Introduction
We have been learning about the patterns that we can observe and predict in the sky! This week we will be learning how we can use what we know about these patterns to predict what will happen later in the sky. First, we will learn what these patterns are and how they appear each day in different places of the world. Then, you will be able to make your own prediction using a globe!
Complete the daytime/nighttime page.
Task
With your shoulder partner, record observations on the page and use the website first. Write or draw what you see and notice about the different places. Make sure to pay attention and work carefully with your partner to place each place in the correct place. After you and your partner finish, you will be asked questions to see what you have learned!
After the research is done, you will select a place on the globe and explain if it will be daytime or nighttime tomorrow based on your research of what time of day it is now in that place. You will share with your table groups.
Process
What makes it daytime or nighttime?
Watch this video with your partner to remember how Earth rotates and causes it to have daytime when it is facing the sun. Make sure to listen closely and pay attention to the amount of light on the surface of Earth.
What do you observe?
Watch this video with your partner and stop the video when you can tell if it is daytime or nighttime. Tell your partner what you are observing that makes you think it is daytime or nighttime. Record everything that you noticed and remember to listen to your partner.
Now go to this website and choose 3 different pictures to view and observe. Write the number next to each observation. Describe how the pictures change and where the light and darkness is.
What do you predict?
Now we know that the Earth rotates in its place, making it daytime on the side of Earth facing the sun. We can use this information to predict what time of day it will be in different places in the world.
1. What makes it daytime?
_____________________________________________________
2. What can you normally observe in the sky during the daytime?
a. Sun b. Moon c. Clouds d. Stars
3. What can you normally observe in the sky during the nighttime?
a. Sun b. Moon c. Clouds d. Stars
4. When the stars and moon are observed in the sky, it is ______________.
5. How does the Earth move and create daytime and nighttime?
__________________________________________________
6. If someone described their sky observation as a bright yellow object in the sky being blocked with clouds and a plane flying through the air, it is __________________.
7. If someone described their sky observation as a medium-bright white object in the sky with small white dots around, it is ____________________.
8. If it is daytime here, on the other side of the world, it would be _______________.
9. Would you expect someone to be sleeping if the sun is high in the middle of the sky? Why or why not? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. If it is daytime now, how would you predict how the sky will look later? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evaluation
Great work! You have learned all about the patterns in the sky and how daytime and nighttime are made by the Earth rotating. Now I will provide time for each one of you to use the globe to make your predictions. When you and your partner have finished your daytime/nighttime page and questions, bring them to me and I will provide your globe and stickers to make your predictions. You will have 5 minutes to place your stickers and provide a verbal or written description of what the people on the globe would see from the sky and why.
Conclusion
Terrific! You have completed today's lesson on the sky's patterns. You have learned lots about daytime and nighttime! I cannot wait until our next lesson on this tomorrow!
Credits
NG Science. (2020, June 30). Day and Night - The Rotation of the Earth. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtRzy2TJAOQ.
Dr. Lapser. (2014, August 28). Sunset to Sunrise Time Lapse - Oregon Star Party - August 23, 2014. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qC7inziKVE.
Journey North. What Makes Day and Night?. Retrieved from https://journeynorth.org/tm/mclass/jr/DayYear/TimeDay5.html.
Teacher Page
Standard 1.ESS1.1
Performance Expectation: Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.
The disciplinary core ideas describe that students must be able to observe, describe, and predict patterns of the sun, moon, and stars in the sky. The students were able to make observations of the Earth and how it receives light from the sun on the area of the Earth facing the sun. The students described what they observed and why the sun is constant each day with its patterns. The students then were able to make their own predictions about where the Earth would receive sunlight and darkness depending on its place in its current rotation.
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