Our Place in Space Level: 4th Grade Time Frame: Approximately 1 Quarter  Description:  Students become aware of their place in the vast universe and in relations to other planets, learn more about the Sun and Moon, and investigate solar energy.

Overview Activity List Learning Objectives Standards Resources

Learning Objectives

Students will know and/or experience:

• The sun, moon, stars, and clouds all have properties, locations, and movements that can be observed and described.
• The science of astronomy has been practiced by people for a long time.
• Men and women have made a variety of contributions throughout the history of astronomy.

• The sun appears to change position or move across the sky during daylight hours.
• The apparent movement of the sun is part of what defines our sense of time, that is, defines our definition of a “day.”
• Shadows formed by the sun will appear to move during the day in correspondence with the movement of the sun in the sky.
• The shadow of an object is always located on the side of the object that is opposite the side of the sun or other light source.

• In addition to spinning on its axis once every 24 hours, the entire earth also moves in a circular path around the sun (as do the other Solar System planets to be discussed later). The amount of time that it takes for a planet to make one full trip or orbit around the sun (i.e., return to its starting place) is called one year.
• During the one-year period that the earth orbits around the sun, there are changes that take place in the climate at any one point on the earth. These changes are repeated each year in a pattern called the seasons.
• A very important observable change that characterizes the seasons is the length of time that the sun is in the sky and the height that it reaches at mid-day. The sun is highest in the sky—and the days are longest—in the summer, while the sun is the lowest in the sky—and the days are shorter—in the winter.*
• The moon moves across the sky on a daily basis much like the sun. The observable shape of the moon changes from day to day in a cycle that lasts about a month.**
• The moon has very different characteristics from the earth.***
• Gravity is a force that holds us on the earth’s surface and also holds the moon in orbit around the sun. The moon has gravity as well (pulls on things), but it is much less than on earth.
• The earth is the third planet from the sun in a system that includes the moon, the sun, eight other planets, and their moons, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets.
• Like the earth, other planets have a predictable orbit around the sun. The amount of time that it takes for a planet to make one full trip or orbit around the sun (i.e., return to its starting place) is called one year. Since each planet takes a different amount of time to make one orbit, the length of a year is different on each planet.
• Each planet has different characteristics; all other planets in the solar system are very different from the earth.
• Planets are held in orbit by the gravitational pull of the sun; planets themselves also have varying amounts of gravitational pull.
• The order of the planets from the sun is: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.

• The Solar System includes smaller objects, such as asteroids, comets, meteors, and meteorites.

• Meteorites give us clues to the origin and history of the solar system.
• Meteorites may have been responsible for major changes on earth in the distant past and may do so again in the future.

• Stars are like the sun, some being smaller and some larger, but so far away that they look like points of light.

• The pattern of stars in the sky stays the same, although they appear to move across the sky nightly and different stars can be seen in different seasons.

 * It is ideal if the students make actual observations of this phenomenon throughout the school year. If not observed, it should be emphasized, as this is typically tested on the ISAT (see sample questions at the end of the unit).

**Students at this grade level are not expected to understand the explanation for why the moon appears to change shape.

***Although none of the standards for this grade level mention concepts related to the characteristics of the moon and the planets, the ISAT exams do test student knowledge of these characteristics. Therefore, this content is included in this lesson and the next one.

Students will practice*: 

• Formulating questions on a specific science topic and choosing the steps needed to answer the questions
• Collecting data for investigations using scientific process skills including observing, estimating, and measuring
• Constructing charts and visualizations to display data
• Using data to produce reasonable explanations
• Reporting and displaying the results of individual and group investigations

 *To avoid repetition, these objectives are not listed in each activity. Students practice one or more of these in virtually all activities in the unit.

Standards

Illinois State Standards: Late Elementary- As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:

12F. Know and apply concepts that explain the composition and structure of the universe and Earth’s place in it.

• Identify and explain natural cycles and patterns in the solar system (e.g., order of the planets; moon phases; seasons as related to Earth’s tilt, one’s latitude, and where Earth is in its yearly orbit around the sun.)
• Explain the apparent motion of the sun and stars.
• Identify easily recognizable star patterns.

11A. Know and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of scientific inquiry.

• Formulate questions on a specific science topic and choose the steps needed to answer the question.

• Collect data for investigations using scientific process skills including observing, estimating, and measuring.
• Construct charts and visualizations to display data.
• Use data to produce reasonable explanations.
• Report and display the results of individual and group investigations.
   

12.4.43       Understand that moons and planets do not produce their own light---the light we see when we look at them is the sunlight they reflect.

12.4.44       Identify the relative positions of the earth, moon, and sun during a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse, a full moon, a half moon, and a new moon. Given a diagram of the earth, moon, and sun, identify which of these is depicted.

12.4.45       Identify the order of the planets from the sun, and know that the further planets take longer to go around the sun.  Understand that Neptune and Pluto occasionally switch order.

12.4.46       Know that astronauts have walked on the moon.

12.4.47       Define a constellation as a group of stars that form a pattern in the sky.  Understand that constellations are useful in the study of space because they help create a map of the sky.  Know that locations in the sky are often described using the names of constellations.

12.4.48       Understand that the Milky Way is our galaxy, so-called because there appears to be a milky-white path or road in the sky.

12.4.49       Understand that the mass of a body stays the same on different planets, but the weight changes depending on the mass of the planet.

National Science Education Standards: Earth/Space Science (Content Standard D)- As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop an understanding of objects in the sky and changes in the earth and sky:

• The sun, moon, stars, clouds, birds, and airplanes all have properties, locations, and movements that can be observed and described.
• The sun provides the light and heat necessary to maintain the temperature of the earth.
• Objects in the sky have patterns of movement. The sun, for example, appears to move across the sky in the same way every day, but its path changes slowly over the seasons. The moon moves across the sky on a daily basis much like the sun. The observable shape of the moon changes from day to day in a cycle that lasts about a month.

NSES: History and Nature of Science (Content Standard G)- As a result of activities in grades K-4, students should develop understanding of science as a human endeavor

• Science and technology have been practiced by people for a long time
• Men and women have made a variety of contributions throughout the history of science and technology

• The pattern of stars in the sky stay the same, although they appear to move across the sky nightly and different stars can be seen in different seasons

• Telescopes magnify the appearance of some distant objects in the sky, including the moon and the planets. The number of stars that can be seen through telescopes is dramatically greater than can be seen by the unaided eye.

• Planets change their positions against the background of stars.

• The earth is one of several planets that orbit the sun, and the moon orbits around the earth

• Stars are like the sun, some being smaller and some larger, but so far away that they look like points of light.
• The earth’s gravity pulls any objects toward it without touching it.

Champaign Community Unit School District #4 * Mellon Administrative Center
703 South New Street * Champaign, IL 61820 * 217.351.3800