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Plan to observe the moon on a September morning
Like many of the other participants in this forum, I would definitely use the ‘Paxi and the moon, phases and eclipses video’ as a jumping off point. We would then discuss the terminology around the phases of the moon, this is a great opportunity to add some novel vocabulary to the children’s scientific literacy. Phrases like waning, waxing, gibbous and crescent as well as new moon, quarter and full moon help to understand and communicate the concepts they are learning.
We would then make some predictions about the moon right now. Is it visible at all? I would deal with the misconception that many children still have that the moon comes out at night and the sun comes out during the day.
We would then head outside and locate the moon in the sky. On the 24 of September 2024 at around 10.30 the moon would be high in the south western sky and would be in its last quarter. I would ask the children to use the new language they have acquired to describe what they are seeing.
After this we would return to the class and, using tablets and the web version of Stellarium, we would explore how the moon phases will change over the coming days, weeks and months. Giving the children time to play and explore with the technology at this point is very important. I would give them time to explore in pairs and then finish with a feedback session where they tell the class what they’ve learned. I would note the main findings on a ‘What we’re learning’ chart displayed prominently in the room.
This could obviously be extended into artworks, explanatory writing etc.
I am definitely tempted to try this experiment too Noreen. It looks like a great way to exemplify the way weight would be different on the various planets. It would also be a great way to combine art and science. I could imagine the children workingman groups of 3 or 4 and really enjoying decoration the tubes. It could maybe be combined with a wider project on the planetary bodies.
Construct a sundial
I would first of all clarify what the specific learning objective of the lesson would be. This would be, firstly, for the children to understand that as the sun appears to move across the sky it casts constantly moving shadows and secondly for them to understand that this movement can be used to tell the time.
I would supply each group of 3 children with a shoebox (or similar) and a pencil. I would show them how to stick the pencil vertically into the box creating a simple gnomon. We would go outside (we have a young orchard area in our school which would be suitable). We will observe the shadows cast by the gnomon in relation to the position of the sun. I would explain about the movement of the sun across the sky and the consequent movement of the shadows.
The children will mark on the box where the shadow lies. They will then make a prediction as to where the shadow will be in 2 hours time and mark this on the box too.
We will leave the boxes in position and come back in 2 hours to check our predictions.