Exploring Our Fluid Earth

Teaching Science as Inquiry

 

For more option use
    Advanced Search

Printer Friendly
Activity: Kinesthetic Model of the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices
Developing and Using Models
NGSS Crosscutting Concepts
System and System Models
NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System
Table of Contents
Activity: Kinesthetic Model of the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth

Materials

  • Styrofoam “moon” ball on a pencil
  • Light bulb “sun”
  • Portable utility light
  • Materials to darken room
  • Picture of familiar geographic area (e.g., state or county) (optional)
  • Sticker (optional)

 

Procedure

Your teacher will help lead you through this activity.

 

TEACHER GUIDE

Kinesthetic Model of the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth

 

Activity Questions
  1. Explain the movement of the moon in relation to the earth over the course of:
    1. 24 hours
    2. a month
    3. a year.
       
  2. Explain the movement of the earth in relation to the sun over the course of:
    1. 24 hours
    2. a month
    3. a year.
       
  3. Draw the relative positions of the sun, the earth, and the moon during a:
    1. new moon
    2. first quarter moon (Fig. 6.4 A)
    3. full moon (Fig. 6.4 B)
    4. third quarter moon (Fig. 6.4 C)

 

<p><strong>Fig. 6.4.</strong> Moon phases (<strong>A</strong>) First quarter moon, (<strong>B</strong>) Full moon, (<strong>C</strong>) Third quarter moon</p>

Fig. 6.4. Moon phases (A) First quarter moon, (B) Full moon, (C) Third quarter moon

Images courtesy of Jay Tanner, Wikimedia Commons. Click the link and you can see over 350 photographs of the near side of the moon by Jay Tanner.

  1. Compare your observations of the solar system model to the real world. What does the model represent accurately? What does the model not represent accurately?
Exploring Our Fluid Earth, a product of the Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG), College of Education. University of Hawaii, 2011. This document may be freely reproduced and distributed for non-profit educational purposes.