STEM Concept: Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles
Earth's rotation on its axis causes day and night
This Storytime STEM-pack includes all the materials you need to engage kids in a science activity that addresses the concept of the Sun, Earth, Moon system, in particular how Earth’s rotation on its axis causes day and night. The activity is launched by using Day Sky cards and the Night Sky card to surface children’s prior knowledge of the path of the sun across the sky during the day, followed by reading the popular children’s book Next Time You See a Sunset. This is followed by a modeling activity, using a beach ball to represent the sun, and a different beach ball to represent the Earth. Children reinforce their learning by matching daily activity cards to the rotation of the Earth and connecting the Earth-based perspective and the space-based perspective using the Sun’s Path Across the Sky and the Day and Night concept card. Included in this set, you'll find:
- Detailed instructions (i.e., lesson plan) for the learning activities
- A set of a beautifully illustrated Day Sky cards (morning, noon, evening) and a Night Sky card (8.5x11)
- Yellow beach ball and Earth beach ball to represent the sun and Earth
- 6 daily activity photo cards (8.5x11)
- Day and Night concept card (8.5x11)
- The Sun’s Path Across the Sky concept card (8.5x11)
- Word wall cards to use in context
- A copy of Next Time You See a Sunset by Emily Morgan
The entire activity takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. This STEM-pack is suitable for grades 1-3.