The Four Seasons Purpose To understand that it is the tilt of earth’s axis that causes the seasons. Context From their earth studies in grades 3 through 5, students have learned about earth itself and earth in relation to the sun. Students should understand that earth is on an axis and rotates (resulting in night and day) and that earth takes about a year to orbit the sun. There is a common misconception (not mentioned in Benchmarks) of people of all ages regarding the seasons, and that is the notion that earth heats up because it is nearer to the sun. Planning Ahead You will need materials to demonstrate earth orbiting the sun. Motivation The following questions will help you ascertain what your students think about how the seasons occur. What are our seasons like? Development Begin the lesson with a brief reading and activity at A Reason for the Season. Note: Tell students not to follow the "cosmic map" link at this time. After the activity, ask this question: Put a large ball on a desk. Ask students:
Astronomy For Kids - KidsAstronomy.com RussianSpaceWeb.com The most stunning images of Earth ever taken from the International Space Station Indian Ocean Maldives Pacific Ocean Hawaii Aurora Australis, New Zealand East coast of Spain at Night Manam Volcano, Papua New Guinea HTV on ISS backdrop East coast of Argentina Beaver Lake in Arkansas USA East Coast of the USA, with the last light of the day visible on the horizon Earth and the stars Long Beach California night clouds United Kingdom and Ireland by night ATV launch viewed from ISS ISS solar panels French Riviera by night Barcelona, Spain by night Super Moon Cape Cod, Massachusetts Moscow, Russia by Night Sunset off West Africa Sicily, Italy Lake Qadisiyah on the Euphrates river, Iraq Heart shaped atoll north east of Solomon Islands San Quintin Glacier, Chile Crete, Greece and Turkey Nile River Buenos Aires, Argentina – Rio de la Plata Cyclone Dianne forms off the north west coast of Australia Somali Desert Chaco National Park Paraguay Parque Nacional Los Glaceres Argentina Santiago, Cabo Verde The Dead Sea, Israel Rio Sao Francisco, Brazil Sunset reflection in the Caspian Sea
Sun, Moon and Earth Orbits Learn about our planet, our only natural satellite and our nearest star © 2012 This website is produced by the Student Recruitment, Admissions and International Development Division at The University of Manchester World Sunlight Map Watch the sun rise and set all over the world on this real-time, computer-generated illustration of the earth's patterns of sunlight and darkness. The clouds are updated daily with current weather satellite imagery. The Mercator projection used here is one way of looking at the spherical earth as a flat map. Also available is a semi-realistic view of dawn and dusk from far above the Earth, a look at the moon, and information about how this works.
The solar system by Cristina Casas on Prezi
-This game is great for learning about the earth, sun, and moon's orbits.
-It allows students to experiment with different dates and times and how that affects the orbits. It dives into the numbers of hours, and seasons and how that relates to our calendar
-This game also talks about the size of the planets and moons and their speeds, lots of fun facts that match the standards to learn!
-You can bring all students to the carpet or have them stay at their desks. Then create two teams and have Popsicle sticks to draw random names for whose turn it is to come to the smart board. After each game, teams can win points from their representative playing the game. by ajosephik Apr 26