Mapping the Sun’s Path Across the Sky
Jessica Adams
Christina LaBond
Science Standard:
E.ST.04.25 Describe the apparent movement of the sun and moon across the sky through the day/night and the seasons.
Grade Level: Fourth Grade
Lesson Overview:
After completion of this lesson, students will be able to:
Identify and describe the astronomical concepts of the celestial sphere, revolution, rotation, elliptical, solstice and equinox.
Describe and define what the apparent movement of an object means.
Describe the apparent movement of both the sun and moon across the sky through both the day and night.
Describe why the path of the sun and moon changes during the course of the four seasons.
List of Materials:
Hyperlinks to Possible Phase One Videos- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKUhLKbBnsI&feature=PlayList&p=EF52F7
85F3914EE2&index=11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuiQvPLWziQ&feature=PlayList&p=49A27
D7DD27FCBB2&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK4a7kWb6Ro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXIWpXkyMqs&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vUObZwLJ8A&feature=related
Phase One- Engage the Learner:
Engage the students by asking questions such as:
Has anyone here ever woke up in the morning only to think that you just did not want to get up?
What would happen if one day, the sun did not feel like rising?
Discuss with them what kinds of things would happen. Such as:
No sunrise/sunset
No change in day/night
It would be hard to keep track of time.

Once students have become engaged in the concepts of the lesson, the teacher will explore the concepts by showing the students videos that depict the apparent path of the sun from different locations and times of the year on Earth. After each video, the teacher will pause and discuss with the students about what they saw and brainstorm why they saw what they did. The teacher will list the student’s ideas about the concept into a KWL chart that will be completed later in the lesson.
Phase Two- Explore The Concept:
Students will then become observers of the night sky and plot the path of the moon as they see it from their home every night after school for fourteen days. At the end of the fourteen days, students will display their observations inside the classroom. They will then write a short essay on why they think the moon made the movements that it did during their week of observations. After reading the students narratives, the teacher will discuss their observations with the students and will introduce the concept of the phases of the moon to the students. The teacher must include references to the students work during the class discussion and allow the students to voice why they think they saw what they did.
Phase Three- Explain the Concept and Define the Terms:
At this stage of the lesson, the teacher will introduce the scientific concepts that the students observed during their study of the moon phases and will link this concept to that of the apparent movement of the sun and explain how it too appears to move when in fact it actually pretty much stays in place. The teacher will use two different books to introduce the students to this part of the lesson. The teacher will first read the book “Sun
Up and Sun Down” by Gail Gibbons and then will read “The Moon Seems to Change” by
Franklyn M. Branley to the students. After both books have been read, the teacher will begin her lecture on the astronomical concepts related to this lesson. The teacher will explain to the students the concept of the celestial sphere and how the moon and sun’s apparent movement is actually caused by the Earth’s rotation and revolution around the sun. After introducing these concepts, the class will form a model of the universe to illustrate these concepts. One student will be the sun and will stand in the center of the classroom. One student will be chosen to be the moon and will stand in the outside circle of the classroom. Another student will be chosen to be the Earth and will stand next to the student who was chosen to be the moon. Once these three students have been chosen, the model of the universe will begin by having the sun remain centered while the Earth rotates and revolves around it and the moon rotates and revolves around the Earth. This live action model will get the students moving around and will help them to visualize the concepts of planetary and celestial motion.

Phase Four- Elaborate on The Concept:
Glue the half sphere down onto the flat piece of cardboard to hold it in place.
Place the clear plastic dome over the half sphere. Mark the cardboard and the bottom of the dome so that you can remember what position it was in if it gets moved. Tape the celestial hemisphere onto the piece of cardboard. The half sphere will represent the surface of the Earth and the plastic dome or kitchen strainer will represent the celestial hemisphere (half of the celestial sphere). The celestial sphere is the area surrounding the Earth where all of the objects in the sky are located. Using your pencil or marking pen or round-headed pins, draw a small circle on the top of your half sphere. This circle will represent your position on Earth. Your position has to remain fixed on Earth in order for us to observe how the sun moves across the sky. Take your Earth and celestial hemisphere and place it on a flat, level surface outside at the beginning of a sunny day. Using the marking pen or round-headed pins, move them around the celestial hemisphere until the shadow of the pen or pin tip falls on the solid circle you drew that represents your position on Earth. Mark that point on the celestial hemispher e. Label the point as the first point in the sun’s path. Continue to mark the sun’s position by repeating step three once every hour. Don’t forget to label your marks so that you are aware of the order that they were done in. Once you have completed your observations, use the marking pen or string to connect all of the points together. The path that you see on the celestial hemisphere represents the path that the sun took during the day in the sky.
Phase Five- Evaluate Students’ Understanding of The Concept:
Evaluating the students understanding of the concepts will include a short quiz/worksheet consisting of the vocabulary words used throughout the lesson. Some of the questions can include:
What do you think the sun’s path would have looked like if our position was at the bottom of the hemisphere which represents the Earth’s equator? Draw your hypothesis below and then repeat the experiment to test your hypothesis.
If we did this experiment during the winter instead of the fall, what do you think the sun’s path would look like? Why do you think it looks this way? Remember that the more direct sunlight your position on earth receives, the warmer the climate will be.
You are standing at the equator and you notice that the sun’s path follows a straight line directly from south to north. What equinox or solstice is the earth

positioned at? What about if the sun traveled directly north to south? Why are these two days significant?
Explain why the north and south pole both experience at least one day or twentyfour hours of complete darkness and another day of at least twenty-four hours of sunlight during another part of the year.
After a class discussion about the entire lesson, the original essays (from phase 2) will be handed back to the students. They will be asked to write a final draft of the essay by incorporating the new terms and showing there is a thorough understanding of the concepts. They should also include the suns apparent path across the sky.
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References:
Gardner, R. (1997). Science project ideas about the sun. Springfield, NJ: Enslow
Publishers, Inc.