1st Grade exploring the sun and the moon

Scope and sequence

Suggested Time Frame: 1st Grade Science Curriculum Map

• 3rd Nine Weeks- Consult the 1st Grade Science Curriculum Map for specific details.

The 1st Grade Science Curriculum Map outlines the following information:

• 1. Recommended pacing, scope, and sequence for each unit.

  2. Alignment with standards, conceptual understandings, and performance indicators

  3. Links to Unit Concept Storyboard Maps, Content and SEP Support Documents, and Curriculum Guides

  4. Details for Evidence of Understanding, Essential Learning Experiences, and Suggested Learning Engagements

  5. Where appropriate, alignment with specific FOSS, DSM, GEMS, and STC kit Activities and Investigations

Learning goals, skills, and concepts

Learning Goals

• Students will gather data from both observations and other sources about the timing and position of sunrise and sunset in order to describe how these change with the seasons.

• Students will conduct observations of the Moon’s phases over the course of a single lunar cycle (28 days) in order to develop a model to illustrate the pattern of the Moon’s changing appearance. Models can include:

  • Illustrations

  • 3-D Representations

  • Drawings

• Students will gather information from various sources to describe how we use technology to study objects in space.

• Students will carry out investigations in order to gather data to describe the effects of the sunlight on the Earth’s surface.

• Students will use data from their investigations to define problems related to the warming effect of sunlight and design and test solutions.

Skills and Concepts

• Analyze and Interpret Data- SEP Support Document

• Develop and Use Models- SEP Support Document

• Obtain and Communicate Information- SEP Support Document

• Conduct Investigations- SEP Support Document

• Define Problems and Design Solutions- SEP Support Document

• Sunrise and Sunset- Essential Knowledge Support Document

• The Moon- Essential Knowledge Support Document

• Astronomy Technology- Essential Knowledge Support Document

• Effects of Sunlight- Essential Knowledge Support Document

• Warming Effects of Sunlight- Essential Knowledge Support Document

Science Concept Storyboard

This link will take you to a print-friendly version of the science concept storyboard.

Lessons and activities

Sun, Moon, and Night Sky Unit Planning Support Doc.

Potential Instructional Strategies/Lessons/Examples

• Finding the Moon (DSM Kit) Investigations 4, 9, and 10

• Pearson SC Interactive Science Textbook:

  • Chapter 2, Lesson 1 Inquiry Warm Up pp.42 - How is your model of stars like the night sky? (1.S.1A.2)

  • Chapter 2, Lesson 1 Quick Lab pp.45 - How can the sun make temperatures change? (1.E.3A.4, 1.S.1A.4, 1.S.1A.5)

  • Chapter 2, Lesson 2 Quick Lab pp.49 - What changes in the daytime sky? (1.S.1A.2, 1.S.1A.8)

  • Chapter 2, Lesson 3 Quick Lab pp. 59 - How does the sun affect water on Earth? (1.E.3A.4)

  • Chapter 2, Lesson 3 Lab Investigation p.64 - How can you block sunlight? (1.E.3A.5)

• AIMS Activities: 2005 SC Science AIMS 1st Grade

  • Look at the Moon

  • Lunar Looking

  • You Are My Sunshine

  • Sun Sensors

• Modeling the Moon (1.E.3A.2)

• The Warmth of the Sun (1.E.3A.4)

  • This lesson, from the American Association for the Advancement of Science ScienceNetLinks website, details a lesson where students explore how the sun affects the surface of the Earth.

• S2TEM Center SC - 1st Grade Science Lessons

  • http://www.s2temsc.org/k-8-science-lessons.html

    • Earth Science (Astronomy) 1-3.1 Lesson A “Day and Night Sky” (1.E.3A)

      • It is essential to keep this unit as basic as possible. Do not go beyond the recommendations since a child at this age is not developmentally ready to understand astronomy concepts. They will take the foundation

    • Earth Science (Astronomy) 1-3.2 Lesson A “The Warmth of the Sun” (1.E.3A)

      • This lesson provides the students with an opportunity to experience how the sun affects temperatures on the Earth. It is designed to be a basic introductory lesson to the sun as an important object in our solar system.

    • Earth Science (Astronomy) 1-3.3 Lesson A “Sun and Moon” (1.E.3A.1)

      • Through observations of a very basic sundial, children will begin to understand that the sun moves across the sky during the day. Due to the abstractness of this concept and the ease at which misconceptions can be formed, it is critical that instruction at this age level does not go beyond the requirements of the standards.

    • Earth Science (Astronomy) 1-3.4 Lesson “Moon Calendar” (1.E.3A.2)

      • In this lesson students will make a Moon chart to record data for the month. During calendar activities each day, track the phases of the Moon from student observations the previous evening, from the local newspaper, or from websites.

Additional Resources

• Crash Course Astronomy (1.E.3)

  • This link takes you to the first segment in the Crash Course Astronomy series, a YouTube Channel with a variety of short videos about different topics in Astronomy. This can used as a great way to follow up on explorations and investigations your students conduct to help them make deep connections to the science knowledge they have already begun to develop through their inquiry experiences.

    • TEACHER NOTE: Be sure you use this resource strategically. This should be used as a follow up to explorations and investigations. This SHOULD NOT be used to give students information before they have had a chance to engage in more inquiry-based learning experiences.

• Dial-A Moon (NASA Website) (1.E.3A.2)

• The Moon in Your Sky (1.E.3A.2)

  • These two websites let you see the phase of the moon on any given day. These are good resources for teachers to use to show their students the current phase of the Moon when it is not possible for students to directly view the moon on that date (because of an overcast sky or other weather conditions).

    • Teachers should make every effort to support their students in constructing their own Moon journals based on their own direct observations of the phases of the Moon. As part of that, teachers should note that depending on the phase, the Moon may not be visible in the early evening when many students can observe it and may rise later in the night, after bedtime. Many times, the Moon will be visible in the morning, and you may even be able to take your students outside to see the Moon at the beginning of the school day before the Sun gets too high in the sky to block it out.

    • These web resources should only be used as last-resort ways for students to record the current phase of the Moon on a date when sky conditions make it impossible to view and should not be used to look ahead as that would defeat the purpose of the students' personal Moon journals.

• Earth's Moon (1.E.3A.2)

  • This is NASA's Moon Website with links to galleries, images, and other resources related to the Moon.

• The Weather Channel (1.E.3A.1 and 1.E.3A.2)

  • When you look up the hourly weather for a location, in addition to the hourly weather forecast, you can see the timing of Sunrise, Sunset, Moonrise, and Moonset.

• Sunrise and Sunset (1.E.3A.1)

  • https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@4597040

  • You can use this to see the overall pattern of sunrise and sunset over the course of the year. You should not show this to your class until AFTER they have already charted sunrise and sunset timing (from a source like weather.com) and discussed what they noticed about how it changes.

• http://ETV.streamlineSC.org

  • • Our Home in Space

    • How Special Is Our Sun?

    • The Sky Above: A First Look

• Picture Books (1.E.3A.2)

  • Earth and Moon, Exploring Space, and Sun Up Sun Down by Gail Gibbons,

  • There's No Place Like Space (with the Cat in the Hat) by Tish Rabe

  • Me and my Place In Space and Blast Off! by Maryann Dobeck.

  • Papa Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle.

  • I Want to be an Astronaut by Byron Barton.

  • Harold’s Trip to the Sky by Crockett

  • Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise

• Picture Books (1.E.3A.1)

  • The Reason for the Seasons by Gail Gibbons

  • What Makes Day and Night by Franklyn Brantley

  • The Sun: Our Nearest Star by

  • Happy Birthday Moon by Frank Asch

  • Moonbear’s Shadow by Frank Asch

  • The Sun published by Heinemann

  • The Sun is Always Shining Somewhere by Allen Fowler

  • What Makes a Shadow by Clyde Robert Bulla

• Pearson SC Interactive Science Content Leveled Readers

• Day and Night Short

  • Day and Night Pixar Short

• StoryBots - Informational videos

  • "I'm So Hot" Sun

  • "Time to Shine" Moon

  • "I'm A Star" Star

• BrainPop Jr.

  • Moon

  • Sun

  • Seasons

• Field Study

  • South Carolina State Museum - Planetarium

    • Earth, Moon and Sun

      • This kid-friendly planetarium show, explores the relationship between the Earth, Moon and Sun with the help of Coyote, an amusing character adapted from Native American oral traditions who has many misconceptions about our home planet and its most familiar neighbors. The show discusses why the Sun rises and sets, examines the Moon’s orbit, craters, phases and eclipses and explores past and future space travel to our Moon and beyond.Show Run Time: 25 mins.

    • *NEW* Observatory Class: To The Museum…and Beyond!

      • Duration: 30-45 minutes

      • Available Times: Tues. and Thurs. only at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m

      • Cost: Free for South Carolina students

      • Grades: First grade only

      • Maximum Capacity: 50 participants

      • SC 2014 Academic Standards for Science: 1.S.1, 1.E.3

        • What’s the difference between the Earth, Moon and Sun? What are the reasons for the seasons? Why are telescopes so important? These are just a few questions students will explore during this two-part observatory program. Safe solar observing (weather permitting) in the museum’s Boeing Observatory is included in this unique, one-of-a-kind experience.

• National Geographic Video Resource:

  • As with any video resource, teachers should carefully preview and vet any videos before showing them to students.