Section 1-2 Teaching Outline

Section 1-1 Teaching Outline

Book J

Earth Science

Introduction To the Book

Nature of Science: Searching for the home of comets.

Read: p.8-11 Before students read, have them look at the title and questions to see what kind of questions they come up with, then see if they answer them while they read.

EX: What is astrophysics, what are comets, etc.

Discuss: See highlighted questions in the teachers manual

In Your Journal: Discuss with students that a journal entry will be graded with your notes.

Discuss: How to take notes,

1. Put the date each day so you know what was covered and can share with others if they are absent
2. Box journal entries so that they are easy to spot. And title it "Journal Entry"

Activity A-1 (From the Project ASTRO resource notebook)

Predicting Phases and Features

Materials: (for each table)

Lunar photographs
Scissors
Glue sticks
Black construction paper

Chapter 1 Project: Where is the Moon?

Read project introduction on p. 13 with the class. They will have many questions but explain they will all be covered in the following handouts.

Materials

Project Overview Handout
Worksheet 1 Making a Direction Map
Worksheet 2 Gathering Data
Read project overview together and discuss questions.
Activity:
Making a direction map. This can be done in the classroom or outside depending on the weather. And make your first lunar observation.

Procedure:

Divide the class into teams and give each team a magnetic compass.
Follow the direction on the Make a Direction Map Handout.
Site selection will be chosen in an area in which they can see the sky clearly. Go over characteristics of a good site.
Show students how to use the compass and select headings. (put the Dog in the Dog House)
Pick locations and have students determine direction and altitude.
Have students do this at home. Have their direction map signed by parents to show that it was done correctly.
Have date selected for when this part of the project is due.

Activating Prior Knowledge (Section 1 Introduction)

Ask the students what time does the sun come up in the morning?
Ask them what time does it set?
Ask them if this is the same time as in the summer?
What is different about the summer daylight and winter daylight?

Discussion

Even though we haven’t studied the son, moon, and earth we are familiar with the patterns. The way the moon looks changes throughout the year, the length of daylight changes. In this chapter we are going to learn why this occurs.

Anticipatory Set

Discover: Why Does the Earth have Day and Night?

Items used: Lamp or flashlight. Globe

Procedure: Follow steps in the book on p14 J

Assignment: Answer the questions in think it over.

Key points: One turn of the globe is a day (Rotation)

One orbit around the sun is a year and this is called a (revolution) Assign Reading

Go over "Guide for Reading" and "Reading Strategies" p. 14 J

Reading Assignment: Section 1-1

Objectives: The student will be able to…

Explain what causes day and night
Explain what causes the cycle of the seasons

Presentation:

Have them take a minute and read the first paragragh on p. 14 J.
Why did early people like the Egypt study the sky?
Why do you need to know when to plant or harvest crops?
What if you plant too soon?
Too late?
Harvest too late?
Today we study the sky for other reasons.
What are some reason do you think we study it now?
Astronomy: is the study of the moon, Earth, sun stars and all objects in space.

(Discuss about not memorizing definitions, but knowing them in your own words to describe to someone else).

To early Astronomers it seemed as if the sun and the moon moved across the sky and that we were standing still.
We now know that the earth spins and this daily spin makes it appear as if the sun and moon move across the sky each day.

Rotation: The Earth moon sun and all the planets spin like tops along an imaginary line called and Axis.

Axis: an imaginary point or line around which an object spins/rotates.

Demonstrate: with a top, and point out the axis.

On one end of the Earth the north the axis points at the North Star Polaris. P. 50
Each spin of the earth is call a rotation. (Tires Rotate on an Axle)
On the equator (Where is that?) (Where is it on the top?) the earth spins at 1,600 Kilometers per hour.
Faster that the fastest jet. Or 444m in a second. That’s almost 5 football fields in one second.
How long does it take the earth to make one complete turn at 1600 km/hr? 24 hours
One rotation of the Earth is a day and this rotation causes day and night.
Since sunlight can’t reach the side of the earth that is away from the sun that side has night.

Revolution: As the earth makes it’s daily rotation, it is also moving around the sun. This movement is called a revolution and a revolution takes a year. The path it takes as it revolves around the sun is called it’s orbit. "What is the difference between a revolution and an orbit?" An orbit is the path the earth takes, the revolution is where it is going. Often people use them interchangeably.

Social Studies Tie in

Calendars: Every culture that depends on the seasons for survival has come up with ways to determine the length of a year. These methods are called calendars.

Look at the time line on pp. 16 – 17 J
Each one shows different methods that use the sky to track time. (Make Calanders)
Discuss each.
Britian Stone henge used the longest day of the year to determine the length of a year (Show how a pillar is used to mark the longest day)
China used the Cycles of the planets
Egypt used the Star such a Sirius.
Mayas by the motion of the sun and planets
Native Americans, the rising and setting of several bright stars.

From these methods, how long is a year? 365 days and ¼ or .25. SO if we go 365 days for 3 years and then 366 days for the fourth year, our calendar stays accurate. This 366 day year is known as leap year. And the extra day is added in February 28, 29

Seasons on Earth Temperature and Latitude

Materials: Flash light, Buzzer, Board or paper Overhead projector, Clay, Solar cell, Sizzors, Magnifying glass
What is the biggest difference that you notice between summer and winter?
The temperature.
What is the major difference between the equator and the poles? The temperature.
What do you think causes the change in temperature from the poles to the equator ?
The amount of sun light.
If the sun is about the same distance from the earth all the time, and it always shines on the earth the same all the time, how could the equator and the poles get different amount of light.?

Demonstration

Flashlight on Paper

Draw a diagram on the board like figure 2 on page 18 J.
Say that we will look at the amount of light hitting each section of the earth like the beams of a flashlight.
Shine the flashlight on a piece of paper with it held vertical.
Have a student outline the light spot made by the flashlight.
Have another student cut it out
Now tilt the board with the and do the same.
Compare the two cut out sections of paper and see how one takes up much more space.
Discuss how this shows that the same amount of light is spread over a larger area.

Clay discs

Now give each student a small bead of clay.
Tell them to make a disc about the same size as a quarter
Now make it the same size as a silver dollar, they will see that it is much thinner or weaker. Just as the sunlight is.

Magnifying Glass

Discuss a magnifying glass and how the it always has the sdame amount of light, but as you force it into a smaller area it gets stronger.

Solar Buzzer

Or get a solar panel hooked up to a buzzer and an overhead projector. Do it at different angles to the light and see how much an effect it has on the sound of a buzzer.

Discussion:

That explains why the poles are cooler than the equator.

Why does the earth get warmer and cooler during the seasons?

Earth’s Tilted Axis

The earth tilts like a top with on axis always pointed at the North Star.
As the earth Revolves around the sun sometimes the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun, other times away. (Demonstrate with a globe or ball)
This causes sunlight to fall more directly on that part of the earth causing it to be warmer.
What happens to the opposite pole? The reverse so seasons in the southern hemisphere are the opposite of the seasons in the northern hemisphere.
The amount it moves is 23.5 degrees. So the altitude of the sun in the sky changes 23.5 degrees

DEMO

Do the hand altitude example from our Latitude around 35 degrees

(see figures).

The more intense light causes a change in summer temperature but also the length of the day changes also.

DEMO Use a length of string to so the different distances the sun travels through the sky at Winter latitude, Spring Latitude and Summer Latitude

Special Times in our Revolution: Cultural Tie In

Winter Solstice: get shorter and the sun gets further south as if it is leaving. And if you’re a culture that depends on the sun for crops it is a scary thought that it may not come back. You may sacrifice animals to please the sun God etc. Or give offerings. Then about Dec 21 or so it doesn’t appear to being going south anymore, after a couple of days your sure it is starting to come back, so by December 25 you are sure it is returning and you celebrate. The Solstice celebration.
Vernal Equinox: The days slowly get longer and longer the earth begins to warm and finally the days are as long as the nights. This is the equinox the time of equal days and equal nights around March 21. Early Cultures celebrated this season as a time of planting a time of birth and a time of coming back from the dead. Bulbs bloom and the earth begins to come alive again.
Summer Solstice: The longest day of the year June 21. The sun has continued to get higher and higher in the sky but at this point it stops and slowly begins to move south again. Some cultures celebrate this but it is a busy time of maintaining crops, weeding etc. The only Major day around this time of year is my birthday.
Autumnal equinox. September 23. Again the days get shorter and shorter and at this point we have equal days and nights again. People celebrate the success of their crops and the beginning of the harvest season. Feasting on the excess of the summer is begun and the preparation for the long win begins. A season of thanks for good crops good harvests. Time for Migration (Thanksgiving Octoberfest Fall Festivals Farmers Fairs)

Assignment: Review and Reinforce worksheet Complete the Review and Reinforce Worksheet and the enrich worksheet.