Monica Trickett

14 March 2015
ELED 3221
Earth and its Seasons
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Central Focus/Big Idea: The Reason for the Seasons
Subject of this lesson: The tilt of the Earths axis and its revolution around the sun causes
Earths seasons.
Grade Level: 3rd Grade
NC Essential Standard(s):
2.E.1.3 Compare weather patterns that occur over time and relate observable patterns to time of
day and time of year.
3.E.1.1 Recognize that the earth is part of a system called the solar system that includes the sun
(a star), planets, and many moons and the earth is the third planet from the sun in our solar
system
4.E.1.1 Explain the cause of day and night based on the rotation of Earth on its axis.
Next Generation Science Standard(s):
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Obtain and combine information from books and other reliable media to explain phenomena. (3ESS2-2)
Academic Language Demand
Language Function: Students should already know the solar system and its parts. In this
lesson, students will be expected to describe and explain in at least three sentences how
the sun and the Earth cause the seasons to happen on Earth.
Analyze

Argue

Categorize

Interpret

Predict

Question

Compare/contras
t
Retell

Describe

Explain

Summarize

Scientific Vocabulary: Axis, revolution, rotation, orbit, day, year, season.

Instructional Objective: Students will be able to accurately describe and explain in writing in at
least three sentences why and how the seasons happen on Earth.
Prior Knowledge (student): The students should know that there are four seasons. They should
know that the Earth is the third planet and it revolves around the sun. They should know that
Earth rotates.

Content Knowledge (teacher): The teacher needs to understand that Earth rotates on an axis (23
degree angle), which causes the seasons. Also, Earths rotation causes day and night and that the
Earth revolves around the sun. Each revolution is a year. It is important that the teacher
understands that it is not necessarily the distance the Earth is that causes the seasons but it is the
angle at which the sun is hitting the Earth.
Accommodations for special needs: The tables are set up so that there is a mix of higher level,
middle level and lower level students. This will help the lower level students.
Materials and Technology requirements: There are five tables that each seats four students.
Each table will need a globe (blue ball with green drawn on to show land) and a flashlight. Each
table will also need two laptops (1 laptop per partnership) to complete the online simulation that
is part of the lesson. The students will also need a writing utensil and their science notebooks for
any notes that they need to take. The teacher will need the smart board to play the online video
and possibly the white board if the smart board does not work.
Total Estimated Time: 40 minutes
Source of lesson:
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/solar-system/dayon-earth.htm
http://thirdgradethinkers8.blogspot.com/2011/11/science-earth-cycles.html
http://highered.mheducation.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?
it=swf::800::600::/sites/dl/free/0072482621/78778/Seasons_Nav.swf::Seasons%20Interactive
Safety considerations: Instruct the students to not point the flashlight in anyones eyes. Tell
them to keep food and drink away from the laptops and not to throw the globes.

Content and Strategies (Procedure)

Engage: The students will gather on the carpet. I will ask the students to turn and talk to their
partner about what they know about seasons, the Earth, and the sun. I will be listening while the
students discuss to pick out any discussion that I think is worth sharing. Then, We will come
back together as a group and discuss what the students came up with. I will tell the students that
each groups table has a globe and a flashlight that they will use to help them explore these ideas.
They are free to use these materials to explore why the seasons may happen on Earth. I will
make sure to tell them that they are to be very careful with the flashlights. There should be no
flashlights at eye level.
Explore: I will tell the students to go back to their tables and use these materials to come up with
an explanation as to why seasons happen. They will write down their ideas in their notebooks. I
will tell them to pretend that the flashlight is the sun and the globe is the Earth. I will instruct to
make sure they are holding the flashlight still because the sun does not move. Only the globe can
move around the sun. Do not move the globe up and down around the sun. Show the students
how they should make a revolution. They are free to play with how the earth rotates. I will
encourage them to use what they know about the Earth and the sun to make conclusions about
the seasons. I will be walking around asking the students to think about these sorts of questions:
What happens when you move the globe in different ways?
Does it change the way the light hits it?
What happens to the light when the Earth is spinning?
What causes night and day? Why do you think so?
How long do you think it takes the Earth to make one rotation? Why?
Can the whole world see daylight at the same time?
What do you think causes seasons? Why?
What does it mean to rotate on an axis?
Explanation: After the students have used the materials in a group to come up with their own
explanation of how seasons happen, we will gather on the carpet again. Some of the groups will
share the explanations that they came up with. I will also ask the students some of these
questions and we will discuss as a class.
What causes night and day? Why do you think so?
How long do you think it takes the Earth to make one rotation? Why?
Can the whole world see daylight at the same time?
What do you think causes seasons? Why?
What does it mean to rotate on an axis?
How long does our day last and why do you think that is?
Why do you think a year is 365 days?
Does that have anything to do with the sun and the Earth?

After we discuss these questions, I will play the Study Jams video: A Day on Earth (3:52) on the
smart board. This video will explain the reasons why the seasons happen. The students will be
able to judge whether what they came up with in the explore stage was accurate or not. After the
video we will discuss what the students learned from the video and talk about if their reason for
why seasons happened was right or why it was wrong. We will also go over some of the
questions we discussed before the video.
(if for some reason, the smart board is not working, I will use the white board to draw the Earth
and the sun and show how the Earth orbits the sun on an axis. Because the Earth is on an axis,
the light from the sun hits the Earth differently).
Elaborate: After our small discussion on the carpet, students will have the opportunity to go
back to their desks and look at the concept in a different way. There will be two students per
laptop. The students will go to http://highered.mheducation.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?
it=swf::800::600::/sites/dl/free/0072482621/78778/Seasons_Nav.swf::Seasons%20Interactive
(we added the link to their class webpage so that it would be a more efficient process) which is a
simulations that shows why seasons happen. The students will set up the simulation so that the
earth has the correct tilt (23 degree angle) first and then after they see what happens, they are
free to explore. I will encourage the students to make observations and inferences while they
explore. I will ask to students:
What happens when you change the inclination angle of the Earth?
What happens to the daily temperature when the angle is changed? Why?
What other things do you notice while doing the simulation?
(If the simulation does not work, then we will come back together as a group and do a large class
demonstration with the globe and the flashlight).
Evaluate: The students will be given a half sheet of paper and be required to accurately explain
in at least three sentences why seasons happen on Earth. There are formative assessments
throughout the lesson. The students are being assessed when we are having discussions on the
carpet and also when they share their explanations of the cause of the season in the beginning.
To be complete after the lesson is taught as appropriate
Assessment Results of all objectives/skills: More than half of the class was able to accurately
describe and explain, in at least three sentences, why the seasons happen on Earth and received a
mastery grade on the assessment. The students that were proficient, but did not master the
objective lacked detail in their explanation, and did not explain in three sentences. There were a
few students who did not understand the concept at all and did not provide a relevant response.
Reflection on lesson: Separate Document.

Name:________________________

Date:________________

Explain and describe in at least three sentences how and why our seasons happen on Earth.

Name:________________________

Date:________________

Explain and describe in at least three sentences how and why our seasons happen on Earth.