5-ESS1-2 lessons
Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky. (The unit covers shadows and day and night, not the stars.)
The Next Generation Science Standards code 5-ESS1-2 asks students to: “Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky. (The unit covers shadows and day and night, not the stars.)” These Fieldbook lessons teach it hands-on, with everyday materials, a printable teacher guide and a student sheet.
Sun, Earth and Moon Grades 4–5 · partly supports this standard
- 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.
NGSS is used as written in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, so the code 5-ESS1-2 matches there. Other states word and number their own versions: see curriculum alignment for your state's codes.
More NGSS standards for Grade 5
All standards we teach · Curriculum alignment by state and province
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