Design for Learning

Instructor: Taylor Blair Lesson Title: Lunar Challenge Curriculum Area: Science Grade Level: 3rd Date: October 30, 2013 Estimated Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Standards Connection: 14. Describe the position of Earth, the moon, and the sun during

the course of a day or month. Learning Objective: Students will be able to position given moon phases into the correct location within a complete lunar cycle with 100% accuracy. Learning Objective in kid-friendly terms: Boys and Girls throughout this week we will be learning what causes the Moon to have a different shape each night. Evaluation of Learning Objective: On Science Net Links the students will be given the Lunar Cycle Challenge. The students will see an online calendar with a picture of a moon phase in each day, students will be able to fill in the missing phases by dragging the specific moon phase to the correct day. Students will need to reach level three. Engagement: Okay boys and girls give me five! The students will put their high fives in the air and stop talking to show they are listening. Throughout this week we will be learning what causes the moon to have a different shape each night. Today we will be focusing on what cause the phases of the Moon. So at the end of class you are going to fill in. Can anyone raise their hand and describe what the moon looks like? Teacher pauses and lets two or three students explain their thinking. Each night the moon changes its shape from the night before right? Great explanations class, so when we see the moon each night it is in a certain phase of its cycle. Can anyone raise their hand explain to me what a cycle is? Teacher calls on students until the best description is given. Yes, a cycle is a chain of events that are regularly repeated. How many of you have seen a full moon multiple different times? Pause for responses (yes). Right, that is because the moon goes through a cycle. When the moon goes through a full cycle of phases it will return the phase it started in. Can anyone raise their hand and guess how long it takes the moon to go through a full cycle? Teacher takes about five to six guesses, and calls on the student who was closest to the correct answer. And how long do you think it would take you to fly from here to the moon? Teacher allows about three or four students to guess. Okay, I am not going to tell you the answer, but this book will. Listen while I am reading and see if you can figure out how long it would take to get to the moon. Teacher begins reading, If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty. In the middle of the book when it says how long it takes to get to the Moon, pause, put the book face down on your lap and ask the students, Okay, who was paying attention and knows how long it would take to get to the moon? Raise your hand if you know! Teacher calls on one student until she hears the correct answer. Great listening, okay now lets keep reading to learn more. Once the

teacher has finished the book, would any of you want to be an astronaut, why? Call on two or three students to share their interests. It has always been a dream of mine to be astronaut ever since I was a little girl. Learning Design: I. Teaching:
Okay boys and girls does anyone have a guess as to why the moon goes through a cycle of phases? Teacher pauses and calls on two students to share their opinion. Those are great thoughts (or if a student answers correct, follow up with) The Earth makes an entire trip around the Sun in one year. As it is revolving around the Sun, the Moon is revolving around the Earth. While these rotations are happening throughout the year, the view of the Moon changes from Earth, and sometimes the Earth will cast its shadow onto the Moon. Lets watch a quick clip from Bill Nye the Science Guy to help us get a better visual of what this looks like. Teacher turns on the Bill Nye video clip from time 1:18 to 4:12. Teacher will place the visual poster of the Moon phases on the board for the students to look at throughout the lesson. Okay, boys and girls does anyone have any questions so far? I want to make sure we are all on the same page. Teacher pauses and answers questions, if there are questions asked that will be answered in the upcoming part of the teaching, We will get that in just a moment so hang tight. Okay class lets say the at the center of the room is the Sun. Teacher walks over to the center side of the room to make sure the students are clear with the statement. Teacher grabs the blue bouncy ball and white Ping-Pong ball. And this blue ball is the Earth, and the Ping-Pong ball is the moon. As the Earth revolves around the Sun, the Moon is revolving around the Earth. Teacher walks around the Sun with the ball in one hand and the Ping-Ping ball in the other circling the Ping-Ping ball at a tilt around the Earth. Teacher stops once she has made her way back to where she started. Now that I am back where I started an entire year has passed. You can see how throughout the months, the phases of the moon will repeat. Did anyone notice how I rotated the Moon around the Earth? Pause for students to think and recall what they observed. Do not be quick to answer for them. If no one will answer, Did the Moon orbit the Earth this way (demonstrate the wrong way the moon on a flat plane circling the Earth) or this way (demonstrate the correct way the moon on a tilted plane circling the Earth). Pause for the students response. Because of the Earths tilt, the Moon orbits the Earth at an angle. This is an extremely important fact to remember when understanding why the phases are diverse. Who can raise their hand and describe to me what diverse means? Teacher calls on a student who has not been called on yet and responds according to the students answer. Diverse means there are many different aspects to something, or a variety of something. I could say you all are a very diverse group of students, because you are a mixture of boys and girls, you all come from different backgrounds and you all have multiple different talents and interests. Okay, now I am going to let you all act out being the Sun, Earth and Moon. I need one volunteer to be the Sun (call on one student) another to be the Earth (call on one student) and last but not least someone to be the Moon (call on one student). Okay the Sun will shine by using this flashlight (hand the student being the Sun the flashlight) DO NOT turn the light on until I tell you. Hand the student being the Earth the blue ball and the student being the Moon the white ball. Place the students with the Moon in between the Sun and the Earth. Okay, lets turn off the lights and turn on the flashlight and see what the moon looks like. Have the students discuss their observations, while the teacher supports their thinking and comments accordingly. Have the students switch places until each student has been the Sun, Earth or Moon. Make sure you have the student stand in multiple different locations to experience the different phases during the activity. Fantastic job boys and girls! Now lets all take our seats for the next activity.

II. Opportunity for Practice: Teacher will wait for all of the students to be seated and quiet waiting for further instructions. Teacher will take down the visual aide poster before she begins instruction. Now boys and girls you all are going to see if you can figure out the phases of the Moon when given the position of the Sun and the Earth. Teacher grabs one worksheet to explain the directions to the class. In order to do that you are going to cut out the phases of the Moon that are on this strip and paste them onto the cycle worksheet. You must pay close attention to the direction the eyes are facing; this informs you that you are looking at the Moon from Earth. Also be aware of the position of the Sun and the direction it is shining onto the earth. You do not have to worry about the blank lines under each phase, you can leave those blank for now and we will learn to name the phases later on in the week. I will be walking around the room to guide you and answer questions as you go. Does anyone have any questions specifically about the instructions? Teacher pauses to clarify instructions and answer questions. Okay, table number one you may go get a pair of scissors and glue from the back of the room. As the teacher walks around the room giving each student a diagram worksheet, she will call the remaining tables one by one to avoid chaos. Okay once you have all the materials you need, you can begin working! As the students are working, the teacher will walk around to facilitate student work and answer questions. When there is about five minutes left in the time allotted for this portion of the activity, Okay boys and girls you have about five minutes to finish up and clean your working space. Once all of the students are finished or cleaned up (if they are going to finish at home), give me five! Okay, who would like to share their work with the class and explain why they put the phases in that order? Teacher calls on one student and then one or two more after. Encourage the students to explain their thinking as to why they placed a certain moon phase in the spot they did. Great work boys and girls! I am very impressed with how well you all are doing! Now if you did not have time to finish you can take it home, but be sure to bring it back tomorrow so that we can work on naming the phases later on this week! III. Assessment: Prior to implementing this lesson, the teacher will have to book the computer lab in order to assess the students. Okay class we are going to head to the computer lab to play a game online that will test your knowledge of what the Moon looks like as it rotate around the Earth. So table one you may line up at the door, table two, table three, now table four. Here we go! Once the class has made it to the computer lab teacher will write a list of instructions on the board for the students to do as they sit down; she will include the link on the board for the students to type into the Internet. Students will have assigned computers they always go to during computer time. As you walk in take your seat at your assigned computer, login, type this web address into the Internet, and make sure your headphones are working! Once you have done all of these things place your hand flat on your head to let me know that you are ready. Walk around the room to help students log on and find the website. Once all of the students have their hand on their head begin with instruction. Okay boys and girls; place your headphones next to your computer for just a moment. During this activity you will drag the specific moon phase to the correct day on the calendar to complete the cycle of phases during the month. There are three levels and once you have completed each level, you will receive a certificate! Once you are finished you may print out your certificate and sit quietly until everyone has finished. I will collect everyones certificates from the printer. There is to be complete silence while you fill out the calendar. Now everyone put on your headphones, listen to the instructions on the website, and begin! Avoid using the word assessment so that the students do not feel as though they are being tested. Teacher walks around the room while the students are completing the calendar; specifically

watching students so that they do not look at their neighbors screen or ask their friends questions about what they are putting. IV. Closure: The teacher will collect the students certificates and wait until all of the students are finished. Okay class now that everyone has finished, make sure you are logged off the computer, turn off your monitor and push in your chair. Then you can line up to head back to the classroom. The class walks back to the classroom. Take your seats quickly and quietly; there should be no talking. Lets review, who can explain to me why the moon has a different shape each night? Teacher calls on one student to describe their reasoning. Great recall! Okay here are some quick yes or no questions I want you to give me a thumbs up if you agree and a thumbs down if you do not agree. Does the sunshine create the light we see on the bright side of the moon? Teacher pause for students to think, and searched for all thumbs up (if applies - call on a student with a thumbs down to explain their thinking and address their misconceptions). Okay thumbs up or thumbs down, does the moon rotate around the Sun while the Sun rotates around the Earth? Teacher pauses and searches for all thumbs down (if applies - call on a student with thumbs up to explain their thinking). Well done class you all have done a great job today! Materials and Resources: If You Decide to go to the Moon by Faith McNulty Bill Nye video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaqrQyTm9B4 Visual aid poster of the moon phases Small blue bouncy ball Ping-Pong ball Blue bouncy ball (slightly bigger than a lacrosse ball) White lacrosse ball or one that size Durable large flashlight Scissors and glue for each student in the class Earth, Sun and Moon positioning worksheets (appropriate number of copies) Access to computer lab (assessment) http://sciencenetlinks.com/media/filer/2011/10/14/moon_challenge.html Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners): H Students will be given the opportunity during their observing time throughout the teaching activity with the flashlight to look at the poster visual aid up close and see what the names of the moon phases are. During the opportunity for practice, students will write the names of the moon phases they know with corresponding picture. L Work in groups of two to complete the opportunity for practice.
Data Analysis: Reflection:

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