Lesson Title: Reasons for the Seasons
By: Toni Schindler
Instructional Coach: Chris Gibler
Description:
In the following lessons, the students will be exploring and discovering what causes the four seasons in the Northern Hemisphere on Earth. They will be engaged through picture books, an article, working with their peers and hands-on activities. The students will be introduced to new vocabulary that will help deepen their understanding of the science concept. The students will help keep track of their learning by completing a couple formative assessments and a summative assessment.
I chose these lessons, because this is a very abstract concept for my 5th graders and I wanted to teach them this concept through the 5 E’s method. The lessons will help the students understand how the seasons occur and eventually understand how it affects everyone and everything on Earth.
Grade level: 5th grade
Essential questions:
What causes the seasons on Earth? In the Northern Hemisphere, why is it warmer in the summer than the winter? How does the Earth move around the Sun?
Student learner objective – connections to the GLE’s:
62C: The regular and predictable motions of the earth and moon relative to the sun explain natural phenomena on earth such as day, month, year, shadows, moon phases, eclipses, tides, and seasons.
Featured Scott Foresman’s textbook:
5th Grade Quick Study-Chapter 17, Lesson 1 Summary pg.130
Featured picture books:
City Dog, Country Frog by: Mo Willems
Every Season by: Shelley Rotner & Anne Love Woodhull
Time needed: estimated time-3 days
Academic vocabulary words (with definitions):
direct sunlight-Sun’s rays projecting equally across a place on Earth.
indirect sunlight-Sun’s rays projecting unequally across a larger place on Earth.
revolution-The Earth’s orbit around the sun.
Level 2: Engage-during read aloud. (Students will be inferring why different events are happening in the book.)
Formative Assessment-OWL Chart (Make observations from the season simulation from the Journey North website.)
Level 3: Summative Assessment (Construct a diagram of what is occurring between the Earth and the sun during your favorite season.)
Materials needed:
Angle of Sunlight Lab
- Grid paper from attachment-pg. 6 (pg. 7 optional)
- Flashlights
- Skittles or Beans
- Pencil
What Season is This?
- Globes
- Lamps
- Nails
- Tape
- Page 9 & 10 from attachment (pg. 11 optional)
Other
- Class set of article from Quick Study book
- OWL Charts
- Anticipation Guides
Lesson narrative:
Engage:
Students will begin this lesson by listening to City Dog, Country Frog. This book will engage the students by connecting with their emotions. The book will also make the students wonder what is happening to Country Frog and then they will start wondering more about how the seasons affect the frog. This will create a lot of discussion about seasons and then it will have the students wanting to figure out more about them.
Explore:
The students will complete the Angles of Sunlight Lab pages 6-8 from the attachment. The students will use the grid on page 6, a flashlight, and skittles to complete this lab. Page 7 can be used as a formative assessment or for questions to help guide the students along in their learning. Please see page 8 of the attachment, it will explain the lab in more detail. The students will learn the difference between direct and indirect sunlight in this creative and exciting activity.
The students will use the Journey North website to view the simulation of the seasons. While watching this interactive website, the students will complete an OWL Chart to track their understanding. First, the students write about what they are observing on the season simulator in the O column. Next, the students will document any wonderings or questions they have about the simulator in the W column. Then, the students will interact with the simulator to help clear up any misconceptions or confusions they may have. After that, the students will document what they learned through the simulation in the L column.
The students will complete the Which Season is This? Lab pages 9-11 of attachment. The students will use a lamp with the shade off as the sun and a globe as the Earth with a nail taped on their location. They will use these supplies to help them complete the cut & paste sheets on pgs 9 & 10. The students will keep the globe at a tilt and have the North Pole facing the same direction (north) the whole time. They will have the globe make a revolution around the lamp and discuss what they notice is happening throughout the activity with their partners. Page 11 can be used as a formative assessment or for questions to help guide the students along in their learning. This lesson will help the students take this abstract idea of how the seasons occur and turn it into powerful learning.
Explain:
The students will be working in small groups throughout the lessons and will be given many opportunities to share their thinking with one another. After the hands-on activities, the students will be given the Reasons for the Seasons anticipation guide. They will be instructed to complete the left side before they are given the article to read. The students will receive an article from the Scott Foresman Quick Study booklet pg. 130 to read. Once they finish reading the article they will complete the right side of the anticipation guide. Then the students can compare what they knew before to what they have learned. The students can also explain their new learning to other classmates; this should help the students remember the concept and take away their new learning.
Elaborate:
The students will get the chance to use to share their learning. The students can track the time the sun rises and sets in their city and then they can share this information on this website to allow others to learn from what they have observed. Through this activity the students will notice that the sun appears to be in a different possession during certain seasons. This website will help further their understanding of the seasons and also their understanding of other events that occur in nature during these times.
Evaluate:
Formative Assessments: The OWL Chart will be completed during the exploring of the season simulator. The Reasons for the Seasons anticipation guide will be completed after reading the science article.
Summative Assessments: The Sensational Season assessment will be given at the end of all the lessons. This will be when the students can show off what they know about how the seasons occur.
Misconceptions:The Earth’s seasons are caused by the distance from the sun. The Earth is closer to the sun during summer and is further away from the sun in winter. All hemispheres have four different seasons.—These misconceptions will be addressed through hands on activities, readings, and cooperatively learning with peers. The students will learn in a variety of ways that the seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth, the revolution, and the North Pole always pointing in the same direction.The students will also learn that the seasons are not causedby the distance the Earth is from the sun.
Safety: Students will need to be aware that the light bulbs on the lamps can get very hot, so they will need to be careful around the bulb. Students will also need to be aware that the nail that the students tape on the globe might be sharp.
Reading comprehensive strategies: While the students are listening to City Dog, Country Frog, they will be completing a couple stop and jots. The students will be asked what questions they have during certain sections of the book and then they will infer what is occurring. (ex: Why is frog tired? Where is frog? What happened to frog?)
General suggestions for students and teachers:
There are a lot of extensions that the students can complete if the teacher desires (see attachment).
Bibliography
Ansberry, Karen Rohrich, and Emily R. Morgan. Picture-perfect Science Lessons, Expanded 2nd Edition: Using Children's Books to Guide Inquiry, 3-6. Arlington, VA: NSTA, 2010. Print.
Cooney, Timothy. Scott Foresman Science. Glenview, IL: Pearson/Scott Foresman, 2006. Print.
Journey North: A Global Study of Wildlife Migration: Monarch Butterfly. Web. 27 July 2011. <
Keeley, Page. Science Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2008. Print.
Rotner, Shelley, and Anne Love. Woodhull. Every Season. New Milford, CT: Roaring Brook, 2007. Print.
"Seasons Simulator." Learner.org. Web. 27 July 2011. <
The Reasons for the Seasons. Web. <
Walpole, Brenda. Time and Seasons. New York: Kingfisher, 2002. Print.
Willems, Mo, and Jon J. Muth. City Dog, Country Frog. New York: Hyperion for Children, 2010. Print.
Name:______Date:______#:______
Reasons for the Seasons
Before reading the article, choose whether the following statements about the seasons are true (T) or false (F). Mark your choice in the left column. After reading the book article, mark the statements (T or F) in the right column.
Before Reading / True of False / After Reading______/
- Earth always tilts in the same direction.
______/
- The number of daylight hours remains the same throughout the year.
______/
- There are more daylight hours in summer than in winter.
______/
- The light from the sun only hits the earth at one angle.
______/
- The sun’s rays are more spread out when they hit the equator.
______/
- The poles have a colder climate than the equator.
______/
- The tilt of the Earth causes the seasons to occur.
______/
- There are four seasons in the Northern Hemisphere: spring, summer, fall, and winter.
______/
- The seasons are caused by how close the Earth is to the sun.
Name:______Date:______#:______
Reasons for the Seasons
Before reading the article, choose whether the following statements about the seasons are true (T) or false (F). Mark your choice in the left column. After reading the book article, mark the statements (T or F) in the right column.
Before Reading / True of False / After Reading______/
- Earth always tilts in the same direction.
______/
- The number of daylight hours remains the same throughout the year.
______/
- There are more daylight hours in summer than in winter.
______/
- The light from the sun only hits the earth at one angle.
______/
- The sun’s rays are more spread out when they hit the equator.
______/
- The poles have a colder climate than the equator.
______/
- The tilt of the Earth causes the seasons to occur.
______/
- There are four seasons in the Northern Hemisphere: spring, summer, fall, and winter.
______/
- The seasons are caused by how close the Earth is to the sun.
Name:______Date:______#:______
My Sensational Season
After listening to Every Season by Shelly Rotner & Anne Love Woodhull, think about what season you enjoy the most. Choose your favorite season and explain why it is your favorite. You can do this in a variety of ways (song, poem, rap, etc.). Next, describe what is happening between the Earth and the sun for it to be your favorite season. Then construct a diagram to support your description.
______
______
My Sensational Season Scoring Guide
Criteria / Points EarnedExplanation of why you enjoy the season. Ex: song, poem, rap, etc. / 5
Student uses 5 or more details describing the season. / 3
Student uses 3 or 4 details describing the season. / 1
Student uses 1 or 2 details describing the season.
Description of what causes the seasons. / 5
Student explains that the seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth, the revolution, and the North Pole always facing in the same direction. / 3
Student explains that the seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth and the North Pole always facing in the same direction. / 1
Student explains that the seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth.
Diagram of the sun and Earth. / 5
Diagram shows Earth’s tilt, the sun’s rays, and the North Pole facing the correct direction. / 3
Diagram shows Earth’s tilt and the North Pole facing in the correct direction. / 1
Diagram shows Earth’s tilt.
Grammar/Spelling / 5
1or no error / 3
3 or 4 errors / 1
5 or more errors
Presentation / 5
Presented to class
Total
Name:______Date:______#:______
O.W.L. Chart
Reasons for the Seasons
Observe / Wonder / Learned