Students will complete a data table using authentic tide predictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Next, students will use their data table to create a line graph that will show the relationship between the tidal range and moon phases. Lastly, students will analyze their graph to explain how the occurrence of ocean tides is related to the moon's phases.
This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.
In this interdisciplinary lesson about solar and lunar eclipses, students will model and determine the difference between the two eclipses. It involves components of the Sun- Earth- Moon system with NASA resources, hands-on inquiry, and observational data.
This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Departments of Education and ASTA.
In this interdisciplinary lesson about the moon phases, students track the phases of the moon across the sky. The lesson involves components of the Sun- Earth- Moon system, English Language Arts and Science. This lesson will involve NASA resources, hands-on inquiry and observational data.
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 investigate why summer days have more daylight hours than winter days, using data, observational videos, models, and informational text. They relate quantitative and qualitative data to models of the Earth-Sun system to discern a reason for the difference in the amount of daylight on a summer day and on a winter day. An extension activity enables students to apply learning to explain daylight differences in a southern hemisphere location. Investigating Daylight Throughout a Year can be used to provide foundational knowledge for this lesson. In that lesson, students use observations and quantitative data to characterize the differences in the amount of daylight in summer and in winter.
Students investigate the changing duration of daylight in a year, using data tables, observational videos, and informational text. They build off their own experiences with daylight throughout a year as they plot and analyze data for either their location or for New York City and compare it with observations of daylight on summer and a winter day. This lesson can be used to provide foundational knowledge before using the lesson Investigating Why Summer Days Have More Daylight. In that lesson, students consider Earth’s tilted axis as a reason for the differences in the amount of daylight in summer and winter.
Students have likely observed that the Moon is at different positions throughout the day. However, they likely have not seen the full arc of its path in a day to recognize a pattern. In this lesson, students will build on their own observations and previous learning of Earth’s rotation, observe a time-lapse video of a moonrise to moonset, explore a simulation of the Moon’s path, and interpret physical and digital models. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to construct an explanation about why the Moon appears to moves across the sky from east to west, and recognize that the phenomenon is a pattern.
Learn about the mechanics of lunar eclipses with these videos and visualizations. Use this resource to view and engage with visualizations that show the alignment of the Moon, the Sun, and Earth from multiple perspectives and to provide opportunities for students to develop and use models and make evidence-based claims about eclipses.
In this lesson plan, students learn about the Moon's changing appearance and how orbital motion causes the Moon’s phases. Students will identify the phases of the Moon, understand that the moon completes one revolution around Earth over the course of one month, and recognize that the Moon is visible sometimes at night, sometimes during the day, and sometimes not at all.
Learn about the mechanics of solar and lunar eclipses with these videos and visualizations. Use this resource to view and engage with different ways of seeing how the alignments of the Moon, the Sun, and Earth result in eclipses and to provide opportunities for students to develop and use models or make evidence-based claims about eclipses.
Support materials include Background Reading, Teaching Tips, and Discussion Questions. This resource was developed through WGBH’s Bringing the Universe to America’s Classrooms project, in collaboration with NASA.
In this lesson, students explore the experience of a total solar eclipse and learn about the mechanics of eclipses. The opportunity to observe a total solar eclipse in person is relatively uncommon; however, photographs and videos from August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse provide students a sense of the experience. Through an interactive lesson, students investigate the orbits and relative positions of the Moon, the Sun, and Earth to understand what causes eclipses and why they are rare. At the end of the lesson, students create a model to explain why lunar and solar eclipses occur in pairs.
This resource was developed through WGBH’s Bringing the Universe to America’s Classrooms project, in collaboration with NASA.
Investigate how the orbits and relative positions of the Moon, the Sun, and Earth produce eclipses using this interactive lesson. Students will work with a variety of models of the Earth-Sun–Moon system to understand the mechanics of lunar and solar eclipses and explain why they are rare.
The associated lesson plan Experience a Solar Eclipse includes more supports for teachers and students, including handouts and materials for diverse learners.
As the Earth rotates, light from the sun hits different parts, giving us day and night. During its orbit, the Earth’s tilt on its axis also causes the two hemispheres to be different distances from the sun, and that gives us seasons.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe how Earth's rotation and revolution cause day and night and seasonal cycles. This resource can provide background information for students before they create their own models. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.
Students observe representational images and use them as evidence to describe the Moon’s appearance at different times of the month. The digital slideshow provides students with the opportunity to observe and use evidence from their observations to predict and record how the Moon appears to follow a regular pattern of change over time.
Tides are the rise and fall of the Earth’s seas and oceans, and they are caused by the pull of gravity from the sun and moon. Tides cause changes in the depths of the water, meaning that seas and oceans are continually experiencing cycles of high and low tides.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe how tides are created by the gravitational pull of the moon on Earth's oceans. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.
The Earth has four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall. The seasons are caused by the Earth's revolution around the Sun and the way the Earth tilts on its axis. Seasons are not the same everywhere. They vary by climate and region.
The classroom resource provides a slide show that will describe how Earth's axial tilt and orbit around the sun create the four seasons. This resource can serve as background information for students as they create their own models. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.
Students use and develop models of the Earth–Sun systems to demonstrate an understanding of how the Sun illuminates the hemispheres differently during summer and winter. Visual supports (video, images), data graphs, and informational text provide students with multiple entry points to investigating the phenomenon of the changing duration of daylight. This interactive provides the context and sources of data students can use to gather evidence that supports an explanation of why summer days have more daylight than winter days.
The associated lesson plan Investigating Why Summer Days Have More Daylight provides more support for teachers and students, including materials for diverse learners.
Students make observations and analyze data to investigate how the duration of daylight changes throughout a year. They consider their own experiences in addition to evidence gathered from videos, data tables, and a line graph to describe the pattern in the changing duration of daylight from January to December.
The associated lesson plan Investigating Daylight Throughout a Year provides more support for teachers and students, including handouts and materials for diverse learners, as well as information for customizing the data to your location.
The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can introduce students to the concept of eclipses, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson.
The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can be used to help explain the reason for Earth's seasons, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson.
