2nd Grade Astronomy Unit

2^nd Grade Astronomy Unit Blueprint

Lesson 1: Sky Wilderness

Pacing Suggestions:

Days 1 & 2—Session 1 on pages 54-58 in Teacher's Edition (2 pictures per day)
Day 3—Session 2 on pages 58-62 in Teacher's Edition

Teacher Resources:
Tips		Pre-Unit Assessment Checklist (Adobe^® Reader^® PDF) Pre-Unit Assessment Checklist (Microsoft^® Word^®) Drawing Paper (Adobe^® Reader^® PDF) Drawing Paper (Microsoft^® Word^®) Checking Understanding (Adobe^® Reader^® PDF) Checking Understanding (Microsoft^® Word^®)

Essential & Unit Questions ¹

Benchmarks ²

Formative and Summative Assessments ³

Using Assessments to Monitor Student Learning

When can the sun be seen in the sky? When can the moon be seen in the sky? How do the sun, moon, and stars appear to move in the sky?

Pre-assessment of 4A(K-2)#2: The sun can be seen only in the daytime, but the moon can be seen sometimes at night and sometimes during the day. The sun, moon, and stars all appear to move slowly across the sky.

Student drawings of sky throughout story (See directions on page 58 of Teacher's Edition. Use teacher-generated Lesson 1 Drawing Paper and Pre-Unit Assessment Checklist available under "Teacher Resources" on electronic curriculum.)

Class discussion of Checking Understanding Questions 1-4 (See pages 60-61 in Teacher's Edition. Use teacher-generated Checking Understanding worksheet available under "Teacher Resource" on electronic curriculum.)

Student Drawings:

7 a.m.: Do students show the sun rising (low in the sky)?
Noon: Do students show the sun high in the sky?
7:30 p.m.: Is the sun low in the sky (approaching sunset)
11 p.m.: Do students exclude a sun from their pictures? Do their pictures include stars?
Is there a moon (w/a realistic shape) in 1 or 2 consecutive pictures? If the moon is in 2 pictures, does it have the same shape?

Checking Understanding
See pages 60-61 in Teacher's Edition for detailed information on student responses.

1. For conceptual benchmarks.
2. Bolded sections indicate portion of benchmark addressed
3. Unless noted as a Summative Assessment, the assessments are formative and should be used to guide teaching and learning.

2nd Grade Astronomy Unit Blueprint

2^nd Grade Astronomy Unit Blueprint