Our Sky

Grade Level: 1st

Subject: Science

Time Frame: 3-4 weeks (quarter 1)

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Essential Questions

 

- what is the pattern of the sun's location?

- can the patterns of the day sky be predicted?

- what creates day and night?

- what are the four seasons?

- what patterns can be predicted with the seasons?

- how does the amount of daylight change with the seasons?

- does the moon's appearance change over time?

- why can we only see stars at night?

 

 

By the end of the unit, students will know:

 

- The rises in the morning and sets in the evening

- day and night is caused by the Earth's rotation

- how the sun appears to travel across the sky and that this is due to the Earth's motion, not the Sun's

- there are 4 seasons

- summer has the longest amount of daylight and winter has the least amount of daylight

- at night, you can see the moon and stars

- the moon does not shine

- the moon appears to grow and shrink in the sky based on how much reflected sunlight we can see (moon phases)

- because the sun is so close, its brightness keeps us from seeing other stars during the day 

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By the end of the unit, students will be able to:

 

- make predictions about the sun's location at various times of the day

- make predictions about the moon's phases

- explain how the earth's rotation creates day and night

- explain how the sun's presence during the day keeps other stars from being seen

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Topics

 

- the daytime sky

- the sun's location

- day and night

- earth's rotation

- the seasons

- the nighttime sky

- the phases of the moon

- the stars

- where do they go during the day? 

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Standards

1-ESS1-1, 1-ESS1-2