Attempting to extend this understanding into explanations using models will be limited by the inability of young children to understand that Earth is approximately spherical. They also have little understanding of gravity and usually have misconceptions about the properties of light that allow us to see objects such as the Moon. Although children will say that they live on a ball, probing questions will reveal that their thinking may be very different. Students can discover patterns in weather during the year by keeping a journal. Younger students can draw a daily weather picture based on what they see outside.
Older students can keep simple charts and graphs from data they collect at a school weather station.
Emphasis in grades K-4 should be on developing observation and description skills. Younger children should be encouraged to talk about and draw what they see and think. Older students can keep journals, use instruments, and record their observations and measurements. A straight line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times. In simple terms, the speed of a planet is the largest when it is nearest to the Sun, and smallest when it is the farthest from the Sun.