The purpose of this resource is to understand what causes the Earth's seasons with a focus on the Earth's tilt and spherical shape. Students learn how sunlight spreads over the Earth at different times of the year, emphasizing the solstices and the equinoxes. Students investigate the effect of the Earth.s tilt on the spread of sunlight by modeling different tilts using a three-dimensional polyhedron ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to further students' understanding of the causes of seasonal change using visualizations to compare the effects of incoming solar energy in the two hemispheres. The class reviews global visualizations of incoming sunlight and surface temperature and discusses seasonal change. Students use the visualizations to support inquiry on the differences in seasonal change in ... Full description.

This on-line project is part of the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) program, which has developed internet activities for the elementary, middle, and high school level student. Students measure the temperature, record the number of minutes of sunlight per day over a predetermined week, and determine their global coordinates. Each class then posts their data to this web ... Full description.

This activity has students use internet resources to learn about celestial coordinates, and how to use an emphemeris to locate planets on a horizon sky map. The sky maps are then used for outdoor observing. A more advanced application has students draw maps in celestial coordinates. They first learn about the celestial coordinate system astronomers use and then they generate a position, or ephemeris, ... Full description.

In this activity students record data about moon phases over the course of one complete moon cycle. The data will be used later in the course when students are building a model to account for the phenomenon of moon phases. Each student will gather data for the date and time, the color of the moon, the weather, the location in the sky and the shape and features of the moon from each day of an entire ... Full description.

This activity has students work in small groups, using Moon observation data to identify a pattern in the way the Moon appears to change shape. They use their Earth-Moon-Sun (EMS) model to account for the cycle of Moon phases and answer extension questions related to this phenomenon. Students will take a quiz on Moon phase identification, complete an EMS model summary sheet, and complete a self-assessment ... Full description.

This site contains an activity in which students work in small research groups to describe and explain seasonal phenomena. They begin by documenting and describing seasonal fluctuations in the maximum angular height of the Sun, average daily temperature, maximum shadow length, and amount of daylight in a 24 hour period. After examining local seasonal trends, students analyze data from a variety of ... Full description.

In this activity, students will use Moon and tide data from the internet to construct charts and answer questions about the patterns they see. They will be reminded that the Moon has something to do with ocean tides and will discover what the connections are. They will also discover when tides, moonrise and moonset, and phases of the Moon occur. Full description.

This National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) site provides classroom resources about the Moon. A teacher's guide contains basic detailed information about the Moon, such as the lunar landscape, craters, and Moon rocks. The lesson plan and activities sections cover phases of the Moon, lunar landforms, a Lunar Prospector model, and orbits. Full description.