Exploring the Sun’s Energy
By: Rachel Connelly and Jack Hord
Adapted from ‘Heating the Earth’s Surface’ in the book Issues and Earth Science
published by Lab-aid
Overview:
In this lesson the students explore how the sun’s energy affects different Earth’s surfaces. They
discover the temperature changes in two of Earth’s surfaces (sand and water) when the sun is up
(lamp on) and likewise when the sun is down (lamp off). The students are able to see and
understand that sand heats and cools faster than water.
Standards
- 6-1.2 Differentiate between observation and inference during the analysis and
interpretation of data.
- 6-4.7 Explain how solar energy affects Earth’s atmosphere and surface (land and water).
Performance Objectives
- The students should be able to differentiate between observations and inferences during
the analysis and interpretation of data.
- The students should be able to identify the appropriate type of graph for data collected.
- The students should be able to compare observations and inferences.
- The students should be able to interpret date presented on a graph or diagram.
- The students should be able to implement the steps for making a data table or graph.
- The students should be able to explain how solar energy affects Earth’s atmosphere and
surface (land and water).
- The students should be able to identify factors in the atmosphere that would either
reflect of absorb solar energy.
Hook
- How does the energy from the sun affect different earth surfaces such as land and
water?
Materials
for each group of 2-3 students
- 2 plastic trays
- 2 thermometers
- 30-mL graduated cup
- 1 heat lamp
- 1 stop watch
- sand
- water
for each student
- activity sheet
- graph sheet
Body of the Lesson Plan
Concept Exploration/ Introduction
Exploring the Sun’s Energy
By: Rachel Connelly and Jack Hord
The teacher provides the students with the following statement
Name some things you know about the sun.
Targeted response:
Hot, a star, big, yellow/orange, gives off energy/heat
After the students have had time to explore about the sun, the teacher focuses the students’
attention to thinking about the energy from the sun. The teacher then reads or gets a student to
read the paragraph on the activity sheet (Please see Exploring the Sun’s Energy Activity Sheet).
“There are many factors that influence the different kinds of weather and climates on Earth. You
and your partners will investigate how land and water interact with the sun’s energy. You are
given the following problem: Explain how the sun’s energy affects different Earth’s surfaces
such as land and water.”
The teacher asks the students:
“Looking at what you just read, what do you think the problem/question is for this
experiment?”
Targeted response:
How does the sun’s energy affect different Earth surfaces such as land and
water?
At this stage of the lesson the teacher tells the students to write down the question for this
experiment.
The teacher then asks the question:
“Do you think energy from the sun affects Earth’s surfaces (land and water)?”
Targeted response:
Yes or No and why the student thinks this
The teacher guides the students to write what they think in an If, Then statement, such as
If this is done, Then this will happen. Then tells the students to write their If, then
statement in the hypothesis section of their activity sheet.
The teacher asks the question:
“Looking around the room what do you think we will use to represent the land,
water, and sun?”
Targeted response:
Sun = heat lamp, Water = water, Land = sand
The students are then told that when the heat lamp is turned on, the sun is up (sunrise)
and when the heat lamp is turned off, the sun is down (sundown).
The students are then reminded of the safety procedures for this activity and for their lab
room (the lamps get really hot, not eating water/sand).
Concept Application
The students will then be put into groups of 2 or 3 students per group. The groups then
are given a station that has been set up by the teacher. Stations are setup prior to class
time. Stations include: 2 plastic trays, 2 thermometers, 30-mL graduated cup, 1 heat
Exploring the Sun’s Energy
By: Rachel Connelly and Jack Hord
lamp, 1 stop watch, sand, and water. Then the following procedures are given to the
students from the teacher (demonstration can be done if necessary).
i.
Write down all the materials you see at your station (in front of them) in
the Materials section of your activity sheet.
ii.
The students will measure out 30mL of sand (one per group) and pour it
into one plastic tray.
a. Remind them this represents sand.
iii.
The students will measure out 30mL of water (one per group) and pour it
into the other plastic tray.
a. Remind them this represents water.
b. This shows the students that the same amount of water and sand are in
each of the plastic trays.
iv.
The students will then place one thermometer in each plastic tray (one
down in the water and one down in the sand).
a. You might want to circle the room and make sure that all the
thermometers are cover in either sand or water.
b. To remind the students you might want to ask “What do you measure
with a thermometer?”
c. Also “What units of measurement do you use with a thermometer?”
v.
Then explain to the students that they need to take the starting temperature
at this time and write them in the appropriate boxes on the activity sheet.
Also tell the students that they need to take the temperature of the sand
and water every 2 minutes. This will be 8 minutes with the lamp on and
then 8 minutes with the lamp off.
a. Make sure and point out that they only need to turn the lamp on once
and the lamp off once.
b. The teacher might want to keep the time on the stop watch (depending
on the class).
Then tell the students they can start by turning on their heat lamps and
starting the 8 minutes with the lamp on.
a. Reminding them to take readings every 2 minutes.
vi.
Evaluation
After the students complete their experiment and have their data table filled on the
activity sheet. The students test their knowledge by being given a graph sheet (Please see
Exploring the Sun’s Energy Graph Sheet) and graphing the data that they collected. They
have to label the axes, title the graph, include a key (box provided), and summarize the
trends in the graph. The students also write a conclusion on the activity sheet (Please see
Exploring the Sun’s Energy Activity Sheet) and answering the question ‘How does the
energy from the sun affect the Earth’s surfaces?’ The students will also write what
Exploring the Sun’s Energy
By: Rachel Connelly and Jack Hord
happened during the experiment and summarize the changes in temperature. (The
evaluation can be done for homework or during the next class depending on time)
Teacher notes:
Students gain the knowledge that land heats and cools much faster than the water. So
during the day (while heat lamp is on), the land will heat up faster than the water. Also,
students will take measurements with the heat lamp off (this represents nighttime).
Students will notice that once again, the land changes temperature the fastest and cools
much faster than the water. This experiment will enable the teacher to talk about the
heating and cooling differences of water and land in later lesson plans.
The lesson, from start to finish, took 50 minutes, and the children loved to see the
changes in temperature. To save time you can already have the thermometers in the trays
and have the sand and water in the trays. Also you can take time (count down every 2
minutes) yourself for the whole class to make sure everyone is staying on task.
Placing the heat lamp hanging straight down close to the sand and water, gave larger
changes in temperature. Also putting the children in small groups of 2 seemed like it
worked best.