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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using a Sundial

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine the use of a sundial to tell apparent time. In this sundial instructional activity, students watch a teacher demonstration using a flashlight to create shadows. They discuss what happens to shadows of different objects...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Compass Rose

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students describe the movement of the Earth as it relates to the sun. They construct a permanent compass rose and use it to find directions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sundials: Observing and Using Shadows

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Learners build sundials and observe changes in shadows over the course of one or more days. They identify patterns in the shadows and discuss how shadows may be used to tell time.
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Activity
Scholastic

Groundhog Day

For Teachers Pre-K - 5th Standards
A simple activity for a simple, but special, holiday. Young learners read a brief history of Groundhog Day, practice reading aloud, and then discuss how shadows are formed.
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Unit Plan
1
1
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Weather Watch Activity Guide: Groundhog Day

For Teachers K - 8th Standards
Exactly what do groundhogs know about weather? Not as much as your science students will after completing these lessons and activities that cover everything from the earth's rotation and the creation of shadows, to cloud...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cameras and Shadows

For Teachers K - 8th
Students discover how light creates shadows by photographing them with a camera.  In this sunlight lesson plan, students utilize the light in the sky to create different shadows of themselves and objects near their classroom,...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Purdue University

Global Design for the Seasons

For Teachers 5th
People don't all get the same amount of sun at the same time of the year. Collaborative groups explore how the motion of Earth contributes to the idea in an inquiry-based STEM lesson. Learners first investigate how the rotation of Earth...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Shadow of Yourself

For Teachers K - 5th
Students measure the length of their shadows three times during the day, Students determine the differences in shadow lengths after each measurement. They discuss why the length changed from one time of day to another.
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Organizer
Curated OER

Sun-Shadow Mandala Worksheet

For Students 5th - 9th
In this Sun-Shadow Mandala Worksheet, students complete a graphic organizer and create an original mandala. Students are given 8 categories with related questions as a guide.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let the Sun Shine!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate how the sun can be used for energy. They read a handout, discuss the pros and cons of passive solar building design, develop flashcard questions, and identify jobs that can be helped by solar energy.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth, Sun, and Moon

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students participate in a demonstration and complete an online activity that illustrates the earth orbits the sun once a year, and that the moon takes approximately 28 days to orbit the earth.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sunshine and Shadows

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students measure their shadows early in the morning, record direction of shadow, make marks in ground with chalk or tape, measure with ruler, and record results. Students repeat process at noon, and then later in afternoon. Students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moon Shadows

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students study the moon and its shadows.  In this moon lesson students complete a lab activity that shows the different shadows and answer questions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning Lesson: The Shadow Knows I

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students examine the elevation of the sun to discover the changes in seasons. They observe and measure the length of their shadow. They compare this measurement to one taken four months later.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shadow Chasing

For Teachers 1st
First graders observe and measure their shadows. They go outside at three hour increments during the course of a day. Each time students measure and record the length of their shadows. Students read books about shadows and discuss why...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shadow Trackers: From Photography to Writing

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students explore the rotation of the earth. In this science instructional activity, students view photos of various places around the world. Students conduct an experiment in which they can see how the earth's rotation creates shadows on...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

May Earth be Revolving around the Sun?

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders explore how Aristarchus used the position of the half-full Moon to estimate the distance to the Sun, and how he made a great error, but still figured out that the Sun is much larger than Earth.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning Lesson: The Shadow Knows II

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students discover and practice how to calculate the circumference of the Earth. They measure the length of their shadows and use the distance they are away from the equator to complete the calculations. They discuss winter or summer...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring the Sun's Diameter

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students project and measure the suns image using a refracting telescope.  In this sun's diameter lesson students calculate the magnification of the telescope and determine the diameter if the Sun. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Around the Sun We Go

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders complete a short survey on the relationship between the Earth and the Sun. In groups, they participate in an experiment in which they test the angle of the Earth and compare it to the sun. To end the lesson, they discuss...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Shadow Knows

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders examine the relationship between light and the angle it strikes objects. In groups, they shine light from a flashlight on different objects and describe how it affects the shadow. To end the lesson, they complete a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cloud Shadows

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students classify the visual opacity of various materials, what is needed to create shadows, and classify clouds by the types of shadows that they produce.
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PPT
Curated OER

Light

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Here is a stellar slide show for illuminating middle schoolers' minds on the topic of light! An interactive slide allows viewers to sort light sources by whether or not they are man-made. More objects are displayed and learners discover...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Illustrative Mathematics

Tilt of Earth's Axis and the Four Seasons

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
Geometry meets earth science as high schoolers investigate the cause and features of the four seasons. The effects of Earth's axis tilt features prominently, along with both the rotation of the earth about the axis and its orbit about...

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