Curated OER
DASH Sunrise and Sunset/ Seasons Chart
Second graders rotate as the person to enter the information of sunrise and sunset into a spreadsheet. The teacher also demonstrates how to convert the spreadsheet into a chart.
Curated OER
How Can a Spacecraft Always Face the Sun?
Students determine the correct orbital path for a satellite that collects data about the sun so that its view of the sun never be obstructed by the Earth.
Curated OER
How Far Away is SOHO?
Students create a scale model of the Earth and the sun that demonstrates where the SOHO satellite is in relation to the Earth.
Curated OER
Astronomy With a Stick
Students find the altitude of the Sun at 10 A.M., at solar noon, and at 2 P.M. by measuring the height of the gnomon and the length of the shadow at each time. They record the measurements in their notebooks for later conversion.
Curated OER
May Earth be Revolving around the Sun?
Ninth graders explore how Aristarchus used the position of the half-full Moon to estimate the distance to the Sun, and how he made a great error, but still figured out that the Sun is much larger than Earth.
Curated OER
Day and Night
Learners discuss why day and night occur after visualizing a teacher-led demonstration.
Curated OER
Six Insect Legs
Students observe and discuss the sun's position in the sky. They explore the number six, read various number books, and create the number six page for a counting book.
Curated OER
How Can the Little Moon Hide the Giant Sun? Exploring Size and Distance
Students compare two objects at different distances. They explore the concept that distance affects how we perceive the size of objects.
Curated OER
Stargazers and Skywatchers
Students observe the daily motions of the sun and relate them to the functions of a sundial. They determine the locations of sunrises and sunsets and determine how the elevation of the sun effects temperature.
Curated OER
Cooler in the Shadows
Students explore how the amount of sunlight and heat change in areas that are shaded.
Curated OER
Stargazers and Skywatchers
Learners are introduced to the apparent motion of the Sun across the sky and the way it changes in summer and winter.
Curated OER
Seeing The Sun In A New Light
Learners examine the observation of "coronal holes," by x-rays, also about related fast streams and moderate magnetic storms that recur at 27 day intervals. They study NASA'S great observatories.
Curated OER
The Sundial
High schoolers explain the design, principle and orientation of a sundial, the type with a gnomon pointing towards the pole of the heavens. They construct a model sundial from paper.
Curated OER
Exploring the Sun's Role in Living Systems
Students create graphic organizer webs that illustrate their thinking about seasonal physical and biological changes caused by changes in sunlight. They identify the central role of sunlight in living systems.
Curated OER
Take a Spin Through the Solar System
Second graders participate in a variety of activities to explore the Solar System in this unit.
Curated OER
Tracking Sunrise and Sunset
Students collect, record, and graph the sunrise and sunset times. They explain how the relationship between the tilt of Earth's axis and its yearly orbit around the sun produces the seasons.
Curated OER
Investigation 3 - What is Moonlight?
Third graders observe a demonstration explaining that the moon reflects sunlight in ordr to shine.
Curated OER
Sunrise/Sunset
Students apply data from a weather-related website to predict patterns in the sunrise and sunset.
Curated OER
Where Does My Energy Come From?
Students gain an understanding that the Sun is the source of all energy. With a partner, they examine various web sites to explore food chains and food webs, later sharing their findings with the class.
Curated OER
How Are Magnetic Fields Related To Sunspots?
Students discover that sunspots are the result of intense magnetic forces on the photosphere of the sun by observing images from the SOHO satellite.
Curated OER
Bouncing Sunlight
Third graders use flashlights and balls to demonstrate how the light bounces off of the sun and reflects onto the moon. They record their observations in a journal.
Curated OER
Sunrise and Sunset - Graph of Daily Solar Radiation
Students use a graph of daily solar radiation to determine the times of sunrise and sunset. They also compare how sunrise, sunset, and the length of the day changes with latitude and longitude.
Curated OER
Sun Prints
Young scholars use coins to help them explore the sun as a source of renewable energy. They go outside in the sunshine and make a design by placing coins on their piece of black construction paper.