Unit 3E



Unit 5E

Earth, Sun and moon

□ QCA suggested activities and extension activities/questions

□ Learning outcomes and able outcomes

□ Earth's great shape debate - group activity

□ Data collection sheet - example

Unit 5E Earth, Sun and Moon

| |Extending and enriching activities/questions |

|QCA Suggested Activities | |

|1 | |

|Find out what children know about the Earth, Sun and Moon by asking|Find out what children know about the Earth, Sun and Moon by asking them to|

|them to draw and explain a picture showing how these would look to |prove that the Earth is spherical |

|a traveller in space. Ask children questions about their drawings |Challenge them to find out the Earth's exact shape and find models to |

|eg Is the Earth flat? Is the Sun bigger than the Moon? Does the Sun|explain the relative sizes of the Earth, Sun and Moon |

|move? |How can we show that the Earth moves around the Sun? |

| |The moon is made of cheese……..isn't it? How can you prove what it is made |

| |of? |

|2 | |

| |Hold a debate about the Earth's shape. Use evidence to support different |

|Following discussion, use secondary sources and models eg video, |theories from research they have carried out eg the Earth is flat because |

|CD-ROM, globe, photographs of the Earth, Sun and Moon taken from |when I look at the horizon it is straight with no curves, the Earth is |

|space and ask children whether these suggest the bodies are flat or|spherical because gravity pulls it into its centre, people would fall over |

|spherical. Point out to children that it is only in the last 40 |the edge of a flat shape etc. |

|years that we have photographic evidence from space about the Earth|Children can split into two sides to hold the debate, voting on which side |

|being spherical and ask them to find out some earlier ideas about |presented the strongest arguments. Children can use ICT to produce |

|whether the Earth was flat or spherical and what evidence people |photographic evidence. |

|used to support their ideas | |

Unit 5E Earth, Sun and Moon

| |Extending and enriching activities/questions |

|QCA Suggested Activities | |

|3 | |

|Remind children of the pictures they drew earlier and the photographs| |

|they saw and ask them to put Earth, Moon and Sun in order of size by | |

|selecting from a range of spheres eg football, beachball, tennis | |

|ball, pea, ball bearing, peppercorn, tiny beads about 1/4 size of | |

|pea, table tennis ball. Explain to children that if a pea represents |Use their own models of the relative sizes of the Earth, Sun and |

|the Earth then the beach ball represents the Sun and the bead the |Moon. Use their model to explain to the rest of the class. |

|Moon. Ask three children to hold the three spheres and position them | |

|in the classroom to give an idea of their relative distances apart. | |

|4 | |

|Ask children about where the Sun shines into the school (or their |Ask children to explain how shadows change during the day using their|

|homes) at different times of day. Remind them of earlier work on |own diagrams and drawings. |

|shadows and ask them to suggest what this evidence shows. If |Use similar diagrams to explain how shadows might be different at |

|necessary observe the length and position of the shadow of a stick |other times of the year. |

|set up in the playground at different times of day over successive |Investigate what shadows would be like on different parts of the |

|days. |Earth e.g. the equator, the North Pole. Children could predict what |

| |they think the shadows would be like then try to find out if they are|

| |right using models and researching information. |

|5 | |

|Use secondary sources eg video, CD-ROM to illustrate the Earth |Find information about the Earth spinning on its axis. |

|spinning on its axis. Show children a model of the process eg using a|Explain the earth's movement during the day and use illustrations or |

|globe and a strong light source to represent the Sun. Ask children to|models to show the differences between day and night. |

|show others eg by modelling or using themselves as Sun and Earth or |Use satellite pictures to explain what is happening on the Earth and |

|by drawing or using other models how night and day arise from the |show where it is day and where it is night |

|Earth spinning on its axis. Talk with children about the different | |

|representations. | |

Unit 5E Earth, Sun and Moon

| |Extending and enriching activities/questions |

|QCA Suggested Activities | |

|6 | |

|Ask children to use a compass to observe and record, on several days |Draw a directional compass for their classroom |

|in the winter, the direction of the Sun or of shadows from the Sun |Create a display about where the sun rises and sets using what they |

|when it has just risen and just before it sets. Provide children with|have found out about these positions in their classroom e.g. make |

|secondary data about times of sunrise and sunset and help them to |labels and draw pictures of the sun rising in approximately the same |

|present this data as a graph and to identify patterns in the data. |place as it actually happens in relationship to their school |

|Discuss with children whether it is dark or light when they get up in|Use data from newspapers about sunrise and sunset times to plot |

|the winter and summer and what sorts of activities they can do on |graphs. What do these graphs tell you? Devise some questions you |

|winter and summer evenings. |could answer by using the information on the graphs |

|Ask children to use secondary sources eg CD-ROM, reference books to | |

|find out what a ‘year’ is. Discuss with children their understanding |Make suggestions about how to model the Earth's orbit around the Sun |

|of a ‘year’ eg from birthday to birthday, through all the seasons. |Explain how seasons occur and think about how to explain this to the |

|Model the Earth’s orbit of the Sun eg a child moving round a central |rest of the class |

|‘Sun’ ie either a lamp or a large group of children, rotating at the | |

|same time. | |

|8. | |

|Use secondary sources eg video, CD-ROM, reference books to illustrate|From research draw different phases of the moon on each day of the |

|that the appearance of the Moon changes in a regular manner over a |month |

|period of approximately 28 days. Model the Moon’s orbit round the |Draw examples of what the moon actually looks like in each phase. |

|Earth eg by asking a child to walk round a group of children |Ideas could be gathered from web-sites such as:- |

|representing the Earth so that the child representing the Moon always| |

|faces the Earth. Ask children to describe the movement of the Moon |Use data about moon phases from newspapers to create their own moon |

|eg as it goes round the Earth it turns so that the same side always |calendar |

|faces the Earth | |

|9 | |

|Review work done on the Earth, Moon and Sun by asking children to |Imagine what it would be like to live on the moon. Advertise for |

|devise questions for a quiz (together with the answers). Ask children|people visit the moon explaining how they could survive and what they|

|to pose questions to each other and help them to judge the |would need. Include facts about the moon's orbit round the Earth as |

|appropriateness of the answers. |one of the attractions |

| |Creat data sheets for astronauts about the Sun, Moon and Earth |

Unit 5E Earth, Sun and Moon

| | |

|Learning outcomes |Able outcomes |

|1 | |

|recognise that the Earth, Sun and Moon are spheres |discuss the reasons why people thought that the Earth was round |

|describe some indirect evidence that the Earth is spherical eg ships |use their research skills to help take part in a debate arguing for|

|sailing round the world, ships appearing and disappearing over the |and against the 'flat earth' theory |

|horizon | |

|2 | |

|select three spheres to represent the Earth, Sun and Moon recognising|present models of Earth, Sun and moon to others explaining their |

|which is largest and which is smallest and making a reasonable match |choices |

|to relative size | |

|3 | |

| |explain how Sun's position changes throughout the day using their |

|describe how the apparent position of the Sun changes over the course|own diagrams and drawings |

|of a day and clarify that this does not mean that the Sun is moving |compare the Sun's position at two different times of the year |

| |match their predictions about shadows in other parts of the world |

| |to what they have found out |

| 4 | |

|illustrate eg using models or drawings that different parts of the |using secondary sources explain night and day using correct |

|Earth face the Sun during the course of the day and where it is day |vocabulary eg spin, axis, rotate |

|and night |use data collected to formulate questions about sunrise and sunset |

|explain that the apparent movement of the Sun is a result of the |eg by how many minutes does the sun set later/ earlier each day? Is|

|Earth rotating or spinning |there a pattern? |

|5 | |

|generalise that the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West |use models to explain the orbits of the earth and the moon |

|draw simple graphs and identify patterns eg sunrise gets earlier and | |

|earlier up to June and then it starts getting later; when sunrise |begin to explain how the Earth's tilt affects the seasons |

|gets earlier, sunset gets later so it is daylight longer | |

|6 | |

|state that a year is the time taken for the Earth to make one |explain, in their own words, the lunar month and what happened |

|complete orbit of the Sun showing that they know this from secondary |during the different phases of the moon |

|sources eg reference books, CD-ROMs, information provided by the | |

|teacher | |

|7 | |

|explain that the pattern and time-scale of the changes in the Moon’s |use their knowledge and understanding of the Earth, Sun and moon to|

|appearance over 28 days is evidence that the Moon orbits the Earth |complete a detailed data sheet for an astronaut |

|once every 28 days | |

Earth's great shape debate

So you think the Earth is a sphere?

How do you know?

Can you prove it?

Over the years many people have believed different things about the shape

of the Earth. Some people still believe these things today. What do you think?

Decide which shape you think best fits our Earth, and then try to find evidence to prove this is so.

Here are some examples of the type of argument or evidence you might use to prove your theory is correct.

This satellite picture shows a flat Earth. This satellite picture shows a spherical Earth.

Try to think of at least five good arguments or pieces of evidence to support your idea. Use different sources (e.g. books, video clips, newspaper articles, photographs, satellite pictures etc.)

Astronaut Data Sheet

| | | | |

| | | | |

|Essential information for | | | |

|astronauts | | | |

| | | | |

| |Earth data |Moon data |Sun data |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

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It is imperative that the astronauts have all the vital information they need for a journey into space.

Please complete the above table with as much information as possible.

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Earth, Sun

and

Moon

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[pic]

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Expectations

most children will: recognise that the Earth, Sun and Moon are spherical and support this with some evidence; explain in terms of the rotation of the Earth why shadows change and the Sun appears to move across the sky during the course of the day; recognise that it is daylight in the part of the Earth facing the Sun, that the Moon orbits the Earth and identify patterns in secondary data about sunrise and sunset

some children will have progressed further and will also: explain that the changes in the appearance of the Moon over a period of 28 days arise from the Moon orbiting the Earth once every 28 days; independently represent times of sunrise and sunset in graphs

National Curriculum: SC4 The Earth and beyond

4a) that the Sun, Earth and Moon are approximately spherical

b) how the position of the Sun appears to change during the day, and how shadows change as this happens (ICT opportunity: pupils could use multimedia sources to see things that cannot readily be observed)

c) how day and night are related to the spin of the Earth on its own axis (ICT)

d) that the Earth orbits the Sun once each year, and that the Moon takes approximately 28 days to orbit

the Earth

[pic]

Spherical

Flat

Ships disappear over the horizon. If the Earth was flat we would be able to see them all the time.

Whenever experiments have been tried on the surface of standing water, this surface has always been found to be level. If the Earth were a globe, the surface of all standing water would be convex. This is an experimental proof that Earth is not a globe.

[pic]

[pic]

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