Earth's Rotation Teacher Resources
Find Earth's Rotation lesson plans and worksheets
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Lesson Planet Curated
Space Science: The Sun and Its Influence on Earth
These videos by Crash Course Kids are an excellent way to get your class pumped up about the solar system. From rotations and revolutions to the gas giants and rocky planets, everything (and more) about the solar system is covered in...
Lesson Planet Curated
Multimedia Discovery Missions
The Multimedia Discovery Missions collection is a series of 13 interactive presentations and activities that introduce young geologists and oceanographers to fundamental concepts involving the Earth’s crust and ocean sea life. Benthos,...
California Academy of Science
Kinesthetic Astronomy: Earth's Rotation
After completing the activity, "Kinesthetic Astronomy: The Meaning of a Year," zoom in on Earth's rotation using the same simulation setup and this outline. Each class member dons a map of the Western Hemisphere and plays the part of...
Curated OER
The Earth and Moon
An outstanding space science PowerPoint is here for your charges. It provides an effective overview of the Solar System; specifically the Earth and the Moon. The slides contain illustrations of the planets and focus on the Earth's...
Curated OER
Earth's Rotation
Fourth graders investigate the Earth's rotation. In this Earth's rotation lesson, 4th graders realize that the rotation of Earth causes the days and nights on Earth. Students break into groups and use a flashlight and a sphere to...
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Earth's Rotation Changes and the Length of the Day
In this Earth's rotation and day length learning exercise, students are given a table with the period of geological time, the age of the Earth and the total days per year. Students calculate the number of hours per day in each geological...
Crash Course Kids
Earth's Rotation and Revolution
Where does the sun go at night? Don't worry, it's just facing the other side of the earth. Learn about Earth's axis, tilt, rotation, revolution, and what all this means for your summer vacation with an engaging earth science video.
Curated OER
Night Here, Day There
Explore astronomy with a lab sheet for fifth grade scientists. After reading a short explanation about the earth's rotation, they solve a word problem about the differences in times across the world. Next, they make a model of the solar...
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Seasons and Day Time
Learners label a diagram of the Earth rotating about the sun and indicate the direction of the rotation and the seasons at each location. They indicate the seasons, the poles, the hours of daylight at each pole, the direction of rotation...
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Day and Night
Expand your third graders' universe with a science activity about Earth's rotation. They read a short explanation about the direction of sunlight, then draw an arrow to indicate which way the sun is pointed at an illustration of the...
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The Earth's Rotation
Students see a model of a globe to watch the Earth rotate. In this Earth lesson, students rotate the globe and shine a flashlight to see where the sun shines and how it rises and sets. They create a diagram and explain day and night in...
Curated OER
What Makes Day and Night? The Earth's Rotation
Students discover that the Earth rotates on its axis in a cyclical fashion. They examine how this rotation results in day and night.
Crash Course Kids
The Ecliptic
Where in the universe are we now? Teach your future astronauts and astronomers about the Ecliptic, the imaginary line that tracks the Earth's rotation throughout the year.
PBS
The Leap Second Explained
Everyone's heard of leap years ... but what about leap seconds? Young scientists get acquainted with one of humankind's most awkward standard measurements with a short video from a PBS playlist covering space and time...
Scholastic
Study Jams! A Day on Earth
It's good thing that it isn't up to RJ to spin the earth on its axis; he can't even keep a basketball spinning! In this video animation, he and viewers learn about Earth's movements in space. One thing to consider before you use this...
Curated OER
Foucault Pendulum Worksheet
Many museums and observatories have a Foucault pendulum set up to demonstrate Earth's rotation upon an axis. This learning exercise would be especially valuable if you happen upon one of these displays during a field trip. You could also...
Curated OER
Why do Stars Rise in the East?
In this stars rise in the east instructional activity, students use geometry to show how the Earth rotates from west to east and why celestial bodies appear to rise in the east and set in the west. Students draw a figure and label given...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Our Restless Planet
Students examine the topic of the Earth's rotation, revolution, and orbit. They observe teacher-led demonstrations, explore various websites, write journal entries, conduct a demonstration of why Earth experiences day and night, and...
Curated OER
Planet Earth
In this Earth worksheet, students review 13 terms associated with the Earth's rotation, revolution, and orbit. Students find the terms in a word search and then fill in the term next to its definition.
Curated OER
Movements of Earth and the Moon
In this Earth and moon worksheet, students will read about how the Earth rotates on its axis and how the moon revolves around the Earth. Students will then write in the effect of these two movements. This worksheet is a graphic organizer.
Curated OER
Modeling the Seasons
Junior geologists become the force that makes the world go around! With a lamp on the floor in the middle of the room to represent the sun, volunteers hold a globe, revolve, and rotate. Observers notice how the light hitting the globe...
Curated OER
The Earth and Beyond
Photographs and graphics bring the solar system and Earth to life in this presentation. Viewers are taken on a virtual field trip, beginning with the sun and planet placement, and proceeding through both Earth and the moon's movements....
MinutePhysics
What If the Earth Were Hollow?
Man has dreamed of outer space travel for hundreds of years...but, what about inner-Earth travel? Could it work? Young scientists explore the notion of jumping into a hole through Earth and the factors that affect the journey, such as...
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Weather Watch Activity Guide: Groundhog Day
Exactly what do groundhogs know about weather? Not as much as your science students will after completing these lessons and activities that cover everything from the earth's rotation and the creation of shadows, to cloud...