8th Grade Science

Lesson Cycle
Lesson Title/Topic: Rotation & Revolution
Standards: 112.20 (b) 7 A: The student is expected to model and illustrate how the tilted Earth
rotates on its axis, causing day and night, and revolves around the sun causing changes in
seasons.
Lesson Objectives: The student will
construct a clay model of the earth rotating
and revolving around the sun with 80%
accuracy.

Assessment (Evaluation): Project

Materials: M51 & Gizmo clip and Earths Revolution animations (see References), markers,
copies of Rotation & Revolution study guide, modeling clay, kabob sticks, toothpicks, notecards,
laptops, exit tickets
The teacher will:
Focus (Engagement):
Play the M51 & Gizmo clip.
Ask students what they learned from the
clip.
Inform students that they will be learning
more about the earths rotation and orbit
around the sun.
Teacher Input (Explanation &
Elaboration):
Draw a T-chart on the board to differentiate
rotation and revolution.
State that, right now, the earth is rotating on
a 23.5 degree tilt called an axis (explain
that students will learn more about the axis
shortly).
Draw on the T-chart a picture of the earth
with a diagonal line going through it and
arrows depicting its rotation; write Spin or
Turn above or below the drawing, and
label the diagonal line as the axis.
State that, as the earth rotates, one side
experiences daytime (such as right now),
while the other side is experiencing
nighttime.
Write day and night on the T-chart.
Ask students how long a day is.
Convey that if there are 24 hours in a day,
then it takes 24 hours for the earth to
complete one rotation.
Write 24 hours or one day on the T-chart.

The student will:

Watch the M51 and Gizmo clip.
Discuss what he/she learned from the clip.

Participate and listen actively to one

another and the teachers input.
Answer questions provided by the teacher.
Stand and spin slowly in place
counterclockwise to represent the rotation
of the earth.
Walk in a circle around the teacher
counterclockwise representing the earth
revolving around the sun.

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Instruct students to stand up; ask students:
If you are Earth, where is the North Pole?
(It would be the top of the head.)
State that, from our perspective on Earth,
the sun rises in the east and set in the west;
ask students: if your left hand is the east
and your right hand in the west, which
direction would you rotate? (They would
turn right or counterclockwise.)
Instruct students to spin slowly in a
counterclockwise direction (to the right) to
represent Earths rotation, then have
students take a seat.
State that, as the earth rotates, it revolves
around the sun.
Draw the sun and Earth with an arrow
depicting the earth going around the sun;
write go around above or below the
drawing.
Ask students how long a year is.
Reiterate that the M51 video showed that it
takes one year, or about 365 days, for the
earth to revolve around the sun.
Write 365 days or one year on the Tchart.
Instruct students to stand in a circle.
Stand in the middle of the circle and act as
the sun, while the students pretend to be the
earth.
Explain that Earth revolves around the sun
in the same direction as it rotates on its
axis: counterclockwise.
Instruct students to walk in a circle
counterclockwise (to their right), making
one trip around the sun and ending back
where they started, then have them take a
seat.
Remind students that the earth is on an
axis, a 23.5 degree tilt; this tilt allows our
planet to experience seasons because one
half (or hemisphere) of the earth is facing
toward the sun while the other hemisphere
is facing away.
Write seasons on the T-chart.
Play Earths Revolution 1; explain that
when the northern hemisphere (our
hemisphere) is facing toward the sun, it is

8th Grade Science

summer. Meanwhile, because the southern
hemisphere is not receiving direct sunlight,
it is winter there. When the northern
hemisphere is facing away from the sun, it
is winter, while it is summer in the southern
hemisphere because it is receiving more
direct sunlight.
Explain that, when its spring or fall, both
hemispheres are receiving direct sunlight.
Remind students that they can access a file
of videos on their laptops to watch
demonstrations of the earths rotation and
revolution.
Take a picture of the T-chart to post online,
then erase the board.
Guided Practice (Exploration):
Pass out Rotation & Revolution study
guides.
Ask students to fill out only one blank that
they know; give students about one minute
to fill out their answer.
Instruct students to stand and find another
student to help them fill out one of the
blanks; when the blank is filled, that
student will initial next to the filled blank
and move on. Give students 2-3 minutes to
fill out their study guides.
Review the answers that students wrote and
provide input.
Independent Practice (Evaluation):
Assign students into groups of four.
Give each group modeling clay, toothpicks,
notecards, and kabob sticks.
Instruct each group to make a clay model
of the earth revolving around the sun; roll
one ball of clay for the sun, put it on a
kabob stick, and stick it to the middle of
the table using extra clay. Then roll four
balls of clay for Earth; use the toothpicks to
represent the earths axis, and put them on
kabob sticks stuck to the table with extra
clay. Place the four Earths around the sun
according to the seasons in the northern
hemisphere: spring, summer, fall, and
winter. Use the notecards to label each
Earth.
Monitor student progress and make sure

Fill out one blank on the study guide on

his/her own.
Ask a colleague to fill out one of the blanks
on the study guide.
Initial next to the filled blank, thank his/her
colleague, and then find another student to
fill out the next blank.
Raise his/her hand when he/she does not
have a partner.

Work with his/her group to create a clay

model of the earth revolving around the
sun, labeling each Earth according to the
season it represents.

8th Grade Science

that all students stay on task.
Take pictures of finished projects.
Closure:
Hand out exit tickets to students.
Write the following questions on the board:
What do you think would happen if
the earth stopped spinning on its
axis?
the earth stopped spinning
around the sun?
the sun disappeared?
Collect exit tickets as students leave the
class.
Options:
Enrichment:
Students have two options:
1) Research other planets in our solar
system: Do they have an axis? How
big are they compared to Earth?
How many Earth days does it take
each one to revolve around the sun?
Predict what would happen on that
planet if it and Earth switched
places. Do you think it would have
seasons? What do you think the
climate would be like? Could we
live on that planet?
2) Investigate either flat earth theory
or geocentric theory and answer the
following questions: Who proposed
the theory? How does it conflict
with what you learned today? Do
people today still believe this theory
to be true? Who disproved the
theory? When was it disproven?
How would you teach the class
about this theory?

Fill out exit ticket by answering one of the

questions provided on the board.

Reteach:
Ask students: Do you get warmer or colder
when sitting close to a fire? When you face
the fire, does your back still feel cold?
State that the way we warm ourselves by
the fire is similar to how the earth
experiences seasons because of its tilted
axis and the sun.
Using Earths Revolution 2, show the
earths rotation and revolution around the
sun from different angles. You or the
student can adjust the perspective of the
earths orbit, either click and drag or play
an animation of the earth revolving around
the sun, and determine where the sunlight
hits the earth as it rotates and revolves.

Modifications:
Follow IEPs of individual students.
References:
M51 & Gizmo can be found on USB drive
Earths Revolution 1:
http://esminfo.prenhall.com/science/geoanimations/animations/01_EarthSun_E2.html

8th Grade Science

Earths Revolution 2: http://astro.unl.edu/naap/motion1/animations/seasons_ecliptic.swf