Exploring Earth and Space: Science Lecture for Primary Teachers

1. Essex Primary SCITT Primary Science Course Lecture 5

2. Review of last time • Develop trainees’ knowledge and understanding of the concept of forces, including: • Magnetic • Friction, including air resistance • Gravitational • Electrical • Consider elements of an effective science lesson plan • Develop trainees’ knowledge and understanding of the scientific enquiry skills of recording, including the use of tables • Develop trainees’ ability to plan and teach scientific activities, including applying scientific knowledge to solve a problem

3. Aims for today • Develop knowledge and understanding of Earth in space. • Develop knowledge and understanding of the concept of light. • Develop knowledge and understanding of the concept of sound. • Further develop your pedagogical skills to a range of tasks.

4. The Earth and Space

5. NC 2014 KS1 : Seasonal Changes • observe changes across the four seasons • observe and describe weather associated with the seasons and how day length varies.

6. Seasonal Changes

7. Learning through books • How would you use this resource with children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the seasons? • https://www.stem.org.uk/system/files/elibrary-resources/legacy_files_migrated/15838-The%20park%20in%20spring.pdf

8. Seasonal changes wheel • https://www.stem.org.uk/system/files/elibrary-resources/legacy_files_migrated/35856-Y1SeasonalChangesdaydiscs.pdf • Where is the learning in this activity? • How could the challenge be increased?

9. National Curriculum KS2 : Y5 Earth and Space • describe the movement of the Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun in the solar system • describe the movement of the Moon relative to the Earth • describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as approximately spherical bodies • use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky.

10. KS2 : Y5 Earth and Space • Pupils should learn that the Sun is a star at the centre of our solar system and that it has eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune • They should understand that a moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet. (Earth has one moon; Jupiter has four large moons and numerous smaller ones).

11. KS2 : Y5 Earth and Space • Pupils should find out about the way that ideas about the solar system have developed, understanding how the geocentric model (earth is in the centre) of the solar system gave way to the heliocentric model (sun is at the centre) by considering the work of scientists such as Ptolemy, Alhazen and Copernicus.

12. Pupils might work scientifically by: • comparing the time of day at different places on the Earth through internet links and direct communication; • creating simple models of the solar system; • constructing simple shadow clocks and sundials, calibrated to show midday and the start and end of the school day; • finding out why some people think that structures such as Stonehenge might have been used as astronomical clocks.

13. Health and Safety • Note: Pupils should be warned that it is not safe to look directly at the Sun, even when wearing dark glasses. • Pupils should be introduced to a model of the Sun and Earth that enables them to explain day and night.

14. Readings • PSR 108 May/June 09 – Whole Edition devoted to Space. • PSR 57 March/April 1999 – ‘An Umbrella for All Seasons’ Mary Williams-Norton. • PSR 59 Sept/Oct 1999 ‘Modelling the Solar System’ Marsh et al. • Achieving QTS Primary Science Knowledge and Understanding : Johnsey, Peacock, Sharp and Wright Chapter 12. • Teaching Science in Primary Schools: G.A Peacock. (Letts) p171-177 Are children interested by space? Of course they are! Read ‘Kids love space’.

15. Space – KWL (Know-Want-Learn) grid

16. What is the Solar System? Prepare to be amazed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtKNH2Y2OJM&safe=active

18. Solar System • Solar System: • Consists of the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity. This includes: • the 8 planets and their moons • the asteroids • the dwarf planets • all the Kuiper belt objects - the meteoroids, comets and interplanetary dust.

19. Plutoids

20. Galaxy and Universe • Galaxy: • A large system of stars held together by mutual gravitation and isolated from similar systems by vast regions of space. • The Milky Way measures about 100,000 light-years across (1 light year is approximately equal to a distance of 10 trillion kilometres or 10,000,000,000,000 kilometres) • It is thought to contain 200 billion (200,000,000,000) stars like our sun. • There are between 100 and 200 billion galaxies in the universe. • Universe: • The totality of known or supposed objects and phenomena throughout space; the cosmos; macrocosm. • The universe is about 13.8 billion years old, so any light we see has to have been travelling for 13.8 billion years or less. • The observable universe is 46 billion light years across or 460,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilometres or 23,000,000,000 lots of our solar system and increasing in size all the time!

21. More amazing facts • Light that leaves our second nearest star, Proxima Centauri, takes just over four years to reach Earth and so we can define it as four light years away.

22. Even more amazing facts! • The nearest large galaxy to us is Andromeda which is so big and close that you can see it in the night sky with your naked eye. • What you're really seeing is 1,000's of billions of stars in a configuration similar to our Milky Way. However, all of those stars are about 2.5 million light years away, which means you're seeing Andromeda as it was 2.5 million years ago. • Since a photon of light left one of these galaxies the following has happened: life sparked into existence and evolved; dinosaurs have ruled the Earth; humans have appeared.

23. So to sum it up • We live on planet Earth which is part of our local Solar System. • Our Solar System includes the Sun and everything that orbits the Sun. • Our Sun, is just one Star in the Milky Way Galaxy. • The Milky Way Galaxy is just one Galaxy in the Universe.

24. Misconceptions • Children generally explain night in terms of their own needs: “We’ve got to go to bed.” • Some children suggest that the sun moves elsewhere at night, and the moon moves closer: “The sun goes away into the dark, and the moon comes out.” • Very few link the apparent movement of the sun across the sky with earth’s rotation: “The sun moves because the world turns and the sun goes from one place to another place.”

25. Key Information • The Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours. • The part of the Earth facing the Sun is in sunlight and is in daytime. • The Earth orbits the Sun once every 365 days (a year). • The Earth is approximately 150 million km (93 million miles) from the Sun. Virtual Experiments provides a simple animation. • How could you the Virtual Experiments animation as the stimulus to learn about the Earth orbiting the Sun and how day and night occur? A useful resource • http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/science/earthandbeyond/soonmoonearth/

26. Modelling the solar system • Read ‘Movement of The Earth and The Moon’. • Some pupils hold hands in a circle (Sun) • A few hold hands and walk anticlockwise (Earth - 1/100 of the diameter of the sun) • Earth starts to walk around the sun in an ellipse whilst turning anticlockwise • A couple of pupils hold hands (Moon - ¼ of the diameter of the earth) and orbit the Earth while the Earth orbits the Sun. Then add the rest of the solar system! • Use other pupils to represent the remaining planets.

27. It is not known who the makers of Stonehenge were, but they built it with mathematical precision. The circle is precisely matched to the direction of the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset and the movements of the moon.

28. More complicated facts • The tilt of the Earth on its axis causes the change in daylight through the year. • At the equinoxes the sun rises due East and sets due West. Day and night is split 50/50. Autumn equinox 23.9.2015; Spring equinox 20.3.2016. • In mid-summer the North pole enjoys 24 hours of daylight. In mid winter the Sun never rises and it’s dark all the time. • The N/S axis of the Earth is tilted. This tilt causes the seasons. Summer in the N hemisphere occurs when the N is tilted towards the Sun. In winter it’s tilted away.

29. Angle of sun to earth Look at shadows at different times of the year – record with a digital camera. Recreate with torches if no sun! • March equinox - the Sun will be at a maximum angle of 90-52 = 38 degrees. • June solstice - the Sun will be at a maximum angle of 90-52+23.5 = 61.5 degrees.  • September equinox - the Sun will be at a maximum angle of 90-52 = 38 degrees. • December solstice - the Sun will be at a minimum angle of 90-52-23.5 = 14.5  degrees.

30. Phases of the Moon • The moon orbits the Earth once every 28 days (approx). • The moon also spins once every 28 days, so the same face is always facing the Earth. • A full moon is seen when the Sun and moon are directly opposite each other • The different angles of illumination cause the phases of the moon

31. Waxing – from new moon to full moon • Waning – from full moon to new moon

32. Moon Phases http://youtu.be/5YXhnQcoyOw

33. Eclipses • Total solar eclipse – moon is directly between the Sun and Earth and casts a shadow on the Earth. The Sun is 400x bigger than the Moon but also 400x further away so they appear the same size. • Total lunar eclipse – Earth is directly positioned between Sun and Moon and casts a shadow on the Moon.

36. http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html

37. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?Category=Planets&IM_ID=19209https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?Category=Planets&IM_ID=19209 Why is the Moon Red During a Total Lunar Eclipse? During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks the Sun's light from reaching the Moon. Astronauts on the Moon would then see the Earth completely eclipse the Sun. While the Moon remains completely within Earth's umbral shadow, indirect sunlight still manages to reach and illuminate it. However, this sunlight must first pass deep through the Earth's atmosphere which filters out most of the blue coloured light. The remaining light is a deep red or orange in colour and is much dimmer than pure white sunlight. Earth's atmosphere also bends or refracts some of this light so that a small fraction of it can reach and illuminate the Moon.

38. Some children are aware that the appearance of the moon changes, but some believe there is more than 1 moon • Children usually choose round shapes for the earth (often discs rather than spheres) • Many think the Sun is smaller than the Earth • They often represent things in a familiar way – the sun surrounded by sunbeams and stars that have points.

39. Activities • Look where the sun is relative to landmarks at different times of the day. • Book a Planetarium visit. Southend museum has a small planetarium giving live presentations about the sky at night. Most shows are suitable for ages 7+. • Make a shadow clock either in the playground or on a sunny windowsill.

40. 12 months Tilted Axis A year Earth A day 24 hours Seasons orbit 365 days Moon Leap year A month 28 days Sun

41. L I G H T

42. Sources of Light List as many everyday sources of light as you can.

43. Sources of light • Sun, light bulbs, fire, etc. • These produce different intensities of light. • Children often believe seeing is an active process. • They imagine that eyes send out beams of light so that objects can be seen in the same way that radar ‘sees’ planes. • The idea that seeing is a passive process in which light is reflected off objects into our eyes is not easily accepted by some.

44. National Curriculum Year 1 Materials • Know that some materials are opaque/transparent, shiny/dull etc.

45. National Curriculum Year 3 • recognise that they need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light • notice that light is reflected from surfaces • recognise that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect their eyes • recognise that shadows are formed when the light from a light source is blocked by a solid object • find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change.

46. National Curriculum Year 6 • recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines • use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye • explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes • use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them.

47. Investigation : The Rules of Light 1 • Use a torch and a selection of objects. • Shine your torch on one object. • Draw a diagram to show how the light travels from the torch to your object then into your eye. • How can other people see the object you are shining the torch on? • Decide on the basic rule for how human beings see things.

48. How do we see - 1? • The girl is looking at the large mirror in front of her. • She can see the reflection of the back of her head. • The hairdresser is holding a small mirror. • An arrow has been drawn to show the direction of some light. • Draw TWO more arrows to show how the girl can see the reflection of the back of her head.

49. How do we see the moon at night?

50. How do we see the moon at night? light bounces off the moon… • light from the sun hits the moon …and enters our eyes