First graders investigate plant growth and examine what factors contribute to plant growth. They keep a class chart of plant growth and write about and illustrate their conclusions.

Students sing the Rap of the Solar System, view pictures of the planets, and calculate their weights and ages on all the planets and the sun. They create a presentation comparing themselves with a planet or object in the solar system.

Students calculate and measure the diameter of the sun. They construct a meter stick instrument, calculate the diameter using a formula, and compare the measurement with the accepted scientific measurement.

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.

Middle schoolers 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.

Students create a scale model of the Earth and the sun that demonstrates where the SOHO satellite is in relation to the Earth.

High schoolers 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.

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.

Students discuss why day and night occur after visualizing a teacher-led demonstration.

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.

Young scholars compare two objects at different distances. They explore the concept that distance affects how we perceive the size of objects.

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.

Students explore how the amount of sunlight and heat change in areas that are shaded.

Students are introduced to the apparent motion of the Sun across the sky and the way it changes in summer and winter.

Young scholars are introduced to the sundial, its design and use.

Students 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.

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.

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.

Second graders participate in a variety of activities to explore the Solar System in this unit.

Middle schoolers 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.

Third graders observe a demonstration explaining that the moon reflects sunlight in ordr to shine.

Young scholars apply data from a weather-related website to predict patterns in the sunrise and sunset.

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.

Students discover that sunspots are the result of intense magnetic forces on the photosphere of the sun by observing images from the SOHO satellite.