John K. Grammatico
The following section will discuss different subject areas that teachers are likely to use in their classrooms. Along with these subject areas, activities dealing with the Sun will be included. An example of three lesson plans will follow.
KWL CHART
I always feel that the best way to start any new subject is with a KWL chart. This gives teachers an idea of how fast or slow to progress with students. It also gives teacher an idea of how knowledgeable students are with the given subject area. Lastly, it gives students an opportunity to express what they want to learn about the given subject and this makes it more exciting for them.
SCIENCE
The best way I feel to introduce the Sun to students is through the subject of science. This first introduction can include simple observations. After students have completed the KWL chart, I would suggest allowing them to make Sun journals. It would be best for them to bring in a new notebook, however, if this can not happen, you can easily make them with construction paper and writing paper.
Take students outside with their Sun journals. Allow them to make some observations about the Sun. Let them notice the Sun's heat, brightness, size, etc. Allow them time to write these observations down in their Sun journals. This would be a good activity to do three or four times a week. If the Sun is not seen due to a very cloudy day, do it anyway. Let students observe the differences in temperature. Ask them if they can see the Sun behind the clouds. Allow them to record all of the differences they see on a cloudy day.
Discuss evaporation with students. Let them know that the Sun helps moisture to evaporate more quickly. To demonstrate this, wet two different towels. Hang one of them in the classroom and one outside where the Sun's light will hit it directly. Let students record this experiment in their Sun journals and have them predict which towel they think will be dry first. They will most likely record that they feel that the water on the towel hanging outside will evaporate first. After students record their predictions, let them explain why they have made that prediction. I feel that it is always important to ask students "why?" when they are doing something. This ensures that they are not just passively writing any answer. Moreover, it allows them to think critically. After about two hours, let students check the two towels. You will obviously find that the towel in the Sun has dried out more quickly than the towel in the classroom. Let students record the results in their Sun journals.
Here is a quick way to make a rainbow. You will need a hose with a spray attachment on the end. On a sunny day, take the garden hose and just start to squeeze the nozzle so the water comes out in a fine mist. If the mist is fine enough, you should see a small rainbow in the spray. Experiment by spraying the hose high and low to see what happens. Remember that this will only happen on a bright, sunny day.
You may want to discuss the concept of seasons to the students right away. It may take them a while to grasp. You will need a flashlight and a globe. You will benefit from a larger globe. Pose the question to students "When do you think the Sun is closer to us, during the winter or the summer?" Chances are, the students will believe that the Sun is closer to us during the summer months when it is hot and further away from us during the winter months when it is cold. Let students know that the opposite is true and ask them how could it be that the Sun is further from us in the summer, but it is hotter? Also, how is it that the Sun is closer to us in the winter, but it feels colder. Allow students to make predictions, then explain the following. The Earth does slightly change its distance from the Sun, but what makes the biggest difference to us, as far as the temperature is concerned, is how the Sun's light rays hit us differently during the summer and the winter. This would be a good time to demonstrate the Sun's light rays with the flashlight. Tell students that you are going to demonstrate how the Sun hits the United States during the summer. It is important to start using the words United States instead of the Earth because while we are enjoying summer, the Southern Hemisphere is dealing with winter. Turn off the lights in the classroom and stand about six feet from the blackboard. Shine the flashlight directly in front of you onto the blackboard. Notice how dense the light ray is in color. Explain to students that when the Sun's light rays hit us in the summer, they are very direct like this. Since the light ray is so direct, there is no dilution of its energy and we feel more intense heat. Next, demonstrate how the Sun hits the United States in the winter. Stand a little closer to the blackboard and this time shine the light on an upward angle. A larger less colorful patch of light should be shining on your black board. Allow students to make comparisons between the two demonstrations. They should notice that this time the light ray looks not as dark in color. Prompt them to use the words less powerful. Tell them that during the winter months, the Sun is hitting the United States on an angle like this and since the light ray is not as concentrated and more spread out, it does not feel as powerful to us and therefore, it feels colder to us.
When students are comfortable with this concept, move the demonstration to a large globe. It may be helpful to have a smaller pen type flashlight so the light can shine directly on the smaller model of the United States on the globe. Imitate the Earth's axis by tilting it forward so the United States is pointing towards the flashlight. Make sure it is dark in the room and shine the flashlight on the globe. Make sure it is directly hitting the United States. See if students remember what season this is imitating. Since the light ray is directly hitting the United States, the students should recall that this is like the summer. Now tilt the globe so the United States is pointing away from the flashlight's light ray. Explain to students that this is what the United States looks like in relation to the Sun during the winter months. Shine the flashlight on the globe hitting the United States at an angle. The light ray should not be as concentrated, but should be more spread out and diluted. Prompt students to come to the conclusion that the Sun's light is hitting the United States at an angle and the light energy is not as powerful.
Depending on your grade level, this can be somewhat abstract for students. It would make sense to repeat this lesson a couple of times or perhaps make it a center so students can see the demonstration in a smaller group.
When doing science with students, always allow them to make their own predictions and ask them why they are making that prediction. Allow them to record their predictions in their Sun journals and check journals weekly.
ART
There are endless art projects that can be done with the Sun as the topic. The first one I would suggest is to make a large mural of the Sun on a bulletin board. A good way to do this is to find a good picture of the Sun and, through your copy machine, make a copy of that picture onto a blank overhead projector transparency. Simply place the transparency where you would put in the copy paper and the copy will come out fine. Next, cover your bulletin board with black paper. Then project and enlarge the image on the bulletin board with your overhead projector. Allow students to copy and color the image with finger-paints. Use a variety of bright yellows and oranges. Keep this mural up for the duration of the unit.
Another good project is a Sun mask. You can start by coloring a paper plate yellow. Next, cut out holes for the eyes and mouth. Using yellow construction paper let students cut out little solar flames to be attached all around the paper plate. Finally, let students tape on an ice-cream stick so they can hold the masks up to their faces.
A good final art project would be to make a rainbow. You can do this by cutting rainbow shapes out of oak tag or other thicker cardboard. Let students draw six different color sections with pencil first. When each section is made, use glitter to represent each of the colors of the rainbow. It would be ideal if you could find violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red glitter. Spread glue on each section of the rainbow one section at a time. Pour a different color glitter on each section and save the excess. Complete all six sections and allow drying overnight.
HISTORY
You may or may not want to get into history depending on your grade level. I suggest that you somehow try to fit in a little history of astronomy and some early thoughts on the Sun. I suggest that you refer back to the "Early Astronomers and Their Discoveries" section of this unit. Discuss with students how the early astronomers had the wrong idea of our solar system, i.e. the solar system was thought to be Earth centered and not Sun centered. Discuss how the church became involved in science and treated astronomers unfairly because of their beliefs.
Discuss with students how early explorers studied the heavens with telescopes that were much more primitive than we use today. If you have computers in your classroom or library, find some encyclopaedia software and let students observe telescopes in a center. Make sure they are able to see the history of the telescope and the changes that were made up until now.
MATH
Math may be a tough subject to fit into a science-based unit so you may have to use a little imagination. Here are a few suggestions.
Any opportunity you have to use word problems, use words and characters dealing with the Sun. Follow along these lines:
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1. Galileo saw 10 stars through his telescope one night and 8 stars through his telescope the next. How many stars did he see all together?
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2. Copernicus saw 12 meteorites on one night and 8 on the next. How many more meteorites did he see on the first night?
Continue with questions like this throughout the unit to keep math relevant to the Sun.
Of course if your have an older class and you are able to deal with larger numbers, feel free to subtract the distances of different planets from each other. If your students are ready for it, here are some figures.
MEAN DISTANCE FROM THE SUN
PLANET MILLIONS OF MILES
Mercury 36
Venus 67
Earth 93
Mars 142
Jupiter 483
Saturn 886
Uranus 1780
Neptune 2790
Pluto 3670
LANGUAGE ARTS
I would approach language arts by beginning with the vocabulary words that will be used throughout the unit. A variety of activities can be done with these vocabulary words. I would suggest breaking the words up into groups of ten to do the various exercises. I would start by discussing the words with the students and when they are ready, have them make their own sentences with each word. For example, if the word is "star" they could write, "I saw a shiny star at night." Let them do this for ten words at a time.
Another activity I like to do with vocabulary words is to have students put them in alphabetical order. Some students may find this easier than others. Depending on your grade level, you may have to explain how to do this with words that start with the same letter.
A third exercise that is fun to do with vocabulary words is finding rhyming words. Students are given a word like "Sun" and they are asked to find as many rhyming words as they can. I like to have students go through each letter in the alphabet and use the letters that make sense, i.e. bun, fun, gun, nun, run, etc.
Lastly, I like to challenge students by asking them to take all ten vocabulary words and write a story using all ten words. They should underline each word as they use it. This exercise can be very challenging and you may want to reserve it for your higher students.
Use this following list of vocabulary words throughout your unit:
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Sun
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Heat
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Season
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Star
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Space
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Night
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Moon
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Earth
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Summer
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Winter
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Rainbow
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Eclipse
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Solar
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Gas
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Light
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Energy
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Mile
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Sunlight
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Science
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Atmosphere
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Gravity
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Sunspot
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Prominence
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Astronomer
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Colors
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Galileo
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Daytime
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Horizon
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Sunrise
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Sunset
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Rotate
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Orbit
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Solstice
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Axis
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Telescope
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Scientist
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Experiment
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Evaporation
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Shade
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Cloud