Sun-Earth-Moon 1:

Teacher

Christina Miller

Grade Level

I. Content and Standards: (domain1a)

S4.D.3.1.1: Describe motions of the Sun - Earth - Moon system.

S4.D.3.1.2: Explain how the motion of the Sun - Earth - Moon system relates
to time (e.g., days, months, years).
S4.D.3.1.3: Describe the causes of seasonal change as they relate to the
revolution of Earth and the tilt of Earths axis.
II. Prerequisites: Students will have a basic understanding of the sun, moon and earth
III. Instructional Objective: (domain1a)

Students will be able to describe the sun as the closest star to the earth
and the earth is the 3rd planet in the solar system of 8.
Students will be able to describe how the Earth orbits the sun and the
moon orbits the earth.
Students will understand that the Earth revolves around the Sun and that
one revolution takes one year.
Students will understand that the moon revolves around the earth
Students will model that the Earth is tilted and orbits on an axis.
Students will be able to describe how the spin of Earth accounts for the
length of a day
Students will understand that day and night is created by the rotation of
the Earth.
Students will understand that the moon is reflecting the light from the sun
and does not produce light.
Students will identify the moon phases and what causes them.

IV. Instructional Procedures: (domain1c)

1. Introduction to the Sun-Earth-Moon System

2. Discuss: What do you know about the sun-moon-earth?
3. Introduce vocabulary:
revolve
rotation
orbit
4. Activity: sun-moon-earth rotation and revolution (domain1d)
Bring in basketballs for the Sun, baseballs for the Earth, and ping pong
balls for the Moon. Have students in groups of four. Make sure the groups
consist of different levels of students. Have on student in each group act
as the Sun and hold the beach ball above their heads. Then have another
student in each group act as the Earth and hold the baseball above their
heads. They are to stand a little bit of a distance from the Sun, and they
are to SLOWLY turn as they revolve around the Sun. Have another
student from each group act as the Moon and hold the ping pong ball

above their heads. They should stand close to the Earth and only make
one rotation as they revolve around the Earth. This means that they
should always face the earth, since only one side of the moon ever faces
the Earth. Have another student from each group observe and record
what they see. After the activity is completed, have the students reflect
on the activity, what they have learned.
5. Questions: (domain1e)
Does the moon revolve? Around what?
Does the earth revolve? Around what? How long does it take the earth to
revolve around the sun? 365 days
How big is the sun in relationship to the earth? Answer: sun is
approximately 1.392 KM in diameter. The earth is 12,000 km in diameter.
You can roughly fit 1,300,000 earths inside of the sun
Where is earth in relationship to the sun? Answer: third planet from the
sun.
V. Materials and Equipment:

Basketballs
Baseballs
Ping pong balls

VI. Assessment/Evaluation: Class participation and discussion

VII. Accommodations or Modifications needed for students with disabilities or
ESOL:
Students will be read information needed, or given the appropriate spellings for words.
Extra time will also be given, if necessary. (domain1b)

VIII. Technology: