Sunny Side Up!

Lesson plan gathered from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/lesson-plans-grades-1-2/129220--our-sun-is-a-star-a-first-grade-science-lesson/

Welcome to my blog! For my first post ever, I’ve found some lesson plan ideas for teaching the sun and Earth to 1^st graders. I know my classroom, as well as others, will be focusing on the solar system during our Lesson Plan Project, and I thought I’d find some fun activities to think about for our lessons, both now and as future teachers.

First off, here are the materials you would need for the lessons:

Ice cubes

White, yellow, blue, and black pieces of construction paper

Curious George Discovers the Sun by Joe Fallon (optional)

The lesson would start with students brainstorming what they already know about the sun. The teacher should write down students’ ideas on the board. Some suggested discussion questions:

·         Is the sun a star or a planet? (star)

·         What does the sun give us? (heat and light)

·         Can we live without the sun? (no)

·         The sun is only a medium-sized star. Why does it seem so bright to us? (It’s so much closer than the other stars.)

·         What are ways we can protect ourselves from sunburns? (Sun blocking lotion, hats, sunglasses, clothing. Also remember to drink water!)

Note: Have students define for you what a “sunburn” is. In my classroom this year I was working on rhymes with two African American students and they did not know the definition of “tan.” They may be more familiar with “sunburns,” but it’s good to clarify this definition for all students.

Next, you can read the Curious George book to the students, making sure to emphasize information about the sun that students may have had misconceptions about.

Now’s the fun part! This lesson plan included 4 activities that students could do, and depending on how much time you have for this lesson, I suggest that you pick and choose your favorites:

1.      Does the sun give us heat? Does it depend on the color?

Big questions: In the hot summer, is it better to wear a light-colored or a dark-colored t-shirt? Which one gets the hottest in direct sunlight?

·         Place the construction paper outside in direct sunlight.

·         Ask the students to guess which paper will become hot the fastest and melt the ice cubes.

·         Place two ice cubes in the center of each piece of paper and observe.

·         What did we learn? If we want to stay cooler in the summer what color clothing should we wear? We also see that the sun gives us heat.

2.     Why don't we see the sun at night? Does it go away?

    Big questions: Thinking about the Earth's rotation, which way are we facing during daytime? Nighttime? What different things do we see in the sky during these times?

·         This can be done outside or in a large space inside.

·         Choose a student to be the sun. You may want to give that student a big yellow piece of paper to make it more visual.

·         Now choose a student to be the Earth and place the student a distance away.

·         Explain that the earth moves in two ways. It spins once around every day and it moves around the sun in one year.

·         Ask the “earth" student to face the sun. This is the daytime position. Then ask the student to turn around slowly stopping the student when his back faces the sun. Can he see the sun? What time of day would this be? What can we see now that we can’t see in the daytime? (Other stars)

Note: This activity would be done after students have already learned about the Earth’s revolution around the sun. I suggest that you review the Earth’s rotation before enacting this activity, just to remind students that the sun isn’t actually moving around the Earth.

3.    Why is the Earth in a perfect place in our solar system?

Big questions: If the sun gives us heat, then what happens when we're closer or further away from it? How does this affect what lives on a planet? 

·         On the playground or in a very large indoor space, position eight students in order away from the sun to represent the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (Give them planet name cards to hold)

·         “This is our solar system. All the planets move on an invisible path around the sun."

·         Then ask “Why do you think there is no life on Venus and Mercury?" (Too hot) “What about the planets that are farther away than the earth?" (Too cold) “If one other planet had the best chance of having life which one could it be? (Mars)

Note: I suggest taking out a thermometer and determining the temperature right then. (Depending on the students’ familiarity with thermometers, having them determine the temperature would be good practice!) Then, show students how different average temperatures are on different planets. Here's a cool thermometer graph to show them!

4.      Be a shadow puppet! How does your shadow change during the day?

Big questions: How does the sun change during the day? How does that affect us?

·         On a sunny day go outside at three different times early morning, noon and afternoon.

·         How does the shadow change? When was it longest? Shortest? Which way did it point?

·         Why does your shadow change? (The sun is in a different position in the sky each time.)

Note: I suggest having students partner up and outline their shadows with chalk. Then, they can return to the same spots throughout the day and outline their shadows again, comparing how they’re different. This would make the activity even more fun and hands-on! Also, at this point in the unit students may not yet know that the Earth moves around the sun – they’re likely to assume the sun moves around the Earth. My mentor teacher advised me to not correct them at this point. The purpose of the lesson is to have students observe how the sun moves across the sky, so teaching about the Earth’s revolution would be done in a future lesson.

I hope these lesson plans can inspire you in your own classrooms! Feel free to comment with any other suggestions or cool astronomy ideas, I’d love to hear them! Catch ya later!