Observing the Earth’s Orbit: Hands-On Activities for Astronomy
Sylke Boyd, Associate Professor of Physics, University of Minnesota Morris
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These are activities and documents to share with the audience from the 39th MESTA conference, held in Plymouth, MN, on Februry 6 2026. For questions, comments, and discussion, please reach out to Sylke Boyd, sboyd@morris.umn.edu (physics faculty at the University of Minnesota Morris).
Solar Tracker Materials:
Solar Tracker Materials:
Simulating the Solar path across the years and the globe
Simulating the Solar path across the years and the globe
I am sharing here the Mathematica notebook I showed in the presentation:
Since you may not have access to Mathematica, I am also sharing derived resources, such as images and animated graphics:
Solar Path Examples for the Winter Solstice
Solar Path Examples for the Summer Solstice
Solar Path Examples for the Equinox
GIF for the equinox and for a position on the equator
Lunar Phases
Lunar Phases
I like to use some dollar store tennis balls and black paper plates, in conjunction with the light of an overhead projector for this. The goal is for students to understand the relationship of the appearance of the lunar phase with the position of the moon in its orbit. Further, students should gain some capacity to predict at what time of day which lunar phase might be seen and where.
Solar System Clue
Solar System Clue
identify unknown objects based on some of their orbital and body properties. It's a game like clue. Students get a reference table with the typical numbers for orbital and body characteristics of planets, asteroids, moons, etc. They also get a card for an unknown object and have to identify it using the given information.
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