TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: What on Earth Is Spin?
Why is the spinning motion so special? Brian Jones details the dizzyingly wide array of ways that spinning affects our lives. [3:57]
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Day and Night
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this flipchart students will understand how the Earth rotates during a 24 hour period giving us day and night.
NASA
Nasa: Sea Wi Fs Biosphere Globes
This interactive globe allows you to get any view of the earth by entering latitude, longitude and season criteria.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Lunar Learning
Why does the Moon not always look the same to us? Sometimes it is a big, bright, circle, but, other times, it is only a tiny sliver, if we can see it at all. The different shapes and sizes of the slivers of the Moon are referred to as...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Trb 3:1: Investigation 4: Day and Night
A lesson for third graders in which they learn about the rotation of the Earth on its axis and how this movement creates day and night. They also examine the orbit of the moon about the Earth and the Earth's orbit around the sun.
Other
Center for Science Education: Eye on the Sky: What Makes Day and Night?
This activity will allow you to model day and night cycles. A rotating student holding a map (provided) models the earth. A lamp is used to model the sun. Numerous worksheets (pdf) and additional website resources are also provided.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Plix: Seasons
[Free Registration/Login Required] View how the axis of rotation causes Earth to have seasons on this site. Also test your knowledge on how the position of Earth and seasons relate with a short quiz.
Read Works
Read Works: Morning Sunshine
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read about how the tilt of the Earth on its axis affects sunrises and sunstes. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Our Restless Planet
This unit will use demonstrations and student examples to help students gain an understanding of rotation, revolution, and orbit. Through hands-on activities students will explore the concepts of day and night. Technology will be...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Lunar Lollipops
The students work in teams of two to discover the relative positions of the Earth, Sun and Moon that produce the different phases of the Moon. The students will be given a Styrofoam ball that they will attach to a pencil so that it looks...
University of Chicago
University of Chicago: What's Your Slant? Sun and Shadows
This fun activity helps you to understand the movement of the sun by studying shadows.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Astronomy: Eratosthenes
Learn how Greek mathematician Eratosthenes used geometry to estimate the circumference of the Earth.
Science Struck
Science Struck: A Scientific Explanation to What Causes Day and Night
Explains how the rotation and the axial tilt of the Earth are responsible for the phenomenon of day and night. Provides information about the Sun, the solar system, and the Earth, and how the circumference of the Earth was first measured...
University of Illinois
University of Illinois Extension: Tree House Weather Kids: What Causes the Season?
Explore what causes the change of seasons on the Earth.
Ohio State University
Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears: Common Misconceptions About Day and Night
Misconceptions about the causes of seasons and day and night are common through all ages. Use the information on this site to help your students understand these concepts. Included are links to many resources and lesson plans for...
Math Is Fun
Math Is Fun: A Day
How long is a day? What do most children do during certain hours of the day? What is day? This site offers the answers to these questions, lists the days of the week, and provides a hour-by-hour listing of what a typical kid's day...
Other
Electric Sky: Vernal Equinox
This site, created by an amateur who has studied astronomy for thirty years, provides a scholarly explanation of the vernal equinox. Links to definitions of significant terms.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Trb 3:1 Investigation 6 Celestial Model
Third graders will gain an understanding of why stars appear to move across the night sky.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Tracking the Sun: Observing the Path of the Sun Throughout the Year
Over the course of the school year, young scholars collect weekly data about the sun's position at a specific time of day, resulting in creating a figure "8" that shows the path of the sun called an analemma.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Aaas: Project 2061: Topic: Weather and Climate Ii: Seasonal Differences
[Free Registration/Login Required] Create a science test that checks for student understanding in science, for common misconceptions, as well as for correct ideas. This is a list of key ideas related to Weather and Climate II: Seasonal...
E-learning for Kids
E Learning for Kids: Science: Atlantic Ocean: Day and Night
This module explores day and night. Learn about what we see during the day and night and why we see what we see.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Our Stars
In this lesson, students will observe and communicate how the stars are in the sky both day and night. The extremely detailed lesson includes photos and videos of the lesson in actions, examples of student's work, materials, parent...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Our Sky
What objects are in the day sky and the night sky? How do they seem to move? Come and explore with us as we discover the sun, moon, planets and stars! This detailed lesson plan includes pictures and videos of the lesson in action,...
National Museums Liverpool
Liverpool Museums: The Sun Tracker
This simulation allows the user to see the sun's arc in the sky anywhere in the world at any time. By changing the season settings the user can see how seasons affect the height of the sun's arc.