Science: 4-3.5 Explain how the rotation of Earth results in day and night.
Earth rotates, or spins, on its axis from west to east, causing the sun to appear to rise in the east and set in the west.
|
Essential Question: How does the rotation of Earth results in day and night?
Reasons for Day and Night
When you get up in the morning, it is bright out. It is daytime. Hours later, maybe about the time you are having dinner, it is dark outside. It is nighttime. The pattern of day and night repeats over and over.
We have day and night because Earth spins, or rotates. Look at the diagram below. You can see a line that runs through Earth. It passes through Earth’s center from the North Pole to the South Pole. This imaginary line is called Earth’s axis. Earth rotates on its axis.
The time it takes for Earth to rotate once on its axis is 24 hours, or one day. As Earth rotates, the part of Earth that faces the sun is lit and has daytime. The part that faces away from the sun is in darkness and has nighttime.
Earth spins on its axis from west to east. As a result, the sun seems to rise on the eastern horizon. The horizon is the line where the sky and Earth’s surface seem to meet. During the day, the sun seems to move across the sky from east to west. But the sun does not really move around Earth. It only seems to move in that way because Earth rotates.
The sun rises higher in the sky all morning, until midday. Around noon, the sun is at its highest point in the sky for the day. After this time, the sun appears to move lower and lower in the sky. It finally reaches the horizon in the west. This time of day is sunset. It marks the end of daylight. Your part of Earth then rotates away from the sun. The darkness of night begins.
Reasons for Day and Night
When you get up in the morning, it is bright out. It is daytime. Hours later, maybe about the time you are having dinner, it is dark outside. It is nighttime. The pattern of day and night repeats over and over.
We have day and night because Earth spins, or rotates. Look at the diagram below. You can see a line that runs through Earth. It passes through Earth’s center from the North Pole to the South Pole. This imaginary line is called Earth’s axis. Earth rotates on its axis.
The time it takes for Earth to rotate once on its axis is 24 hours, or one day. As Earth rotates, the part of Earth that faces the sun is lit and has daytime. The part that faces away from the sun is in darkness and has nighttime.
Earth spins on its axis from west to east. As a result, the sun seems to rise on the eastern horizon. The horizon is the line where the sky and Earth’s surface seem to meet. During the day, the sun seems to move across the sky from east to west. But the sun does not really move around Earth. It only seems to move in that way because Earth rotates.
The sun rises higher in the sky all morning, until midday. Around noon, the sun is at its highest point in the sky for the day. After this time, the sun appears to move lower and lower in the sky. It finally reaches the horizon in the west. This time of day is sunset. It marks the end of daylight. Your part of Earth then rotates away from the sun. The darkness of night begins.
Learning Tasks & Assessments: Students will collect evidence from investigations, texts, and videos to explain how the rotation of Earth results in day and night. Students will collect evidence during the close reads and video viewing on the CER organizer. Students will: · participate in investigations · closely read Sun, Earth, Moon from Reading A to Z and the ABDO Digital e-Book Earth · view the DE video Rotation and Revolution · write a scientific explanation to explain how Earth’s rotation results in day and night View Rotation and Revolution (Discovery Ed. Video Segment) and complete Video Viewing Guide. (DOK 2) Close Read: “Sun, Earth, and Moon” (Reading A-Z. Pg. 5-7) and use the text to construct a cause-and-effect model of how rotation causes day and night. (DOK 2) Formative Assessment: Claims, Evidence and Reasoning: How does the rotation of Earth result in day and night?. (DOK 2) Assessment Guidelines: The objective of this indicator is to explain how the rotation of Earth results in day and night; therefore, the primary focus of assessment should be to construct a cause-and-effect model of how rotation causes day and night. However, appropriate assessments should also require students to recall information about rotation; or illustrate day or night on a model or drawing. |
Resources:
Investigation Options: The Cycle of Day and Night - Student Exploration Modeling Day and Night Interactive Site: The Earth and Beyond: Day and Night http://primarygamesarena.com/redirect.php?id=277 Texts for Close Reading: ABDO Digital e-Book: Earth pp. 16-17 Reading A to Z: Sun, Earth, Moon Videos for Viewing: Discovery Education Video: Rotation and Revolution (Video Analysis Sheet) |