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Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Meteor Showers

For Students 3rd - 8th
This video segment adapted from NASA uses animation to illustrate the properties of meteor showers and comets. Included is are visualizations of a comet's tail and of Earth passing through a debris stream left behind by meteoroids.
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Article
Cornell University

Cornell University: Astronomy: Eratosthenes

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn how Greek mathematician Eratosthenes used geometry to estimate the circumference of the Earth.
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Unit Plan
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Magnet Academy: Foucault's Disk

For Students 9th - 10th
Leon Foucault, a French physicist much better known for his pendulum demonstrating the rotation of the Earth, also created in 1855 a device that illustrated how eddy currents work. (Java tutorial)
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Article
National Weather Service

National Weather Service: Jet Stream: The Jet Stream

For Students 9th - 10th
The concept of jet streams is explained on this site. Read about why jet stream winds blow from west to east, what the polar jet and subtropical jet are, the role that the rotation of the Earth plays, etc.
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Website
Geography 4 kids

Geography4 kids.com: Coriolis Spinning Around the Earth

For Students 3rd - 8th
An overview of the Coriolis Force, an effect on wind due to the rotation of Earth.
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Unit Plan
Scholastic

Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Weather & Climate: Seasons

For Students 3rd - 5th
A slideshow and a short multiple-choice quiz on the topic of seasons and how they are caused by the Earth's rotation and orbit.
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Our Restless Planet

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
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...
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Handout
NASA

Nasa: Space Place: How Long Is One Day on Other Planets?

For Students 3rd - 7th
Here on Earth a day takes 24 hours. How long are days on other planets in our solar system? Find out here in three different ways, whichever meets your learning style the best.
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Activity
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Plix: Seasons

For Students 7th - 9th
[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.
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Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Morning Sunshine

For Students 5th
[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.
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Activity
Ministerio de Educación (Spain)

Ministerio De Educacion: Astronomia Visible

For Students 9th - 10th
This site has maps of the nearest stars and constellations. Earth and star daily rotation, proper motion of the stars and many other topics about the solar system are also shown.Read phonetically
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Lunar Lollipops

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
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...
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Activity
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Plix: Seasons

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This site contains an animation showing how the seasons are produced by the tilt of Earth's rotating axis. Site also includes a short quiz over the topic of seasons.
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Interactive
American Association of Physics Teachers

Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Ballistics and Orbits Model

For Students 9th - 10th
Experience a simulation of ballistic trajectories in relationship to Earth's orbit. Java 1.5 or more recent is required.
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Website
National Museums Liverpool

Liverpool Museums: The Sun Tracker

For Students Pre-K - 1st
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.
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Lesson Plan
Utah Education Network

Uen: Why Angle Changes Intensity

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This hands-on activity will help students understand why summer is hotter than winter.
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Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: A Scientific Explanation to What Causes Day and Night

For Students 4th - 8th
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...
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Activity
Other

Center for Science Education: Eye on the Sky: What Makes Day and Night?

For Students Pre-K - 1st
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.
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Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Day and Night

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this flipchart students will understand how the Earth rotates during a 24 hour period giving us day and night.
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Activity
Math Is Fun

Math Is Fun: The Seasons

For Students 3rd - 8th
Learn about the four seasons, when they occur in the northern and southern hemispheres, and why the seasons change as the Earth rotates around the Sun.
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Website
NASA

Nasa: Heliophysics: New Science of the Sun Solar System Connection

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from NASA lists common and uncommon misconceptions about Sun-Earth Science. Site also provides links to activities and lesson plans as well as background reading.
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Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Seasons

For Teachers 9th - 10th
For this activity, students create a small model of the Earth using a styrofoam ball and a skewer. They then explore the relationship between the Earth and the Sun (a flashlight) to understand why it is hottest at the Equator, and why we...
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Handout
University of Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin: Reasons for the Seasons

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief explanation of the Earth's rotation around the Sun and how it relates to the amount of sunlight the Earth receives, and to the seasons. Includes two questions for students to respond to.
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Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Weather

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart discusses the weather, sun, earth, day, night, and rotation.

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