5.ESS.3: Most of the cycles and patterns of motion between the Earth and sun…

Sun, Earth and Moon Grades 4–5

Why it's breakfast time in Calgary and bedtime in Singapore, why your shadow swings round the stick, why the Moon changes shape and why some places barely have seasons. Students build models with balls and lamps, track real shadows and read real sky data from cities around the world.

• Why do we have day and night? 45–60 min

  Teams spin a ball in the beam of a flashlight and follow a sticker 'person' through sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight. They use the model to explain why it's breakfast time in Calgary while it's bedtime in Singapore.

• Does the Sun really move across the sky? 45–60 min, plus 5 minutes once an hour across the school day

  Teams set up a shadow stick in the schoolyard and mark the tip of its shadow across the day, then graph its length and direction. They use the pattern to explain the Sun's path across the sky as the Earth turning, and predict shadows in the other hemisphere.

• Why does the Moon change shape? 45–60 min, plus 2 minutes a night for two weeks

  Students hold a ball on a stick at arm's length and turn slowly in front of a lamp, and the Moon's phases appear in their own hands. They test the idea that Earth's shadow makes the phases, then start a two-week Moon diary to check the model against the real sky.

• Why are there seasons, and why do some places barely have them? 60 min, or two 35-minute periods

  Teams shine a flashlight on squared paper at different angles, then carry a tilted ball around a lamp to see how the Sun's height and day length change through the year. They graph real day lengths for London, Singapore and Cape Town and explain seasons with tilt, not distance.

Printable practice for 5.ESS.3

These pages practise a closely related idea; the match to 5.ESS.3 is partial.

• Sun, Earth and Moon workbook included with the unit

  4 English-support pages, 4 practice pages, 4 readings, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• Stars and the Night Sky workbook included with the unit

  2 English-support pages, 2 practice pages, 2 readings, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• The Reason for the Seasons: Tilt, Daylight and the Solstice workbook included with the unit

  3 English-support pages, 3 practice pages, 3 readings, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

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