DE Science Elementary
“5-Minute Prep” For
The Earth, Sun, and Moon
Earth
The Cycle of Day and Night
The Cycle of Day and Night – The Big Ideas
•
•
•
Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours,
causing the cycle of day and night.
When it is day on the side of Earth facing the
sun, it is night on the other side.
Earth’s rotation makes it appear that the sun,
planets, and stars are orbiting Earth once a day.
The Cycle of Day and Night – Prior Knowledge
Students may come with different levels of
understanding about the cycle of day and night.
It will be important for teachers to use a KWL
(Know, What to know, What I have Learned)
chart to find out what their students understand
about why we have day and night. It would be
helpful for students to view the FUN-damental
Cycles in the Sky. It would also help if they:
– Know that Earth rotates around the sun.
– Know that Earth also orbits on its axis.
The Cycle of Day and Night – Common Misconceptions
• The Earth goes around the Sun once a day.
– Reality: The Earth revolves around the Sun in one year.
One day is represented by the Earth’s rotation.
• If it is daytime in one part of the world, it is also
daytime in other parts of the world.
– Reality: As the Earth rotates, different parts of the world
experience day and night at different times.
• The Earth’s revolution around the sun causes day
and night to occur.
– Reality: Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours,
causing the cycle of day and night.
The Cycle of Day and Night –
Using DE Science Content
When you close this presentation, you can review the
following recommended resources for The Cycle of Day
and Night.
• Exploration: The Cycle of Day and Night
• Virtual Lab: When’s the Shadow There?
• E Book: Diurnal and Nocturnal
• Video: The Movement of the Earth
Use the PowerPoint version of this presentation for
hyperlinks to these resources or you can get to them
through the browser or search feature.
The Cycle of Day and Night – Instructional Ideas
• Use the Exploration with the whole class. Students will see
animation that shows how the sun and moon appear to
move across the sky. Then students will see how the Earth
rotates and revolves. The students will also drag and drop
pictures to show that it is night in some parts of the Earth
while it is day in other places.
• The Virtual Lab is a great way for students to investigate
how shadows move because of the changing position of
the sun. Students need to make predictions about the
location of the sun by choosing a date and time of day.
Students will feel like real scientists as they change
different variables and observe their results.
The Cycle of Day and Night – Instructional Ideas
• As students watch the video The Movement of
the Earth, there are many key words that appear
on the screen. Give students a list of these
words in advance, and have students use these
key words to take notes of important information
as they read.
• Students can work in partners to read the E
Book Diurnal and Nocturnal. Then, students can
use print and online resources to research 10
animals that are diurnal and 10 animals that are
nocturnal.
State standards:
If you wish to review your state standards
regarding the Cycle of Day and Night, click here
to get to the curriculum standards search feature
of DES.
http://discoveryeducation.com/forward/curriculum.cfm
You can click on any standard to see what
resources are available to teach it.
Additional Information:
For additional content, check the Extend section
within the concept.