This Groundhog Day add a bit of rhythm and rhyme with 23 songs and poems that put a spotlight on the holiday's shining star, the groundhog.  

Why is that shadow getting longer? Determine the changes in the length of a shadow as the sun changes position in the sky. Individuals use an interactive to calculate the length of a shadow at different times during the day via the...

Students measure shadows to learn about the Sun-Earth relationship. In this astronomy lesson, students create a shadow stick of a Pokemon character and record measurements of its shadow in a data chart. Follow-up discussions guide...

What causes a shadow to appear? Have kindergartners and first graders explore shadows with a fun science activity. After reading a short paragraph about light sources, they draw a shadow for a little girl based on the location of the...

Fifth graders must use a pencil to draw in the shadows they think will be formed by a house, a greenhouse, and a tree. The sun is behind each of these objects, and an open field is in front of them. That's where pupils draw their...

Can people really measure time just by using the sun? Scholars venture outside on a nice, sunny day to build sundials and learn how people measured time 600 years ago. The class builds two different sundials while gaining practice with...

Why does it look like there is a man on the moon? Why does the moon look different every night? These are the focus questions of a lesson that prompts class members to observe and record the nightly changes of Earth's natural...

Students investigate the concepts of shadows and how they are projected with objects different positions in relation to the sun. They conduct an experiment by observing objects in different positions. Then students record the observations.

Do you think Earth makes fun of other planets for having no life? The presentation covers the rotation and revolution of both the earth and our moon. It provides explanations for seasons, tides, and eclipses. Lesson is the 20th in a...

Light is such an amazing thing! Elementary schoolers explore the wonderful world of light and shadow. The lesson is meant to be carried out on a whiteboard. Objects are placed in front of a light source, and learners must predict what...

Students become familiar with different times around the world through the reading of 9 O'clock Lullaby.  In this Earth, sun, moon lesson, students recognize the movement of the Earth and the relationship to the sun and the...

Does the space shuttle have an odometer? Maybe, but all that is needed to determine the distance to the moon is a little geometry! The lesson asks scholars to sketch the relationship of the Earth and moon using shadows of an eclipse....

How did ancient peoples determine the height of really tall objects? Young scientists and mathematicians explore the concept of using shadows to measure height in a hands-on experiment. Paired pupils measure shadows, then calculate the...

Students study the sun and how it moves throughout the day.  In this tracking the sun lesson students create a model of the celestial sphere. 

Students investigate that the sun is at the center of the solar system through role play. One student is the sun and one student is the Earth. The students then show how the Earth orbits around the sun. Students view a flashlight and...

In this light and shadows instructional activity, students find 5 transparent items and 5 opaque items from the classroom and categorize them underneath their appropriate headings. Students look at 4 boxes with shadows and draw a little...

Students experiment with light and shadow. In this light lesson, students look at the relationship between shadows and light. They experiment with light source, shadow size, transparent objects and reflective objects. 

Students explore Earth science by creating a scale model in class. In this shadow instructional activity, students research the impact the sun has on Earth shadows and complete a space science worksheet. Students create models of the Sun...

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...

Take one giant leap for mankind with a reading passage about the moon. Kids learn about the lunar cycle with context clues and reading comprehension questions, making it a good informational text for your language arts lesson.

Groups explore illumination with NASA's Lighting Environment Test Facility (LETF) as a context. Using the TI-Nspire app, groups determine the lux equation that models their simulation. They then use the lux equation to...

Take a look at climate change from another angle. Readers learn about the MISR instrument on the Terra satellite and how it studies Earth. Pupils experience how the multiple cameras give scientists multiple views so they can better study...

How do the moon, sun, and Earth line up to create eclipses? Why do the seasons change throughout a year? The answers to these questions are explained through this series of slides. This apt presentation outlines information using bullet...

Students take measurements throughout the day using a simple sundial called a gnomon. They record the results on a Data Log and convert from English units to metric (S.I.) units. Data points are plotted on the same graph and analyzed.