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 the sun.

Concepts

the earth, the sun, revolutions, the earth's rotation, moons, orbiting, the earth's orbit

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Lead into a discussion or lesson on lengths of day and night, years, seasons, and moon phases
• Use as an introduction to the study of Earth in a unit on the solar system
• Have pupils demonstrate revolving and rotating by revolving around a chair and rotating or spinning in one spot

Classroom Considerations

• Assign the mobile project for homework, or complete it in class together
• Requires some background knowledge of the impact of the sun on the Earth
• Review the materials before implementing

Pros

• The provided worksheet comes in 11 different languages
• Offers opportunity for hands-on modeling, direct instruction, and a game

Cons

• None