons and complete a winter glyph. Students use graphing software to create a chart of the holidays that are celebrated.

Third graders investigate why the seasons occur throughout the year. They read a traditional wisdom story pertaining to the seasons. They create their own wisdom stories about the seasons and act them out for the class.

Fourth graders graph the number of daylight hors throughout the year and examine why day length varies. They discover that seasonal changes and latitude on Earth affect the number of hours of daylight in each day. Students listen to...

Experiment with light and dark in a series of interactive activities that lead up to reading and writing poetry. Class members have the opportunity to observe their feelings while sitting in the light and dark and to play with shadow...

Students familiarize themselves with the Arctic Circle by locating it on a globe and wall map. They discuss they climate in the North Pole and the reasons for its low temperatures. They compare and contrast the climates of the Arctic...

Students are introduced to the celestial sphere, describing its apparent rotation and the special role of the pole star.

Young scholars answer questions for each of the graphs and record their answers on the Student Observation Sheet. They use the data they have collected, hypothesize which graph represents which month of the year using each graph. They...