CAUTION: Be sure to remind students never to look directly at the Sun. Looking for even a few seconds can cause permanent damage to the eyes, and longer exposure can cause blindness.
Note: In 2006, Pluto’s status was changed from “planet” to “dwarf planet,” so it will not be included as a planet in this unit. The first part of Lesson 3 addresses this topic.
Day 1: Introducing the Solar System
Write the following sentence on the board: “My very educated mother just served us noodles.” Have students write the sentence across a sheet of paper turned sideways. Tell them that the first letter of each word helps us remember the planets in order of distance from the Sun. Give them a few minutes to list as many as they can downward from the sentence.
|
My
|
Very
|
Educated
|
Mother
|
Just
|
Served
|
Us
|
Noodles
|
|
Mercury
|
Venus
|
Earth
|
Mars
|
Jupiter
|
Saturn
|
Uranus
|
Neptune
|
Share the answers with students and have them make corrections as needed.
Introducing the Sun
Tell students that today’s lesson is about the Sun. Have students complete the “K” and “W” sections on the K-W-L chart with what they know about the Sun (S-5-6-1_K-W-L.docx). As a class, discuss what they already know.
Show students the four-minute video, NASA’s Research on the Sun, at www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/NASAs_Research_on_the_Sun.html. Before you begin the video, give students the NASA’s Research on the Sun worksheet (S-5-6-1_NASA's Research on the Sun and KEY.docx). Go over the questions on the worksheet before the video. Pause the video or replay as necessary to allow time for students to answer the questions. Go over the answers with the class.
Share the Your Top 10 Sun Facts resource with students and discuss each fact (S-5-6-1_Top 10 Sun Facts.docx).
Demonstration: Rotation and Revolution
Show students a three-dimensional model or an image of the solar system. Ask, “Why do all of the planets revolve around the Sun?” (The Sun is the most massive object in the solar system, so it has the strongest pull of gravity. The Sun’s gravity holds all of the planets in their orbits.)
Choose a location in the classroom with about 10' x 10' of space or move to a larger space. Have students sit in a circle or semicircle, with the model in the middle.
Insert one end of a skewer into the large Styrofoam ball for the Sun, and insert the other end of the skewer into the Styrofoam disk to elevate and secure the Sun ball. Or use a lamp with the shade removed to represent the Sun.
Place the Sun ball or the lamp where all students can see it.
Place the medium-size Styrofoam ball on a bamboo skewer to represent the Earth. Hold the skewer vertically so that the Earth can be held from above and rotated. Note: Tell students that the Earth spins counterclockwise, and that it is smaller than the Sun. Stress that Sun/Earth/Moon model is not to scale for size or distance. Explain that distances in space are vast and that this is a model to help us see the big picture.
Demonstrate the Earth rotating on its axis. Ask, “How long does it take Earth to complete one rotation on its axis?” (about 24 hours; 23 hours and 56 minutes)
Demonstrate the Earth orbiting around the Sun. Walk counterclockwise in a circle around the Sun and simultaneously turn the skewer counterclockwise to demonstrate the Earth's spin as it orbits the Sun. Ask, “How long does it take Earth to complete one revolution around the Sun?” (365 1/4 days/1 year)
Introduce the Moon. Ask, “What revolves around the Earth? What do you see in the sky almost every night and also during the day?”
Break a bamboo skewer in half and place the smallest Styrofoam ball on the half-skewer. Insert the other end of the skewer into the Earth ball at the approximate “equator,” perpendicular to the longer skewer.
Ask, “Does the Moon orbit around the Earth?” (Yes) “…the Sun?” (Yes)
Rotate the long skewer counterclockwise to demonstrate the spin of the Earth and the Moon orbiting the Earth.
While turning the Earth/Moon model, walk counterclockwise around the Sun to demonstrate that the Earth is rotating, that the Moon is revolving around the Earth, and that both are revolving around the Sun.
Explain to students that the motions they see demonstrated happen as a cycle and that the rotating and revolving never stops. Have students record the following in their journals:
Ask, “How long does it take for…
- the Earth to rotate on its axis?” (about 24 hours/1 day)
- the Earth to complete a revolution around the Sun?” (365 1/4 days/1 year)
- the Moon to complete a revolution around the Earth?” (about 28 days; 27.3 days)
Close the lesson by having students diagram and label the relationship between the Sun, Earth, and Moon in their journals.
Day 2: Using Models to Understand the Seasons
Ask students to describe basic differences between the four seasons of the year. Ask them if they know why we have seasons. Record answers on the board.
Give students copies of The Reason for Seasons (S-5-6-1_Seasons.docx). Explain that the seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth on its axis away from or toward the Sun as it moves around the Sun throughout the year.
Have student volunteers help you use the foam balls for the Earth and Sun from the Day 1 demonstration to model the positions of the Earth and Sun during the seasons. Have the class explain the seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres, based on the positions of the Sun and Earth.
Check for understanding with the following assignment. On an unlined sheet of paper, have students draw diagrams showing the relationship between the Earth and the Sun as it would be on the day they are doing this activity. Then show students a world map and have them predict what season it is right now in the following locations: Brazil, Alaska, South Africa, Norway, and the Equator. Point out each of the locations on a map of the world. If time permits, use a Web site such as www.weather.com to check the actual current weather conditions in each location.
Close the lesson by having students fill out the “L” section of the K-W-L chart with at least two things they learned about the Sun in this lesson.
Extension:
- Students who might need an opportunity for additional learning can develop a new mnemonic device to remember the planets in the solar system.
- Students who need an opportunity for additional learning can assume the roles of Earth, Sun, and Moon, and physically act out rotation and revolution, and the positions of the Earth and Sun as seasons change.
- Students who might be going beyond the standards can do the first activity in found in “A Two-Sun Solar System?” available at http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_sc/hst/HSTLSOL1.PDF.
- Students going above and beyond the standards can research the difference between optical telescopes and solar telescopes and explain them to the class.
