5th Grade Astronomy Unit: Lesson 8

5^th Grade Astronomy Unit Blueprint

Day, Night, Years

Lesson 8: FOSS Investigation 3 (Day and Night)

Pacing Suggestions:

Days 1 & 2— Part 1
Days 3 & 4— Part 2

Teacher Resources:
Tips	Day and Night Written Assessment Adobe® Reader® (PDF) Day and Night Written Assessment (Microsoft Word Format) Written Assessment Rubric Adobe® Reader® (PDF) Written Assessment Rubric (Microsoft Word Format) Day and Night Performance Assessment Adobe® Reader® (PDF) Day and Night Performance Assessment (Microsoft Word Format)

Essential & Unit Questions* ¹

Benchmarks ²

Formative and Summative Assessments ³

Using Assessments to Monitor Student Learning

What causes day and night?

4B(3-5)#2: Like all planets and stars, the earth is approximately spherical in shape. The rotation of the earth on its axis every 24 hours produces the night-and-day cycle. To people on earth, this turning of the planet makes it seem as though the sun, moon, planets, and stars are orbiting the earth once a day.

Class discussion and student modeling of day and night (See Conducting Part 1, Steps 10-12 on page 93 and Conducting Part 2, Step 3 on page 96 in Teacher Guide.)

Day/Night Think Questions (See page 13 in FOSS Planetary Science Lab Notebook & Conducting Part 1, Step 14 on page 93 in Teacher Guide.)

General Points to Consider:

Do students understand how the movement of the earth on its axis produces day and night?
Do students know that only half of the earth can be lit by the sun at one time?
Do students know that the sun doesn't actually move?

Formal Assessment:

Day and Night Written Assessment (Teacher-generated sheet available on electronic blueprint under "Teacher Resources.")

Day and Night Written Assessment (teacher generated sheet):

Use rubric available on the electronic blueprint under "Teacher Resources."

Formal Assessment: Day and Night Performance Assessment (To be conducted after completing Part 2. (Teacher-generated assessment available under "Teacher Resources" on the electronic blueprint.)

Day and Night Performance Assessment (teacher generated sheet):

Use rubric available on the electronic blueprint under "Teacher Resources."

* Essential/Unit questions are major questions driving the unit. They are directly aligned with the benchmarks. No single lesson addresses each question in its entirety. By the end of the unit, students should be able to answer these core questions.

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.

5th Grade Astronomy Unit Blueprint

5^th Grade Astronomy Unit Blueprint