2nd Grade Astronomy Unit Blueprint—Helpful Teacher Tips
Lesson 1: Sky Wilderness
Skip Introducing the Lesson (See page 54 in Teacher's Guide)
Day 1: 30 to 45 minutes
Activity: Drawing the Sky (first half of story)
- From the Student Edition, read pages 23 to the top of page 27 to the whole group
- Use teacher-generated drawing sheet available on the electronic curriculum. This is being provided because it will give the children a frame of reference for where the sky is in relationship to the ground.
- Do first two drawings. (Emphasize what objects would be seen and where they would be in the sky.)
- After each drawing tell the children to write a few sentences describing their picture.
Day 2: 30 to 45 minutes
Activity: Drawing the Sky (second half of story)
- Read pages 27–34. Use teacher-generated sheet for the next two pictures
- Do the next two pictures emphasizing what objects would be seen and where they would be in the sky.
- Provide students time to write sentences describing the pictures.
- Collect/examine drawings and use the Pre/Post-Unit Assessment Checklist available on the electronic curriculum.
Day 3: 45 to 60 minutes
Activity: Comparing Objects in the Sky
- Do not reread story. Share and talk about the 7:00A.M. and 12:00P.M. pictures and have students write answers to Question 1 and 2 on the Checking Understanding sheet for Lesson 1, which is available on the electronic curriculum.
- Next share pictures for the 7:30 P.M. and 11:00 P.M. times. Have students write answers to Questions 3 and 4.
Lesson 2: Moon Watching
Total Time: 2 teaching sessions and then ongoing daytime observations + daily calendar routine involving moon observations
Advance Preparation:
- Send home parent letter.A sample letter is available under "Teacher Resources" on the electronic curriculum blueprint.
- Make class moon calendar. Use laminated calendar in kit or create your own calendar modeled after the one on page 65 in the Teacher's Edition.
- Make Night Moon Notes class chart & Day Moon Notes class chart.
- Make Moon Journals.
- Night Journal—Staple 2 Night Moon Calendar sheets and 5 lined sheets of paper or teacher-created Moon/Sky Notes sheets together. Place these in a pocket folder for each child which will be traveling back and forth from school to home each night.
- Day Journal—Staple 2 Day Moon Calendar sheets and 5 lined sheets of paper or teacher-created Moon/Sky Notes sheets together. This journal can stay at school or also travel back and forth from school to home each night. Since the moon is sometimes visible during the day but outside of school hours, it is beneficial for students to have access to their day journal. However, if students have organizational issues or managing two journals is overwhelming for students, the day journal can remain at school.
- "Day" is considered the span of time the sun is visible. "Night" is considered the span of time the sun is not visible.
Day 1: 30 minutes
Activity: What Do You Know About the Moon?
- Use teacher-generated sheet available on the electronic curriculum in place of student pages 40 and 41.
Day 2: 45 to 60 minutes
Activity: Becoming Moon Watchers
- Distribute Day Moon Journals.
- Take students outside and observe moon.
- Consult page 77 in Teacher's Edition for time of day the moon is out.
- Consult a lunar calendar for full details on phases of the moon.
- http://www.rxffish.com/moon-lunar-tide-chart.htm
- Have students observe the sky and make drawings. Make sure the students draw the moon exactly as they see it. (The newspaper and on-line resources typically will show the moon upright rather than tilted.)
- Require students to note whether the recorded time of observation is a.m. or p.m.
- Record any interesting notes.
- Discuss and record observations on Class Calendar.
- If the moon is not visible due to weather conditions, the teacher should record the moon phase that should have been observed (this can be obtained from the newspaper or the following web site: http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/vphase.html)
- By recording on the class calendar what the students would have seen without cloud cover, the students will be better able to see the emerging pattern. Their personal journals should reflect what they actually observed.
- Do Step # 5 on page 71 in Teacher's Edition—Becoming Evening Moon Watchers
Days 3, 4 and 5—Continue to focus on moon observations
Note: Once the students become proficient at observing the moon, teach them how to use their hands to measure the moon's position in the sky. (See pages 46-47 in Student Guide.)
SKIP Do You Have a Moon Imagination
IMPORTANT NOTE: The benchmark about the moon appearing to move across the sky needs to be explicitly taught during the moon observation period. Once the moon is a full moon, consider having the students observe the moon twice and reporting what they see. They should notice two important concepts: (1) the moon appeared to change its position in the sky and (2) the moon's shape did not change. The latter idea can be reinforced as students share their moon observations. Since students will most likely observe the moon at different times in the evening, the concept can be deliberately addressed through class discussions about night moon observations. They should discover that regardless of the time they observe the moon, they all observe the same shape on a specified evening. As books are identified that effectively address these ideas, they will be flagged on the book cart.Lesson 3: Changes in Shadows (need a sunny day)
Day 1: 45 to 60 minutes (Session 1)
Activity: My Shadow Poem
Activity: Shadow Fun—Use teacher-generated sheet available on electronic curriculum. Follow up with Sharing Ideas page 61 in Student Edition. Use teacher-generated sheet available on electronic curriculum.
Day 2: 60 minutes (Sessions 2 & 3)
Activity: Shadows on the Move
- Take class outside and do shadow drawings (this needs to occur twice during the same day).
- Have students use the modified Shadows on the Move recording sheet available on the electronic curriculum.
- Make sure to leave plenty of room between the groups so that the traced shadows of two groups don't intersect.
- Between the first and second time outside, remember to have students predict how their shadows will change.
Day 3: 30 to 45 minutes (Session 4)
Activity: Checking Understanding
- Focus on questions 2-5.
- Teacher reads one question at a time.
- Have students discuss question as a group and then record answer in lab book.
SKIP How Could You Find Out
Supplementary Resources: The following books address the movement of the sun and would work well as read-alouds to reinforce the concepts within the lesson. The books are available through the library.
- Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons
- Our Friend the Sun by Janet Palazzo
Lesson 4: Star Gazing
Day 1: 30 to 45 minutes
Activity: Star Pictures
- Xerox pages 74 and 75 in Student Edition. Pass out page 74. Ask students what picture they see. Have the students draw what they think the group of stars looks like.
- Pass out page 75. Read about Ursa Major.
Day 2: 45 to 60 minutes (Teaching Strategy—Step 2)
Activity: Making Constellations
- Use cups, which have been added to the kit, in place of cans. The bottoms of the cups have been removed.
- Cups do not need to be lined with black paper.
- Two sets of star patterns have been run on card stock and included in the kit.
- Skip Star Pictures on page 81 in Student Edition.
Day 3: 45 to 60 minutes (Teaching Strategy—Step 3)
Activity: Star Finders
- Complete activity as written. Use Star Finder Record Page-it is beneficial to have students highlight their constellations on Star Map 1 and 2 with a yellow or orange crayon.
Day 4: 30 minutes
- Using the teacher-generated sheet called Star Gazing- Sharing Ideas.
- Emphasize Star Facts 1, 3, and 4 because they align with the benchmarks.
Supplementary Resource: The following books address stars and their apparent movement. The books would work well as read-alouds to reinforce the concepts within the lesson. The books are available through the library.
- Spots of Light by Dana Rau
- Now I Know—Stars by Roy Wandelmaier
Lesson 5: Star Guides
Day 1: 30 to 45 minutes (Session)
Activity—Finding the North Star and Simple Constellations
Day 2: 45 to 60 minutes
Activity - Making a Dipper and Queen Finder
- Stop at the section where the seasonal star maps are discussed (page 116 in Teacher's Guide).
- Optional-The Legend of Queen Cassiopeia
- Skip Star Gazing due to complexity of lesson. However, informally encourage students to observe stars at home to find the Big Dipper, North Star and Cassiopeia. Send home teacher-generated parent letter and Dipper and Queen Star Finder.
Day 3: 30 minutes
- Read Annie Jump Cannon story.
- Facilitate class discussion of Checking Understanding questions 3 & 4.
Approximately Day 4
Consult with your grade level colleagues to schedule Star Lab. Contact the Math/Science Coordinator to schedule a date. Allow a minimum of 1 week notice.
Supplementary Resource: Stars by Steve Tomecek discusses stars, their apparent movement across the sky, and different colored stars. It is an interesting read-aloud. Some sections go into greater detail. For example, pages 24 and 25 briefly discuss the rotation of the earth. The information can be read; however, do not spend instructional time trying to teach this concept—it is a 5th grade learning goal. The pictures on the top half of the page illustrate how the apparent movement of stars looks to us on earth. The book is available through the library.
Lesson 6: Moon Movies
**Activity can't be completed until Moon Journals are completed.
Day 1: 30 minutes
- Complete Checking Understanding Questions 1-5 on page 49 in Student Edition.
- Read Finding Patterns.
Day 2: 30 minutes
- Complete Making Moon Movie.
- To make the activity more manageable, four cards should be eliminated. If they are not already marked in the Teacher's Edition, eliminate the following cards.
- Page 1 of BLM 6-1: Eliminate upper right corner picture and bottom row of pictures.
- Page 2 of BLM 6-1: Eliminate the second picture in the first column.
- Since it is not always easy to glance at a student's sequence of pictures, writing a different letter in the upper corner of each card may make reviewing the sequence easier. The teacher can use the sequence of letters to quickly check the students' work.
- Run off the moon pictures (BLM 6-1) on card stock paper instead of gluing onto index cards.
- Encourage students to use their Moon Journals and the class Moon Calendar to assist in placing the pictures in the correct sequence. The goal is to have students use data to make decisions about the sequence.
Day 3: 30 minutes
- Complete Checking Understanding Questions 1-5 on pages 111 and 112 in Student Edition.
Lesson 7: Patterns in the Sky (optional)
This lesson should be completed if students do not understand that the sun, moon, and stars appear to move across the sky. The lesson provides an opportunity for students to synthesize what they learned from Lessons 2, 3, and 5.
Post Unit Assessments
Day 1: 45 to 60 minutes
- Have students repeat or review their drawings from Lesson 1.
- The entire story does not need to be reread.
Day 2: 30 minutes
- Complete End-of-Unit Assessment (available on electronic curriculum).
Day 3: 30 to 45 minutes
Complete Checking Understanding Questions 2 or 3 on page 152 in Student Edition.