Names:Date: Dec. 4, 2003

Content Area: ScienceGrade Level: 8

Objectives with the Illinois Learning Standards:

-Students will learn the orientation of the earth, sun and moon and understand how they effect one another (12.F.3b)

-Students will learn the days of solstices and equinoxes and knowing why they occur (11.A.3f)

Materials: Globe of the earth, flashlight, paper, pencils

Procedures:

Anticipatory Set: Ask the students what they know about weather and if they know what causes it? Have them write down each of the four seasons and make a list of at least 5 characteristics of each season. And discuss why they chose these and if they make sense.

Development: Introduce the positioning of the Earth in the Solar system and explain to them that there is a tilt. Do I short run through of gravity if need be and then move on to questions about if they think this tilt has any certain purpose. Use a globe of the earth and a flashlight to show how the sun only lights one half of the earth at a time as it rotates around the sun. Move on to asking questions about when it’s the hottest and where the sun is during these times. Kids will begin to put the ideas together and realize that the sunrays are more intense during the summer, which is why it’s the hottest. However, then you explain that temperature does not reflect the season or distance to the sun. Demonstrate how the flashlight shines on the globe and how the angle’s decrease and increase and that this is actually what causes the earth’s seasons.

Closure: Give a short post quiz over the lesson’s main ideas and take note of if your methods of teaching made the material easy to understand.

Modifications/Adaptations:

- Use large sheets of paper to cover half of the globe at a time and explain that this is the half that remains dark while the sun shines on the other side

Extensions:

-Have the kids do the flashlight experiment themselves instead of the teacher demonstrating it

-Create a table either as a class or in groups of their findings as to which months receive the most direct light versus those months that get the least amount of direct light

Technology:

-Use computer program to demonstrate the rotations of the earth around the sun

-Use overhead projector and transparencies of the earth in different positions and where different parts of the earth are receiving the direct rays

Assessment of Student Learning: