Activity
University of Chicago

University of Chicago: What's Your Slant? Sun and Shadows

For Students 9th - 10th
This fun activity helps you to understand the movement of the sun by studying shadows.
Unit Plan
National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts: The Big Read: Sun, Stone, and Shadows

For Students 9th - 10th
Resource provides a description, questions, essay topics, lesson plans, biographies, and notes guide a reading of Sun, Stone, and , Shadows, a compilation of short stories by twentieth-century Mexican authors Juan Rulfo, Octavio Paz,...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Tracking the Sun: Observing the Path of the Sun Throughout the Year

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Over the course of the school year, students collect weekly data about the sun's position at a specific time of day, resulting in creating a figure "8" that shows the path of the sun called an analemma.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Identifying the Sun as a Source of Light by Observing Shadows

For Teachers K - 1st
Young scholars investigate shadows and discover that the sun is a source of light.
Activity
Scholastic

Scholastic: Dirtmeister's Science Lab: Let the Sun Shine In

For Students 6th - 8th
Students graph data reflecting time of day and length of shadow, and then draw conclusions about Earth's seasons and position in relation to the Sun.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Shifting Shadows

For Students K - 1st
Why does your shadow move throughout the day? Watch this PEEP video [1:27] to understand how the sun's movement causes our shadow to change direction, shape, and size. Also included are teaching tips and how to conduct your own chalk...
Unit Plan
E-learning for Kids

E Learning for Kids: Science: Scotland: Why Do Shadows Change During the Day?

For Students 1st - 3rd
William is a Scottish boy who is learning about the sun and how it casts shadows. Try to help him find out.
Activity
Harvard University

Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground: The Earth's Rotation

For Students 3rd - 8th
Plenty of cool activities about the Earth's rotation can be found here, such as tracing shadows, observing shadows during different times of the day, and tracking the sun's path in the sky to understand the rotation of the earth.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Mn Step: What Does the Sun Do?

For Teachers K - 1st
After a discussion about what students think the Sun does, the class takes a walk outside to observe what it actually does do. They may notice things like shadows and reflections. Back in class, their ideas are shared and recorded.
Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: The Art and Science of Color

For Students 9th - 10th
This series of programs includes hand-tinted archival films, contemporary offerings by local artists, and films created by artists drawing and painting on the film surface itself. Featuring animated, documentary, and homemade works.
Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Scholastic Instructor: Sun Sational Science

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Discover more about the sun when you visit this educational resource. The content of this site includes solar fun facts, experiments, and activities.
Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium:seasons/shadows: Investigate How Shadows Shift Throughout the Year

For Students 9th - 10th
Ancient Chacoans used shadows to tell daily time and seasons. Build a model that demonstrates the changes in Earth's tilt that affect the length of shadows relative to the sun that determines the seasons. The lesson plan uses everyday...
Activity
University of California

At Home Astronomy: Hands on Science Experiments for the Entire Family

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of ten hands-on science experiments for the entire family that will help you understand concepts in astronomy. Make an astrolabe, find the size of the sun and moon, build a lunar settlement, find out about meteoroids, shadow...
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Earth, Sun and Moon

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this unit children learn about the shapes and relative sizes of the Earth, Sun and Moon. Using models they learn how the three bodies move relative to each other and how these movements relate to...
Lesson Plan
Other

Center for Science Education: Eye on the Sky: What Makes Shadows?

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Students will enjoy these activities where they draw shadows, and observe the sun's placement and how its position impacts on the size of a shadow.
Activity
Harvard University

Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground: The Earth's Orbit

For Students 3rd - 8th
Students perform many inquiry activities related to Earth's orbit. Included are recording daily temperatures, observing the sun's path over several weeks, tracking sunrise and sunset times, and angle of sunlight. Diagrams make lessons...
eBook
University of Michigan

Making of America: Illustrated Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes

For Students 9th - 10th
A complete, searchable text of "Illustrated Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes," which was illustrated by George Randolph Barse and others.
Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Making a Sun Clock

For Students 3rd - 5th
Learn how to use the sun to tell time. This simple activity reinforces the concepts of light and shadow, night and day, time, and geographical north vs. magnetic north.
Lesson Plan
University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas Mc Donald Observatory: Shadow Play

For Teachers K - 1st
Everyone and everything has a shadow. Shadows illustrate how three-dimensional objects can be viewed in two dimensions.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Earth and Sun

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this flipchart, students will learn the relationship between the Earth and the Sun.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: How High Is Big? Using an Astrolabe

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students observe and measure the shadows of fixed objects throughout the school year to learn about how the seasonal change affects the sun's position in the sky.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Portable Sundial

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this activity students will investigate the accuracy of sundials and the discrepancy that lies between "real time" and "clock time". They will track the position of the sun over the course of a relatively short period of time as they...
Lesson Plan
Harvard University

University of Harvard: This Is a Stickup!

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
Students are taught how to make a sundial. The relationship between angles and the sides of a right triangle are explored. Great lesson plan ideas with plenty of background information. The lesson is adapted for grade levels k-6 with...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Exploration of Shadows: Earth, Moon, Sun System: Moon Phases Eclipses

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A guided inquiry where middle schoolers participate in the simulation of moon phases and eclipses.