Motion of the Sun and Earth: Using a Playground Model to Explore Rotation and Revolution

The moon orbits Earth while the Earth is rotating, and the Earth revolves around the sun. This can be a tricky concept for young astronomers. Implement an activity that helps distinguish between the movements of Earth's systems around...

Explore astronomy with a lab sheet for fifth grade scientists. After reading a short explanation about the earth's rotation, they solve a word problem about the differences in times across the world. Next, they make a model of the solar...

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...

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...

Where does the sun go at night? Don't worry, it's just facing the other side of the earth. Learn about Earth's axis, tilt, rotation, revolution, and what all this means for your summer vacation with an engaging earth science video.

Discover the differences between summer and winter, besides coats and bathing suits, with a short and informative earth science video. Sabrina, the narrator of the animated video, talks about the ways the earth's tilt affects the...

After completing the activity, "Kinesthetic Astronomy: The Meaning of a Year," zoom in on Earth's rotation using the same simulation setup and this outline. Each class member dons a map of the Western Hemisphere and plays the part of...

Students see a model of a globe to watch the Earth rotate. In this Earth lesson, students rotate the globe and shine a flashlight to see where the sun shines and how it rises and sets. They create a diagram and explain day and night in...

Who needs a compass to find cardinal directions? Just place a stick in the ground and record the movement of its shadow over the course of a day. Then, measure the shadow lengths in order to determine a north-south line. A simple...

Students discover that the Earth rotates on its axis in a cyclical fashion. They examine how this rotation results in day and night.