5.ESS1.3: Use a model to explain how the orbit of the Earth and sun cause…

Sun, Earth and Moon Grades 4–5 · partly supports this outcome

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 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.

The Reason for the Seasons: Tilt, Daylight and the Solstice Grades 5–8 · partly supports this outcome

Is summer when Earth is closest to the Sun? Students test the idea with real 2026 orbit distances and city temperatures from both hemispheres, walk a human orbit, graph real solstice day lengths from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego and work out why a high Sun heats more than a low one. Nothing to buy: just the printed sheets and the room.

• Why are summer days longer? 45–60 min

  The class lines up across the room from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego, each team holding a real city's day lengths for the 2026 equinox and solstices, and acts out how daylight changes. Students graph day length against latitude and explain the long and short days, the steady equator and polar day and night with a tilted Earth.

• Why is sunlight stronger in summer? 45–60 min

  Teams count squares of sunlight under printed beams arriving at different angles, then visit noon-Sun stations and show real solstice Sun heights with their arms. They explain why a high Sun heats more than a low one, what the December solstice means north and south, and why the tropics have wet and dry seasons instead.

Printable practice for 5.ESS1.3

These pages practise a closely related idea; the match to 5.ESS1.3 is partial.

• Sun, Earth and Moon 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

  2 practice pages, 2 readings, 1 word wall, 1 English-support page, 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.

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