Students will discuss the effects of sunlight. Next, they will be introduced to the task of designing and constructing a device to reduce the effect of sunlight. In groups, students will design and then construct a tent that will keep an ice cube from completely melting before the uncovered control ice cube melts. Students will test the effectiveness of their tents.
This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.
How can we protect the Earths' surface from the sun's rays? Students will learn the nature of the sun and observe its effects on the Earth's surface. Students will engineer a covering to reduce exposure to the sun.
This lesson was created as part of the 2016 NASA STEM Standards of Practice Project, a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
Students will investigate how structures can reduce the effects of sunlight on the Earth’s surface. Students will use recycled materials to design a structure to reduce the effects of sunlight. Students will work in small groups to design and construct their structure. Finally, students will test their structures outside in the sun and record their findings.
This activity was created as a result of the Arts COS Resource Development Summit.
In this lesson, students will design and build a structure that can block the sun to create a shaded area and will test to see if the shady spot is cooler. As a class, students go outside on a sunny day and go under a tree or in the shadow of the school building to get in the shade. Students should feel that it is cooler in the shade than in the sun. Students look at pictures of structures designed to block the sun to make shade. Students design and build a small structure to provide shade and then test whether their structure helps keep a surface cooler than the same surface exposed to the sun.
