Here on Earth

Note: This resource is part of the STAO Grade Six Space Unit User Guide. Click here to access the parent resource.

Expectations/Big Ideas:

• Earth is part of a large interrelated system.
• Investigate characteristics of the systems that Earth is a part.
• Demonstrate an understanding of components of the systems of which the earth is a part.

Description of task:
Students will write a communication response which will require them to use scientific terminology, examples and diagrams to explain a particular phenomena that results from the movement of different bodies (Earth and Moon) in space.

Download: Communication Response as a summative

Write Say Do

Assessment Tool:

Rubric – will evaluate understanding and communication skills
Checklist – will evaluate students’ ability to meet identified criteria of an effective scientific response.

Assessment Criteria/ Look Fors:

• Understanding of the earth, its movements, and its relationship with the Sun and our Moon.
• Ability to express and organize ideas and information
• Inclusion of all required components of an effective communication response

BIG IDEAS
Astronomical phenomena have had a profound effect on human culture. The shapes, relative sizes, and motions of the earth, moon, and sun produce these phenomena: day and night, seasons, moon phases, eclipses, and tides.

SUMMARY OF CONTENT
The earth, moon, and sun are spheres with relative diameters 1, 1/4, and 100. The sun emits light; the earth and moon shine by reflected light only. The earth rotates on its axis each day, producing day and night. It also revolves around the sun each year, producing the annual changes in the visible stars. Because the earth’s axis of rotation is tilted, relative to upright, we experience seasons, because the sun is higher in the sky and above the horizon longer in summer . The moon revolves around the earth each month. The changes in the sun’s illumination of the moon causes it’s phases. Eclipses occur when the moon passes in front of the sun (solar eclipse) or when the moon passes into the earth’s shadow (lunar eclipse) but, because the moon’s orbit is slightly tilted, relative to the earth’s, eclipses do not occur every month. Tides – a difficult topic – are caused by the fact that the moon’s or sun’s gravity pulls more strongly on the side of the earth nearest to them. These phenomena have been used for navigation, time-keeping, and calendars for thousands of years.

CURRICULUM EXPECTATIONS

2.1 follow established safety procedures for handling tools and materials and observing the sun (e.g., use appropriate eye protection when testing a sundial)
2.2 use technological problem-solving skills (see page 16) to design, build, and test devices (e.g., a sundial, a model of the earth’s rotation around the sun) for investigating the motions of different bodies in the solar system Sample guiding questions: In what direction does your sundial fin need to point? Why? In what direction might you expect the shadow to move? How would daylight saving time affect the accuracy of your sundial? How might your model of the earth and sun best be used to explain the reason for day and night? What impact does the tilt of the earth’s axis have on cycles on earth? What does the earth do to cause the day and night cycle?
2.4 use appropriate science and technology vocabulary, including axis, tilt, rotation, revolution, planets, moons, comets, and asteroids, in oral and written communication
2.5 use a variety of forms (e.g., oral, written, graphic, multimedia) to communicate with different audiences and for a variety of purposes (e.g., use a graphic organizer to identify and order main ideas and supporting details for a report about how science and technology can help humans adapt to life in space)
3.5 describe the effects of the relative positions and motions of the earth, moon, and sun (e.g. use models or simulations to show solar and lunar eclipses, phases of the moon, tides)