Students learn what causes day and night and the seasons and discover that life on Earth depends on light and heat from the sun. Students learn what the sun and planets are like and the position of each planet in our solar system. By the end of fourth grade, students will develop an understanding of objects in the sky. Students make a model representing the relative sizes of Earth and sun and their distance from each other. Students also complete Lab Manual pages 57-58.
Students use the ball, lamp, and themselves to make a model of how the moon revolves around Earth.
The model shows how shadows caused by the sun seem to change the shape of the moon. Actually, the amount of the moon visible from Earth is changed. Students will complete Lab Manual pages 61-62 as they do the activity. Students construct a sundial shadow maker. They use the shadow maker to record the position and length of shadow for specific times during a day.