Scientific Background Information Scientific Background Information Go back to lesson . Building a foundation for understanding of orbits of planets and other satellites begins with observation of objects in the sky and how they move.
Clouds move with the wind, airplanes and birds create their own direction.
The Sun, the Earth, the Moon, the stars and other plants have fixed laws that govern their movement. Planetary orbits have a distinct elliptical shape. In K-4, students begin by observing objects in the sky and how they move. It is the teacher's job to elicit thinking about the patterns of these movements so that students have a firm basis in the upper grades for understanidng orbits. By observing the day and night sky regularly, children in grades K-4 learn to identify sequences of changes and to look for patterns in these changes.