Module 4: Patterns of Earth and Beyond- Science 3 - Course Guide

Module Overview:

In this module, students will learn to explain how the Earth’s tilt and revolution around the Sun apply to seasonal changes and display data in tables or graphs to show seasonal patterns. They will construct a model of how the seasons and days are caused, make observations about the rotation of the Earth and day/night, and observe the phases of the Moon. Students will also make observations about the Earth’s movement and the apparent movement of stars across the sky, describe the characteristics of stars, and identify planets and their positions in the solar system.

Module Materials:

Lesson # Lesson Title Material(s)
1 Seasons None
2 Earth, Moon, and Sun globe or similar-size ball
ball (small)
lamp with a shade that comes off
3 The Solar System and Stars items to make a model of the solar system (Styrofoam® balls, cardboard, etc.);

Module Objectives:

Lesson # Lesson Title Objective(s)
1 Seasons
  1. Explain how the Earth’s tilt and revolution around the Sun apply to seasonal changes.
  2. Display data in tables or graphs to show seasonal patterns.
2 Earth, Moon, and Sun
  1. Construct a model of how the seasons and days are caused.
  2. Make observations about the rotation of the Earth and day/night.
  3. Observe the phases of the Moon.
3 The Solar System and Stars
  1. Make observations about the Earth’s movement and the apparent movement of stars across the sky.
  2. Describe characteristics of stars.
  3. Identify planets and their positions in the solar system.

Module Key Words:

Key Words
seasonal patterns
moon phases
planets
solar system

Module Assignments:

Lesson # Lesson Title Page # Assignment Title
1 Seasons 6 Seasonal Patterns Assignment
2 Earth, Moon, and Sun 6 Earth, Moon, and Sun Assignment
3 The Solar System and Stars 6 The Solar System Assignment

Learning Coach Notes:

Lesson # Lesson Title Notes
1 Seasons After completing this lesson, ask your student to draw a diagram that shows the position of the Earth and the sun for each of the four seasons, and label each season on the diagram.
2 Earth, Moon, and Sun After completing this lesson, ask your student to explain what they learned about the connection between the Earth, Moon, and Sun. For fun, get a bag of Oreo cookies, have your student take the top off, and create the phases of the moon using the side with the cream.
3 The Solar System and Stars After completing this lesson, ask your student to explain the order of the planets in the solar system, why the planets travel around the sun, and at least three other things they learned from this lesson.

Module Guiding Questions:

When a student starts a lesson ask them questions to check for prior knowledge and understanding and to review concepts being taught. At the end of the lesson ask the questions again to see if their answer changes.

Lesson Title Question
Seasons
  1. Why do we have seasons?
Earth, Moon, and Sun
  1. How are the Earth, Moon, and Sun connected?
The Solar System and Stars
  1. How can you describe stars and planets?

Module Video Questions:

When a student watches a video take time to ask them questions about what they watched. Suggested questions for the videos in this module are listed here. Suggestion: Have the student watch the entire video first all the way through. Then have them watch the video a second time, as they watch it pause the video and ask the questions.

Lesson Title Video Question

Module Suggested Read Aloud Books:

Take time to read to your student or have them read aloud to you. Read a different book each day. While reading the book point out concepts being taught. You may purchase these books or find them at your local library. Suggested things to discuss while reading the book:

  • What is the main idea?
  • What are three things new you learned?
  • How does this book relate to what you are learning about?

# Book Author Lexile Level
1 The Reason for the Seasons Gail Gibbons
2 Earth, Moon, and Sun Leon Golub
3 What Makes Day and Night Dr. Franklyn M. Branley
4 Sunshine Makes the Seasons Dr. Franklyn M. Branley
5 The Planets Gail Gibbons
6 The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen
7 The Moon Seems to Change Dr. Franklyn M. Branley
8 The Moon Book Gail Gibbons

Module Outing:

Take some time to apply what your student is learning to the real world. Suggested outings are below.

# Outing