Environmental Science Activities Manual: 3-5

Earth and Space Science Space Science B3.00
Unifying Concepts of Science Change 2.5 a

As connector 3J3.00 in the Science Activities Manual: K-8
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CURRICULAR CORRELATIONS

GRADE: ESAM: 3-5

CONTENT STANDARD: Earth and Space Science

CONTENT TOPIC: Space Science

CONCEPT: Day and night result from the rotation of the earth.

CONTENT OBJECTIVE: B3.00 To understand the relationship of the earth and sun in changing from day to night

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES: The learner will:

    3.01 understand that day and night are caused by the rotation of the earth.
OUTLINE OF CONTENT:
    I. Day and night caused by rotation of earth

TN COMPONENT OF SCIENCE: Unifying Concepts of Science

TN GOAL:

    To enable students to acquire scientific knowledge by applying concepts, theories, principles and laws from life/environmental, physical, and earth/space science.
TN THEME:
    2.5 CHANGE - Interactions within and among systems may result in changes in the properties, position, movement, form, or function of systems.
TN STANDARD(S): The learner will understand that:
    2.5a Everything is constantly changing; rates of change vary over a wide scale with a great variety in patterns of change.

    BENCHMARK: Things change in consistent, inconsistent, and repetitive ways. Some features may stay the same while others change.

CLASSROOM CONNECTORS

TIME REQUIRED:

    One and one-half hours
MATERIALS:
    Globe, slide projector, flashlight, dictionary
SET:
    Think for a minute about your bedtime. If there were no one to tell you the time, how would you know when to go to bed? Tell your neighbor. (It gets dark at night.)
INSTRUCTION:
    (Teacher holds up globe in front of class.) Day and night are occurring at the same time on opposite sides of the globe.
ACTIVE PARTICIPATION:
    Select a small group of children. Instruct them to link arms to form a circle for this activity. Darken the room as much as possible and shine the projector light on them. The children participating in the demonstration should look directly ahead of them as they slowly move around the circle. (Tell them not to turn their heads. Caution them to not look directly at the light because it might hurt their eyes.) What happens as you turn? (Some of the time they can see the light, sometimes they cannot see it.) Point out that there are always children in the light. Stress the idea that the light is still shining even when they cannot see it.

      1. Shine a flashlight on the globe. This area where the light is shining is having day. The opposite side of the world is experiencing night. Find Tennessee. Shine the light on Tennessee. Say that we are having day now. Locate five or more countries on the other side of the world that are having night. (Students should list these on notebook paper. The teacher could read off the correct answers. Students grade and correct their papers.)

      (2. The students will use a dictionary. They will write definitions for the following words: sun, day, night, and rotate.)

CLOSURE:
    Today, boys and girls, we have discussed what causes us to have day and night. Tell your neighbor what causes this. (response - the rotation of the earth) If we are having night, the other side of the world is having ___. (Say answer "day" together) (Teacher needs to emphasize again that this rotation occurs once every 24 hours and that the earth is always moving even though we do not feel the movement.

    (The student will draw two pictures depicting day and night. Divide the paper into two columns. Sketch the earth and put a star where the U.S.A. is located. Draw the sun shining directly on the U.S. There should be a caption underneath saying, THIS DIAGRAM SHOWS DAY IN THE U.S.A. The other picture should show the sun shining on the opposite side of the world. The U.S. should be sketched facing outward from the sun. The caption should read: THIS DIAGRAM SHOWS NIGHT IN THE U.S.A.)

ENRICHMENT:
    (1. Set a date for a special "star gazing" night. Invite parents and students. Use the telescope to see heavenly bodies more closely.

    2. Have students research Galileo to see what important contributions he made to the study of the heavenly bodies.)

SCIENTIST CONNECTION:
    Galileo Galilei was born in Italy in 1564. He was a scientist who created the best telescope of his time. Telescope means "far-seeing" in Latin. He was the first person to systematically study the sky through a telescope.

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