Third Grade Astronomy Earth/Sun/Moon

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Third Grade AstronomyEarth/Sun/Moon

• John Heffernan, Ronen Plesser, and Kitty
  Rutherford
• Lead Teacher Development Institute
• June 27, 2006

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Session Goals

• Explore activities for the Earth/Sun/Moon( ESM)
  3rd Grade science goal using materials from TRACS
  Investigating Objects in the Sky (IOBS) kit and
  an online ESM Unit
• Learn inquiry process and additional content of
  the ESM Unit to help teach additional activities
  to enhance the IOBS kit, with more active
  recording and modeling of the observable patterns
  in our sky.
• Share ideas for integrating science notebooking,
  literacy, technology and math

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Doing Science and the Scientific Method

• Five Science Misconceptions
• There is one scientific method.
• Inquiry is only when the student generates the
  question.
• The process is whats important not the content.
• Inquiry based instruction is the only method to
  teach science.
• Using kits and hands-on materials makes inquiry
  teaching easy.
• From http//science-education.nih.gov/supplements/
  nih6/Inquiry/guide/info_process-b.htmfeatures

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• Inquiry Problem-based Learning Cycle

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National Science Content Standards

• Science as Inquiry
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Understandings about Scientific inquiry
• 2. Science Technology
• Abilities of technological design
• Understandings about science and technology

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National Science Content Standards

• 3. History and Nature of Science
• Science as a human endeavor
• 4. Unifying Concepts and Processes
• Systems, order, and organization
• Evidence, models, and explanation
• Constancy, change, and measurement
• Form and function

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National Science Education Content Standards and
Benchmarks

• Objects in the Sky have patterns of movement.
  The Sun, for example, appears to move across the
  sky in the same way everyday, but its path
  changes slowly over the seasons. The moon moves
  across the sky on a daily basis much like the
  Sun.
• The Sun, Moon and stars all have properties,
  locations and movements that can be observed and
  described.
• The observable shape of the Moon changes from day
  to day in a cycle that lasts about a month.
• The patterns of the stars stay the same although
  they appear to move across the sky nightly.
• The Earth is one of several planets that orbit
  the Sun and the Moon orbits the Earth.

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NC Standard Course of StudyStandards

• Competency Goal 3 The learner will make
  observations and use appropriate technology to
  build an understanding of the earth/moon/sun
  system.
• Objectives 3.01 Observe that light travels in a
  straight line until it strikes an object and is
  reflected and/or absorbed.
• 3.02 Observe that objects in the sky have
  patterns of movement including
• Sun.
• Moon.
• Stars.
• 3.03 Using shadows, follow and record the
  apparent movement of the sun in the sky during
  the day.
• 3.04 Use appropriate tools to make observations
  of the moon.
• 3.05 Observe and record the change in the
  apparent shape of the moon from day to day over
  several months and describe the pattern of
  changes.
• 3.06 Observe that patterns of stars in the sky
  stay the same, although they appear to move
  across the sky nightly.

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Astro Unit Lesson Sequence

• Sun Moves in the Sky
• Light and Shadows Part 1 2
• Pinhole Viewers
• Changes in Shadows
• Day and Night on a Spinning Plate
• Earth is Round
• Day and Night on a Spinning Globe
• Tilting the Globe
• Seasons and the Orbit
• Phases of the Moon
• Dance of the Earth and the Moon
• Eclipses
• The Full Dance

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TRACS Unit Lesson Sequence

• Sky Wilderness
• Moon Watching
• Changes in Shadows
• Star Gazing
• Star Guides
• Moon Movies
• Patterns in the Sky
• Movement in the SkyWhy?
• Other objects in the Sky
• Confusion in Sky Wilderness

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Fundamental Elements our Astro Inquiry Lessons

• Teamwork Partnership
• Science Notebooks
• Motivation/Challenge Pre Post Assessment
• Observable Phenomena
• Sequential Learning
• Year-long Project Learning
• Developing the ability to compare and integrate
  appearance of same phenomenon from different
  points of view

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Day 1 Three Lessons

• Day and Night on a Spinning Plate
• Earth is Round
• Day and Night on a Spinning Globe

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Day and Night on a Spinning Plate

• Follows lessons on Suns apparent motion in the
  sky and on the properties of light, including a
  study of the properties (shape, size) of shadows.
• Use a rotating plate with tees attached to
  integrate these into an understanding of how the
  orientation of the Earth can create the
  conditions observed throughout a day morning,
  noon, evening, night.
• This is the students first experience with a
  view from off Earth.

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• By rotating the plate, students manage to cause
  the tees shadow to reproduce the behavior of
  their shadows over the course of a day on Earth.
• Challenge what would a person in the tees
  position see integrate with previous
  activities.
• Challenge Our shadows do not vanish at noon
  (they never do). How to modify plates motion to
  reproduce this tilt.

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Earth is Round

• Actual experience differs from the rotating plate
  because Earth is round.
• Modeling Earth with a styrofoam ball, study the
  effect of Earths curvature on our experience.
• Emphasize points of view the classroom models
  outer space.

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• On a round Earth, up is a different direction at
  different locations.
• As Earth rotates, the part of space visible at a
  given location changes.
• Once more, classroom is outer space looking down
  on Earth
• Challenge find the part of space always visible
  from some location, and the part of space never
  visible.

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Day and Night on a Spinning Globe

• Integrate previous activities to understand how a
  rotating round Earth explains the alternations of
  day and night we observe.
• Investigate the apparent motion of objects in the
  sky at various latitudes
• Why do we use time zones?

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• As a round Earth turns to the East, objects in
  space appear to rotate around us from East to
  West.
• The axis of apparent rotation is the Earths
  axis. This is vertical at the poles, horizontal
  at the equator, and tilted in between.
• The part of the sky always visible includes
  circumpolar stars.

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Review Day 1

• How does tilting and rotating effect a shadows
  size and shape?
• If you are standing on the Earth where is up and
  down?
• Where on the world is sunset, sunrise, noon and
  midnight?

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National Standards vs. Traditional Teaching
Methods

• The Five-minute University offers a proposal
  based on what students retain from traditional
  teaching

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Day 2

• Changing Emphases
• Less
• Treating everyone alike only responding to the
  whole group
• Only focus on student acquiring info
• Assess only facts learned
• More
• Responding to individual students strengths
  needs
• Focus on student understanding
• Providing opportunities for discussion and debate

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3 Lessons

• Seasons and the Orbit
• Phases of the Moon
• Dance of the Earth and the Moon

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Seasons and the Orbit

• Why do we have the seasons?
• Model an Earth orbiting the Sun while rotating
  about a tilted axis to understand seasonal
  changes.
• Northern and Southern Hemisphere, angles, length
  of days and shadows
• Marking the Change of Season Solstices and
  Equinoxes
• Distance from the Sun?

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• As the Earth orbits the Sun, the Earths tilt
  causes sunlight to fall differently on Earth at
  different times of year.
• What seasonal changes would you expect at the
  equator?
• Why are the stars we see in summer different from
  those visible in winter?
• Challenge Earths rotation takes less than
  24hrs?

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Phases of the Moon

• What causes the changing shape of the Moon in the
  sky?
• Moon is a rocky ball. Why does it shine in the
  sky at all?
• Model the moon with a styrofoam ball here
  students head models Earth
• Describing the phases New, crescent, waxing,
  quarter, gibbous, full, waning

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• Moon shines by reflecting sunlight.
• As Moon orbits Earth, fraction of visible side of
  Moon illuminated by Sun varies, causing phases.
• Does Earth exhibit phases as seen from Moon? How
  are these related to Moon phase?
• Crescent Moon often shows a faint completion
  optical illusion?

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Dance of the Earth and Moon

• Integrate all the motions in Earth/Sun/Moon
  system in a kinetic exercise
• Students play role of Earth and Moon
• Explain the missing four minutes

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Replacing ESM Misconceptions

• The Private Universe illustrates misconceptions
  that survive (or are aided) by instruction