# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
astroEDU is an open-access peer-review platform for educators to discover, review, distribute, improve, and remix the best astronomy education activities around the world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars
(6-8) Patterns of the apparent motion of the sun, the moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, predicted, and explained with models.

ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System

(5) The orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around the Earth, together with the rotation of Earth about an axis between its North and South poles, cause observable patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length and direction of shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day, month, and year.

(6-8) Earth's spin axis is fixed in direction over the short-term but tilted relative to its orbit around the sun. The seasons are a result of that tilt and are caused by the differential intensity of sunlight on different areas of Earth across the year.

LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms

(6-8) Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen.

(9-12) The process of photosynthesis converts light energy to stored chemical energy by converting carbon dioxide plus water into sugars plus released oxygen.

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems:

(6-8) Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors.

(6-8) In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other for limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction.
​

PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life:

​(5) The energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).

(6-8) The chemical reaction by which plants produce complex food molecules (sugars) requires an energy input (i.e., from sunlight) to occur. In this reaction, carbon dioxide and water combine to form carbon-based organic molecules and release oxygen. Cellular respiration in plants and animals involve chemical reactions with oxygen that release stored energy. In these processes, complex molecules containing carbon react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and other materials.

(9-12) The main way that solar energy is captured and stored on Earth is through the complex chemical process known as photosynthesis.

California's Environmental Principles and Concepts

Principle III: Natural systems proceed through cycles that humans depend upon, benefit from, and can alter.
Concept a: Students need to know that natural systems proceed through cycles and processes that are required for their functioning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this video, learn how Earth's rotation and the angle of sunlight interact to create different seasons.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Supplies needed:

A yellow paper plate (or a white one plus yellow paint) for the Sun

Scissors

Three brads (metal paper connectors)

White cardstock

A compass for drawing circles, or print a template.

Crayons or markers

Cut out three circles (small, medium, and large) from cardstock or cardboard from a cereal box. [If available, a yellow paper plate makes a nice Sun.]

You'll need a large circle for the Sun, a medium one for the Earth, and a small one for the Moon.

For a black-and-white template, click here. For a color template, click here. Note: Use the margins of the template for the strips connecting the Sun, Earth, and Moon.

Cut out two strips of cardstock (any color) about 1 inch thick (you can use the marked margins of the templates above). One strip should be aboout 8 inches long and one should be about 5 inches long.

Give the student the three circles. Let them figure out which represents the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon. On each circle, write the name of the celestial object (Sun, Moon, or Earth) on its back.

Color the Sun yellow, color the Earth blue and green, and color the Moon white.

Connect one end of the short (roughly 4-5" long) strip of paper to the center of the back of the Moon using a brad.

Connect the other end of that strip of paper to the center of the Earth (but don't close the second brad yet).

Connect one end of the long (roughly 8" long) strip of paper to the center of the back of the Earth with the already-open brad.

Connect the other end of that short strip of paper to the center of the sun.

Half moon (also called quarter moon): The moon appears as a half circle.

You now have a model of the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon. Note that although the relative sizes of the Earth and the Moon are roughly accurate (about 3:1), the Sun should be much, much larger (the Sun is over 100 times bigger than the Earth).

Also, the Earth is over 370 times farther from the Sun than it is from the Moon. If this model were accurate, the Earth and the Sun should be over 90 feet apart (given that the Earth-Moon distance in the model is about 3 inches).

You can use this model to demonstrate how the Earth orbits around the Sun, and how the Moon orbits around the Earth.

You can demonstrate how the phases of the Moon are determined by the relative positions of the Moon, Earth, and the Sun. To help do this, color half the moon dark and keep the light side facing the sun.

Solar eclipses (see diagram on the left) and lunar eclipses (see diagram on the right) can be demonstrated using this model.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
and moon model orbit orbits  orbiting craft planets earth solar system phases of the moon crafts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
rhyme rhymes children's crafts astronomy space crafts kindergarten

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sun, Earth, and Moon Model - EnchantedLearning.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If you watch the moon every night, you see its shape appear to change. Does the moon really change shape? Of course not, but its appearance from Earth certainly changes. How does this work? The answer lies within the part of the moon that receives sunlight, and the part of the moon that does not receive sunlight.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5.4- Brian Cox School experiments - Shadows

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Journey To The Edge Of Space (360 Video)