Tracking the Sun

Students observe the sky and weather to gather data. They conduct experiments to answer questions about the sky and weather phenomena. They measure, analyze and present data. They create sky windows by gluing sky colored paint chips...

Sundials are more than just primitive clocks. Learners build their own sundials to study the location of the sun across the sky throughout the day. They use shadow evidence related to their sundials to make conclusions about solar movement.

Students explain how moon phases occur. They describe and explain at least two common misconceptions that people have about the moon. Students explain what a star is. They explain 3 ways that the night sky has been used throughout history.

Find out why your shadow looks different at various times of the day with a short earth science video. Young scientists learn about what a shadow is, why it grows longer or shorter over the course of a day, and why it points in...

Where does Earth fit in the grand scheme of things? Find out in an intriguing video filled with facts and beautiful images! Learners journey to the center of the Milky Way to discover how our galaxy works. The narrator describes the...

In this first part of a two-part lesson, learners track and record the sun's azimuth using a solar panel. They graph and analyze the data to identify relationships among the time of day, the altitude and azimuth of the sun, and the...

Students study the apparent motion of the Sun in the sky over the course of a day and a year, and analyze what causes seasons on Earth. They participate in a project that has both a science as well as an art component.

Students use a simple model of the Earth and Sun as seen from space to explore the sun's apparent movement across the sky over the course of a day and year. They consider the apparent direction of movement and changes in the sun's angle.

Over the course of the school year, students collect weekly data about the sun's position at a specific time of day, resulting in creating a figure "8" that shows the path of the sun called an analemma.

Students monitor the weather, clouds, and sky. In this weather lesson, students create a sky and cloud window to focus their sky observations. They write observations in a notebook and include the date, time, cloud cover, types of...