Earth Science – Grade 3
Earth/Solar system
Standards:
 Recognize the Earth’s position in the solar system.
 Explain how Earth’s rotation causes day and night and makes the sun and stars appear to move
 Identifies and explains the changes in the observable shape of the moon
 Describe the water cycle and how it affects climate.
Teacher Background
The Sun – Earth- Moon system was obvious to people since the dawn of time, but it took almost 1500
years to figure it out correctly. Every student will have an idea about how the Sun, Earth, Moon
system works. It is important to get their ideas out on the table to be able to correct inaccuracies.
Student survey http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/pup/studentquestions.html
It is very difficult to understand how other objects move, when you are also moving. Think of the
paper boy trying to hit the front porch while riding his bike. It is easy when standing still, very
difficult when moving. It will take several different ways of presenting this information for students
to finally grasp how all three move together.
The other difficult aspect is the size of our solar system and Universe. It is called space for a reason.
There isn’t much matter out there and things are very far away. These concepts can be taught, but
look for misunderstandings to address.
A Private Universe http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/pup/
Moon, Earth and sun viewer
http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html
Model solar system plan
http://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/index.html
http://solar.physics.montana.edu/tslater/plunger/tissue.htm
General solar system info
http://www.efn.org/~jack_v/teaching.html
Nine planets tour
http://dept.physics.upenn.edu/nineplanets/
Your weight on other planets
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/index.html
Moon Quiz game
http://www.firstschoolyears.com/science/solar/interactive/moonframes.htm
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Moon phase calculation
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/java/MoonPhase.html
Earth/Moon relative size and distance
http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/pup/act_earthmoonintro.html
Moon Phases Background
A video that likens moon phases to a baseball field - Earth is always the pitcher, the sun is always the
catcher, and the moon is running the bases. 1st base = first quarter, etc.
http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_phases.phtml
Model Solar System
Build a scale model of the solar system for both distance and size outdoors. This will help children to
understand why it is called space and why alien visitors is highly unlikely. Every once in a while, stop
and consider the distances covered and look back.
Using a scale of 100,000 miles = 1 inch
The solar system can be represented by the following
Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Moon
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto (if included)
Grade 3 Earth Science
8 inch ball (soccer ball)
pinhead
peppercorn
peppercorn
pinhead
pinhead
chestnut or pecan
Acorn
peanut or coffee bean
peanut or coffee bean
pinhead
10 paces from the Sun
9 paces from Mercury
7 paces
2.4 inches from Earth
14 paces from Earth
95 paces from Mars
112 paces from Jupiter
249 paces from Saturn
281 paces from Uranus
242 paces from Neptune
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Lesson 1 – Moon Phase Lab
Question: Why does the moon change shape?
Materials:
Moons
moon phase paper
Procedure:
1. Have students sit in small groups.
2. Students represent the Earth
3. Choose a wall to represent the sun
4. Have a student in the group move the moon ball to eight positions represented by 12, 3, 6 and 9
and ½ way in between each of those positions until they have eight pictures.
5. Students will draw the portion of the moon ball that is bright (foil covered or white)
Another version with a light http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/pup/act_moonphase.html
Questions:
1. Did the moon change shape or just appear to change shape?
2. Label the different pictures on your sheet with the names of the moon phases.
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Lesson 2 - Keep a Moon Journal
Have students keep a journal of the moon phases with drawings and writing for a period
of two weeks or one month. View the moon, draw what you see, record the time and
place each evening. Ask students to try and explain why things changed over time.
Lesson 3 – You Are a Rocket
Teacher background: Young students know about the Sun and the Moon. They can
look outside each day or night and see one of them. They may not, however, know that
the Sun is way farther away than the Moon. To them, they each take up about the same
amount of space in the sky.
Procedure:
1. Take your class outside. Set up a starting point that represents earth. First, ask
them which they think is closer, the sun or the moon.
2. Then, ask them how much further away they think the Moon is to the Earth
compared to the Sun, or vice versa.
3. Have them first run 392 yards (as rockets, of course.) Tell them they just ran to
the Sun. Ask them again, whether they think the Moon will be closer or farther.
4. Then have them run one yard. Tell them that that is how big the difference is
between the distance to the Moon from Earth, compared to the first run that
represents to Earth to the Sun.
5. The Sun is about 392 times farther from Earth than the Moon is (on average.) Go
back to your classroom and explain the difference on the board or on paper, and
then explain to them the reason they look the same in the sky is the fact that the
Sun is so much larger than the moon.
Lesson 4 – Which is Biggest?
Teacher Background: It can be difficult to explain to your young students just how
large the earth is. This makes it about 100 times as difficult to explain how big the sun is.
Volume can be tough at this age, so we are sticking to diameter. For this exercise, you
will use pennies. Ask all of your students to bring in pennies on a certain day.
Materials: pennies
Procedure:
1. Once the pennies are in, ask your kids what they think is the smallest of Moon, Earth,
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and Sun. Guide the consensus towards moon. Have one penny represent the size of the
Moon.
2. Have the students put one penny on the middle of the floor to represent the Moon.
Then, underneath the 'Moon penny' have them start with one penny, and keep adding
until the get to four across. Tell them that that is how much bigger the Earth is compared
to the Moon.
3. Then, underneath the one-penny long Moon row, and the four penny long Earth row,
one at a time start placing pennies side by side to make a third row. Once they get to one
hundred tell them to stop. That is how much wider the sun is compared to the Earth and
Moon.
4. Have a conversation about their thoughts about this. They are sure to come up with
some really clever insights on this realization.
Lesson 5 – Earth, Moon, and Sun Motion
Objectives:
 Students will understand that the Earth rotates or spins on its axis.
 Students will understand that the Sun rotates or spins on its axis.
 Students will understand that the Earth revolves or orbits around the Sun.
 Students will understand that the motion of the Sun and Earth are cyclical.
Procedure:
1.
Locate an area where students can draw on the playground surface and divide students
into small groups.
2. Ask one group to draw a large Sun on the blacktop (a circle, 2 feet in diameter, filled
with yellow, orange or red).
3. Ask a second group to draw the Earth (a circle, 10-inches in diameter, filled with blue
chalk). Note: Sizes are not to scale.
4. Have another group draw the Earth’s orbit around the Sun with blue chalk (orbit should
be at least 10 feet in diameter). Note: Sizes do not represent the actual scale of the
Earth-Sun system.
5. Select one student to act as the Earth and one student to act as the Sun.
6. Explain that the Sun is at the center of the solar system and that it rotates
approximately once every 27 days. Explain that it is a cycle. Ask the “Sun” how
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he or she should move. Ask, “Is this fast or slow?”
7. Slowly turn the “Sun” to demonstrate rotation. The Sun should spin slowly in a
counterclockwise direction while standing in one spot.
8. Explain that the Earth also rotates in a cycle. The rotation is completed once every 24
hours. Ask, “Is the Earth faster or slower than the Sun?” They should answer,
“faster than the Sun.” Ask the “Earth” how he or she should move.
9. Turn the “Earth” as it moves along the lined orbit to demonstrate rotation and
revolution. Note that the Earth should rotate and revolve in a counterclockwise
direction.
10. Reminder: This is not a race and the rate of speed is constant and steady.
11. Explain that it takes an entire year for the Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun.
12. Ask students, "How many times has the Earth revolved around the Sun since you were
born?"
13. Get your “characters” moving in rotation/revolution.
14. Assign the “Sun” and “Earth” roles to another set of students and repeat the
rotation/revolution.
15. At the conclusion ask students, “Which role was the hardest to play, and why?" Take a
vote. Generally, students will respond “the Earth” since it rotates and revolves!
16. Return to the classroom and distribute the work sheets for students to complete.
http://www.eyeonthesky.org/lessonplans/06sun_motionplayground.html
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Lesson 6 - Orbit modeling
Teacher Background: Now that your students know that the Sun is far away from us,
and much larger, it is time to put the above lessons together in a VERY basic lesson in
orbits.
Procedure:
1. Tell them the Earth revolves around the Sun in a circle, because the Sun is bigger
and has more pull. At this point, take a volunteer from your class as the Sun (they
will stand still) and one as the Earth, who will rotate around the Sun.
2. THEN, tell them that since the Moon is closer to and smaller than the Earth, that
IT revolves around the Earth while the Earth revolves around the Sun. Have
students take turns trying to run around the person playing the Earth, while they
slowly walk in circles around the person playing the Sun. They may not fully
understand the logic behind this exercise, but it is a fun one, and it will lay the
groundwork for them to one day grasp our place in the Solar System.
3. Next, When the Earth students are orbiting, have them face the same direction.
This is the equivalent of being in a spot on the Earth.
4. Have the orbiting students stop at different times in the orbit and describe what
they see on the classroom wall. The objects on the wall represent stars. The stars
are not moving, but we are, yet we see different things as we stop in different
places in the orbit.
Lesson 7 - Building a Solar System Model in a Hallway.
Use a hallway to represent the distances between the planets in order for students to
understand the size of our system. Once you walk it, you will understand why it is called
“space”
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/
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Lesson 8 - Water Cycle Model
http://www.cas.muohio.edu/scienceforohio/Water1/images/BldFillA.pdf
Water cycle game
http://www.cas.muohio.edu/scienceforohio/Water1/images/GameA.pdf
Lesson 9 - Soil filter
Question: How does soil filter water? Or why is well water good to drink?
Materials:
Water bottle
funnels
dirty water supply (water mixed with dirt)
beaker or cup
Graduated cylinder
Procedure:
1. Poke a few holes into a soda or water bottle cap
2. Cut the bottom off of a soda or water bottle
3. Fill the funnel with sand (a soda bottle top can be used as a funnel)
4. Have students pour 100 ml of dirty water into the funnel and catch the water that
comes out. ( a piece of cotton or such can cover the cap holes if they are too big)
5. Compare the amount of filtered water with the original water amount.
6. Compare the clarity of the filtered water with the original amount.
Extension: Try different soils as filters
Questions:
1. What happened to most of the dirt that was in the dirty water?
2. What happens to the dirty muddy water that forms when it rains?
3. How could the water that goes into the ground get back to the clouds?
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