Sun and Shadows
Supporting
TEKS Objective
The student is expected to collect and analyze data to identify sequences and predict patterns of change in shadows, tides, seasons, and the observable appearance of the Moon over time.
Essential Understanding
The student knows that there are recognizable patterns in the natural world and among objects in the sky.
Science Background
Tutorial on Earth/Sun Relations and Seasons: Palomar College (Word Document) - Interactive tutorial on seasonal changes and their affects on shadows.
Tutorial on Earth/Sun Relations and Seasons
Academic Technology at Palomar College, palomar.edu
Signature Lesson
Changing Shadows: NASA (PDF) - Students observe changes in shadows over time and develop a sense of Earth’s motion.
Changing Shadows
NASA, www.nasa.gov
Using a Sundial: BioEd Online (website) – Students create their own sundials to observe and predict patterns of change in the daily shadows produced by the sun.
- Supporting Lessons
- Extensions
- Assessment Ideas
- Literature Connections
- Related
TEKS - Additional Resources
Supporting Lessons
The Earth’s Rotation: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (website) - Collection of short activities that use changes in shadows to explain Earth’s rotation and revolution.
The Earth’s Rotation
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, hea-www.harvard.edu
Elaboration Lessons and Extensions
What Makes Shadows? Project FIRST (website) - Students observe and practice drawing shadows, and learn that shadows caused by the Sun indicate its position in the sky.
What Makes Shadows?
Project FIRST, Eye on the Sky, www.eyeonthesky.org
Make Your Own Sundial: NASA (website) - Scroll down the page to download a lesson that includes a pattern for a paper sundial and information about sundial design, principles and orientation.
Assessment Ideas
Show the class photographs with shadows and students them determine the location of the sun relative to the objects in the photos. Ask students to write a short paragraph explaining why and how shadows change through Earth’s seasons.
Literature Connections
The Reasons for the Seasons. Gibbons G. (ISBN: 978-0823412389)
Additional Resources
Earth’s Seasons… Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion, 2000-2020: US Naval Observatory (website) - This table provides the dates for the start of each season through the year 2020.
TEKS Navigation
Grade 4
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