LESSON PLAN EXAMPLE: SCIENCE, GRADE 5

Date: April 27 - 2021

Teacher(s) Name: Esra Erkal
Grade: 5, Science
Subject Topic: Solar System, Earth-Sun-Moon- Day and Night Cycle
Lesson Plan Type: Discuission and Consept attainment, demonstration
Time Line: 3 weeks. ( I plan to complete it in 7 lessons with lessons divided into sections of 40
minutes.)

TEKS Objectives

5.8 Earth and space. The student knows that there are recognizable patterns in the natural world
and among the Sun, Earth, and Moon system.

5.8(C) demonstrate that Earth rotates on its axis once approximately every 24 hours causing
the day/night cycle and the apparent movement of the Sun across the sky.

5.8(D)identify and compare the physical characteristics of the Sun, Earth, and Moon

Key Vocabulary

5.8C axis, day/night cycle, rotate (rotation), shadow, appears, model, sphere
5.8D revolve (revolution), feature, composition, crater, atmosphere, light source

Lesson Objectives

Students will learn the terms related to the topic.

They will learn the properties of the Earth, Sun and Moon.

Students will learn how day night occurs.

Students will learn why the sun moves across the sky.
Students will learn that the Earth revolves around itself.
Students will learn about the formation of day and night and will be able to explain it with the
rotational movement of the Earth around itself.
They will be able to explain the appearance of the sun moving in the sky throughout the day with
the rotational motion of the Earth around itself.
They will be able to express that the Earth rotates around the Sun at the same time.
Students will be able to create and present a model that represents the Sun, Earth and Moon
together.

Materials

Class books, computer and internet, projection, videos, worksheets, markers, papers, glue,
scissors, student notebooks, balls, rope ext.

Introduction

Set Induction

Starts with some questions:

Where was the sun when you woke up in the morning? Is the sun always in the same place?

What would or would not have happened if our world had never moved?

Students said, "What would / or wouldn't have happened if our Earth hadn't moved at all?
They search for an answer by discussing.

My aim in doing this is to prepare the students before the lesson, to increase their motivation,
to awaken their curiosity.

Enabling Prior Knowledge

Having students watch an animated diagram of the Sun, Earth and Moon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QcgDiF1a14
I want them to give me 5 observations about the displayed image. Then I ask them to make 5
conclusions about animation.

Then I divide them into groups of two. Each student shares their observations and inferences
with their elbow partner. Later, they join another pair of students and share their ideas with
them and listen to their new pair observations and inferences. After everyone has shared, I give
each one a blank sentence strip. As a group, they must decide which two observations and two
implications to share. When they finish writing them, they put these sentences on the board
underneath. We read the observations and inferences made as a class.

Teaching Vocabulary
I continue displaying the animated diagram and use it to identify terms related to the shapes of
the Sun, Earth, and moon, and their placement, motion and movement. I apply the terms:
axis,rotate, revolve, orbit, to each relevant part of the animated diagram. I define each word on
the board and have students write and illustrate each term in their notebook.

Vocabulary page
I do this to help students develop their academic language and to recognize the motion and
movement associated with each term. They need to use these terms in the next half of the
lesson as they examine three different claims about the relationship of the Sun, Earth,moon.

Vocabulary page example

Developing An Understanding of Earth's Place in Space

We discuss the perceptions as a whole class about Earth's, moon's, and Sun's placement and
movement in space. I post three claims.

 Claim 1: The Moon and the Sun both circle the Earth 
 Claim 2: The Moon circles the Earth while the sun circles them both
 Claim 3: Moon circles the Earth while the Earth circles the sun

Sun and Earth in the Starring

I draw an elliptical orbit showing the orbit of the Earth with chalk on the floor of the classroom.
(It should not be said that the shape of the drawn orbit is an ellipse.). I will give four students
the role of the Sun and one of the students as Earth, who are back to back. The student, who
takes the role of the Earth, follows the trajectory drawn on the ground around the students
who take the role of the Sun while rotating around themselves. Students interpret the
movements of the Earth and the Sun by observing in this play they have staged. A flashlight is
given to each of the students in the sun role. By drawing attention to the enlightened and dark
parts of the student who plays the role of the world around himself, the students act out the
event day and night. Discusses the formation of the year and day from time zones because the
sun appears to be moving across the sky. It is determined based on the results of natural
events, day / night and year; It is pointed out that time zones such as weeks, months and hours
are considered arbitrary by people.

Building a Model

In this part of our lesson, I will ask them to make a model that will show the movements of the
Earth and the moon relative to the Sun.
This type of model will give students a visual of the motion of the Earth and the moon.
As they work on their models, I will talk to the students to make sure their models are correct.
After students have finished their models, I discuss with students how models and diagrams can
help us understand something more concretely rather than reading.

Cr ea t ed b y Mel issa Ygl esia s

www.mor et ime2t ea ch .b l ogspot .com
Their assignment is to explain the Sun's, Earth's, and moon's position and the movement in
relation to each other. In their explanation, they are describing how they use their model to
support the claim. Each explanation must include the terms from earlier in the lesson: axis,
rotate, revolve, orbit, sphere.

Students work on these for the remainder of the class and continue for homework. I collect
them and use them as a formative assessment.

INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES and PROCEDURES

ENGAGE – Sun, Earth, and Moon Size Comparison

1. Display to the class the paper models of the Sun, Earth, and Moon, but do not tell them what
they represent.
2. Encourage the students to brainstorm as to what the circles could represent.

3. After the students have had the opportunity to share their thinking, guide them in a discussion
using the following questions:

What do the three circles represent?

The circles represent the Sun, Earth, and Moon.

How could we make the circles a better model to represent the Sun, Earth, and Moon?

Some acceptable responses could include: the models should be spheres, have physical features,
be spaced apart appropriately, colored appropriately, and the Sun should radiate light and heat.

4. Ask students to share their observations and thinking with the class.

5. Start with object #1, the Moon, and ask students to volunteer to share their answer with the
class. Acknowledge all answers. If students did not have the following answers, write them on
the projected copy or board: causes the tides and reflects the Sun’s light into our night sky.

6. Repeat step #4 with object #2, the Earth. Provides water and an atmosphere.

7. Repeat step #4 with object #3, the Sun. Provides heat and light, holds planets in
their orbits, and causes weather to happen on Earth.

EXPLORE/ EXPLAIN – Characteristics of the Sun Suggested Day

Distribute the Handout: Physical Characteristics Comparison Table to each student. Instruct
students to affix the chart into their Science Notebooks.
The information gathered and recorded in the chart will help the students in comparing the Sun,
Earth, and Moon.

2. Guide and assist students to record the appropriate information onto their Handout: Physical
Characteristics Comparison Table throughout the lesson.

3. Assist the students in assimilating new information about the Sun by guiding a class
discussion with the use of the following discussion points: The star nearest to Earth is the Sun,
which is in the center of our solar system. The Sun is a sphere of burning gas; it does not have a
solid surface. The Sun does rotate, but it turns faster in the middle than it does at the poles. This
is because it is composed of gases, so it does not move as a unit.

Temperatures on the Sun range from 6000–15,000,000 degrees Celsius. This tremendous heat

radiates through space and warms our Earth. Although our Sun is considered to be a small-to-
average star, it still measures about 1.4 million km across. This means that a million Earths could
fit inside the Sun! Its great mass is what gives the Sun its strong gravitational pull. The
Sun’s gravitational pull is what keeps all of the planets in our solar system in orbit around it.
One-hundred-nine Earths would fit along the diameter of the Sun.

4. Let the students be the sun world and the moon. Let the student with a sunshine have a
flashlight in his hand. Let the earth and the moon move by drawing an ellipse on the orbit and
observe which parts of the world receive light in the meantime. I wrote above how to do it.

Elaborate

1. Distribute the Handout: What Characteristic is This? to each student.

2. Instruct students to read the directions. Answer any questions they may have. (The directions
are straightforward: label the pictures that are provided; draw pictures for the phrases provided.)
3. After students have labeled and illustrated the handout, they will create a game
that uses these cards. Although they may suggest games like “go fish” or
“concentration/memory”, encourage students to be more creative.  4. You may want to have
students work in groups of four for the game creation. The rules and procedures for the game
should be clearly written.
Differentiated Instruction

The focus of these activities is our solar system, focusing on the Sun-Earth-moon
system and comparing and contrasting the Sun, Earth, and moon.

1. Sun-Earth-Moon System Model

After I teach the students about the positions and orbits of the sun, the Earth, and the moon, I
have the students create a model. The model I mentioned above can challenge different
learning students. Therefore, I will give them different materials that they can touch, depending
on the learning situation of the class.

I will give each team a sheet with a marble, a wiffle ball, a training golf ball (a table tennis ball
may also work), some sticky notes, and a guide.Teams follow the instructions to create their
own Sun, Earth, and Moon models. The use of materials such as colors and balls will facilitate
the teaching.

Su n , Ea r t h , a n d
Mo o n Mo d e l
1. With yo u r te a m , lo o k a t th e m a te ria ls
yo u h a ve a va ila b le .

2. Ma ke a m o d e l th a t sh o w s Ea rth ’s o rb it
a ro u n d th e Su n a n d th e m o o n ’s o rb it
a ro u n d Ea rth .

3. Use th e p o st-its to la b e l im p o rta n t p a rts

o f yo u r m o d e l.

4. Dra w yo u r m o d e l in yo u r stu d e n t n o te s.
Be su re to in c lu d e la b e ls.

5. Brie fly d e sc rib e w h a t yo u r m o d e l sh o w s.

In c lu d e e xtra in fo rm a tio n to sh o w w h a t
yo u kn o w a b o u t th e Su n -Ea rth -Mo o n
syste m .

6. Write a t le a st 2 lim ita tio n s o f th is m o d e l.

© 2014 The Science Penguin Inc.

.
2-Compare & Compare the Sun, Earth and Moon

This activity is simple and gets straight to the point.

This file contains:

• Photos of the Sun, Earth and Moon
• Sun, Earth and Moon Information Pages
• Facts Table (for students to fill out) and key
• Rank Cards for a Triple Venn Chart
3- Video Games

Video games can be effective especially for students who learn differently.

If I am doing the lesson on a digital platform, there are comparative games of Earth, Sun and
Moon on the wordwall application. The features are given and the student will find out which
one they belong to. It is both entertaining and instructive. After explaining the features of all of
them in our lesson, I can give games like this.

https://wordwall.net/tr/resource/7000876/earth-sun-moon

Evaluation

The Out of This World-A Journey Through Our Solar System unit focuses on students
recognizing that Earth is a part of the “solar system” that includes the sun, planets, moons, and
stars and is the third planet from the sun. Through models, investigations, graphing, and
computer simulations, students learn that Earth revolves around the sun in a year’s time, and
rotates on its axis once approximately every 24 hours. They make connections between the
rotation of the earth and day/night, and the apparent movement of the sun, moon, and stars across
the sky, as well as changes that occur in the observable shape of the moon over a month. The
unit wraps up as students learn about the brightness of stars, patterns they create in the sky, and
why some stars and constellations can only be seen at certain times of the year.

While this lesson is being taught, teachers should consider modeling how groups should work
together; Establish group norms for activities, classroom discussions, and partner discussions.
Additionally, it is important to model thinking aloud strategies. This allows students to become
more expressive and improve their thinking skills during an activity. I tried to make my lesson
open to discussion. So I made them feel confident in themselves and listen to the lesson more
carefully. I intervene as soon as the students leave their duties with reminders and directions. I
have included a variety of activities for students with different learning abilities. And in this
case, I was especially dedicated to working in small groups.

Questions

How are our 24 time zones related to Earth’s rotation?

Each day the sun appears to rise, move across the sky and set. However, this doesn’t happen at
the same time in every location on Earth. To adjust our clocks so that everyone has daytime
during the same hours, it is necessary to use time zones. This way, anywhere you are on earth,
the sun will be as high in the sky as it can be at noon.

The shadow of a groundhog (or anything else) is determined by what?

The length of a shadow is determined by where the sun appears to be in the sky. If the sun is
close to the horizon, a shadow will be long. If the sun is directly overhead, the shadow will be
very short.

What happens when Earth rotates on its axis and how long does it take?

Earth rotates once on its axis once every 24 hours. During that time, all locations on Earth
experience day and night because they will be facing toward the sun for part of the day and
away from the sun for another part (night).

How many times does Earth rotate on its axis in one year?

Earth rotates (spins) 365.25 times in a year. It rotates once every twenty four hours, while also
orbiting the sun once every 365.25 days. These two motions are happening at the same time.

What evidence do we have that the Earth rotates?

An invention called a Foucault pendulum provides evidence that the Earth is rotating on its axis.
The swinging pendulum would always trace a straight line as it swings back and forth if it were
sitting on an unmoving surface. However, as time goes by the path of the pendulum changes,
providing evidence that the surface it is sitting on (the earth) is rotating.
Closure

Direction

Use what you know about the Sun, Earth, and Moon to make an acrostic foe each.

Write a phrase about each body in space using each letter in its name.

Here is an example Mars :

Mankind has never been

Axis tilted 25 degrees
Revolves around the Sun
Size is smaller than Earth
Worksheets