Key Words: day, night, moon, stars, sun Sky Patterns Desired Outcomes Goals: SKE1. Students will describe time patterns (such as day to night and night to day) and objects (such as sun, moon, stars) in the day and night sky. a. Describe changes that occur in the sky during the day, as day turns into night, during the night, and as night turns into day. b. Classify objects according to those seen in the day sky and those seen in the night sky. c. Recognize that the Sun supplies heat and light to Earth. SKCS1. Students will be aware of the importance of curiosity, honesty, openness, and skepticism in science and will exhibit these traits in their own efforts to understand how the world works. a. Raise questions about the world around you and be willing to seek answers to some of the questions by making careful observations (5 senses) and trying things out. SKCS5. Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly. b. Begin to draw pictures that portray features of the thing being described. MKM3. Students will tell time as it relates to a daily schedule. a. Order daily events. b. Tell the time when daily events occur, such as morning, afternoon, and night. ELAKR1. The student demonstrates knowledge of concepts of print. The student a. Recognizes that print and pictures can inform, entertain, and persuade. ELAKR5. The student acquires and uses grade-level words to communicate effectively. The student a. Listens to a variety of texts and uses new vocabulary in oral language. ELAKR6. The student gains meaning from orally presented text. The student a. Listens to and reads a variety of literary and informational texts and materials to gain knowledge and for pleasure. g. Connects life experiences to read-aloud text. Understandings: Students will understand that the sun can be seen only in the daytime, but the moon can be seen sometimes at night and sometimes during the day. Essential Questions: What objects do you see in the day sky? What objects do you see in the night sky? How does the sky change during the day? 3
Students will know what object in the sky supplies heat and light to Earth Students will be able to describe changes that occur in the sky during the day, as day turns into night, during the night, and as night turns into day; classify objects according to those seen in the day and those seen in the night; and recognize that the Sun supplies heat and light to Earth. Lesson Hook: Come to class in your pajamas and tell your students you are going to sleep. Put a pillow on the floor and act as if you are settling down. Most students will inform you that it is not time for bed, etc They will be very puzzled by your behavior. Encourage them to convince you why you should not go to sleep (sun is out, it is daytime, etc.). Discuss how we can tell the difference between day and night. What are some things that happen in the morning, the afternoon, and at night? Assessment Performance Tasks: See Performance Task #1 (page 8)- Draw a picture of the night sky. Draw a picture of the day sky. Other Evidence: Student Assessment Sheet #1 (page 7) Teacher observation Venn diagram responses Plan of Action Tasks: Sun Up, Sun Down, by Gail Gibbons 1. Go out and observe where the sun is in the morning. Record on board or chart paper. Return at mid-day and observe and again before time to go home. Have them share what they observed. SAFETY CONCERN: Tell students not to look directly at the sun. Ask them what happens after sunset. 2. Show students a picture of the sun, moon, and stars. If possible, use actual photos. Draw a Venn diagram. Label one circle, Objects Seen in the Day Sky and label the other circle, Objects Seen in the Night Sky. Begin by showing the students the picture of the sun. Ask them when we see this object in the sky? (daytime) Place the 4
picture in the correct circle of the Venn diagram. Now show them the stars (not the Sun, but many stars/constellations). Repeat as above and place it in the night time sky circle. You can talk about the sun being our special daytime star. For your knowledge and if asked, all the other stars are also out during the day, but they can not be seen due to the light emitted from the nearby sun. The purpose of this study is to note what can be seen in the day and night sky. The goal is to make students observe and become aware of the changes that occur from night to day. In future grades, they will more closely examine this topic. Show students the picture of the moon and ask if they have ever seen this in the daytime Yes! Sometimes! So, state that it can go in the cross section of the circle to represent that it is seen at day and night do emphasize that it is most commonly seen at night. 3. Focus on the sun and ask students how they feel when they are outside standing or playing in the sun for a long time (hot). Tell them that sun supplies heat to our planet. Ask them to explain the main difference they notice between night and day (students will usually respond that it is dark at night). Explain that when the sun is out in the sky, it provides light. When it is not visible to us, we have night/darkness. 4. Read Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons. 5. Sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, You Are My Sunshine or other songs related to night and day. 6. Let students help decorate one area of the room or bulletin board as the night time spot and another area as the day time spot. Find pictures or draw pictures of things that they do and see at night and things that they do and see during the day. Place the pictures in the appropriate areas. 7. Sponsor a night viewing of the stars. Many local colleges and communities have astronomy clubs that would come out with telescopes for a star party. Contact your local GYSTC for help. If an actual evening event is not possible due to season, etc., many GYSTCs have a portable planetarium that can be brought to your school. 8. The Sun supplies heat and light to Earth. Engage students in a discussion about the warmth that can be felt in sunlight. Give students a piece of black construction paper folded like a hot dog and let them touch it. Put a thermometer in it and then place it in direct sunlight for approximately 30 minutes. How does it feel now? Where did the heat come from? Sun! You may want to make solar tea outside or talk to students about what happens if they leave a candy bar out in the sunlight. 9. Take the students outside and allow them to write on the sidewalk with paintbrushes and water. Go back inside and wait until the sun shines on that area of the sidewalk for an hour or longer. Take the students back outside for an observation. What happened to the water? Evaporation the heat from the sun evaporated the water. 5
Morning, Noon, and Night, by Jean Craighead George. 1. Show the students the cover of the book. Read the title and ask them what they do at morning, what they do at noon (this may be a new term for many students), and what they do at night. List some daily events (breakfast, nap time, supper, t-ball practice ). Have students tell you the time when those daily events occur (morning, afternoon, night). Tell students to pay close attention to the illustrations as you read Morning, Noon, and Night. 2. Read the book aloud. 3. Go back through each page and pay attention to the changes in the sky illustrations as the story moves from morning, to noon, to night. 4. Go back through the book and this time pay particular attention to the animals. Talk about which animals are active during the day and which are active at night. Have students pretend they are night animals they can howl like a coyote, hoot like an owl, chirp like a cricket, etc. This can be linked to and reinforce the life science standards comparing similarities and differences in animals SKL2a Additional Resources: Branley, F. (1986). What Makes Day and Night. Harper Trophy. Brown, M. (2005 60 th anniversary edition). Goodnight Moon. HarperCollins. Imperato, T. (2004). Good Morning, Good Night. Piggy Toes Press. As you pay attention to the lamb s activities talk about objects in the day and night time sky. Sobel, J. (2006). The Goodnight Train. Harcourt. Usborne Books. Time. Usborne # 3806-2. Consultant in GA, Jeanne C. Wright, dkwright@bellsouth.net 6
Name Student Assessment Sheet #1 Look at the pictures below. Write if the picture shown is of the day time of the night time. Word Bank: Day Night 7
Name Student Performance Task #1 Draw a picture of how the sky looks in the morning: Draw a picture of how the sky looks at night: 8