Today I had four out of my five classes. We plotted the path of the moon and compared it with the path of the sun. I modified the lesson plan as follows:
LESSON PLAN: PLOTTING THE PATH OF THE MOON
OBJECTIVE: SWBAT use a plastic hemisphere to plot the path of the moon.
MATERIALS: Plastic Hemishpere, Exterior protractors, Data for altitude and azimuth of sun and moon for Thursday, Nov. 8. Stickers
CHALLENGE:
1. Write the following on the board:
Challenge--How does the path of the moon compare to the path of the sun?
Wild Guess__
2. Ellicit guesses from the students. Call them guesses, because a hypothesis is an educated guess and students do not have sufficient background knowledge on which to base an educated guess. Instruct students to write their guesses in their journals.
3. Give students the coordinates for the moon's position from moonrise to moonset at one hour intervals.
BUILD THE SKILL: Ask students to place a sticker at those coordinates.
Walk around the room and monitor their progress. Correct errors.
SCAFFOLD AND DIFFERENTIATE: As each group finishes, give them another set of coordinates. Allow students to progress at their own pace. Give additional help to those who need it.
ANALYZE: As the materials are being collected, students write a short paragraph comparing and contrasting the apparent paths of the sun and moon across the sky.
HOMEWORK: 1. Ask three questions that you CAN answer about the path of the moon today. 2. Ask three questions that you cannot answer about the moon's path. 3. Read pages ---- in your textbook. Ask and Answer one quesion per paragraph.
NOTES ON THIS LESSON
It is important to ask students to make a guess or hypothesis before carrying out the challenge. Most students guessed that the moon would rise and set on the opposite side of the sky as the sun. They found out that the moon in fact followed much the same path as the sun--not identical, but very much in the same part of the sky.
The Rubric for this lesson was similar to the one for the sun's path.
The RUBRIC for this activity is as follows:
4 -- The student plots ten positions of the moon--one for every hour between 6:00 AM and 4 PM.
3 -- The student plots seven to nine positions of the sun
2-- The student plots four to six positions
1--The student plots one to three positions.
TOMORROW'S LESSON PLAN
OBJECTIVE: SWBAT plot the positions of the sun and moon on a circle graph
INTRODUCTION: Ask students to share their questions and answers from the homework assignment. Show students one of the plastic hemispheres with the sun and moon stickers. Elicit observations about the paths of each. Tell students that the hemisphere is model that helps us see the whole day at once. It is a 3-D model. We can do the same thing with a circle graph, which is a 2-Dimensional Model.
CHALLENGE: Write the challenge on the board: Plot the path of the sun and of the moon on the circle graph.
.
MODEL THE SKILL:
Hand out the circle graph. Provide the coordinates for the first position of the sun. Challenge students to mark the position in pencil. Model the correct placement. Repeat if necessary the next two or three positions until most groups are able to plot the coordinates correctly on their own. Define with student participation the number of plots necessary for a FOUR, THREE, TWO, OR ONE.
BUILD THE SKILL:
Provide the students with the coordinates for the paths of the sun and moon for November 9, 2007. Circulate through the class giving help as needed. Allow students to work in pairs, but each person must make his/her own graph.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
Have students make a T-chart comparing and contrasting the paths of the sun and moon
HOMEWORK
Write a comparison contrast of the paths of the sun and moon on Nov. 9, 2007
Astronomical Applications Dept.
U.S. Naval Observatory
Washington, DC 20392-5420
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
o , o ,
W 73 55, N40 44
Altitude and Azimuth of the Sun
Nov 9, 2007
Eastern Standard Time
Altitude Azimuth
(E of N)
h m o o
06:00 -7.1 106.1
07:00 3.7 115.8
08:00 13.3 126.5
09:00 21.6 138.7
10:00 28.0 152.9
11:00 31.7 168.9
12:00 32.2 185.8
13:00 29.4 202.2
14:00 23.8 217.0
15:00 16.0 229.8
16:00 6.7 240.9
17:00 -3.8 250.8
Astronomical Applications Dept.
U.S. Naval Observatory
Washington, DC 20392-5420
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
o , o ,
W 73 55, N40 44
Altitude and Azimuth of the Moon
Nov 9, 2007
Eastern Standard Time
Altitude Azimuth Fraction
(E of N) Illuminated
h m o o
06:00 -4.9 112.5 0.00
07:00 5.0 122.3 0.00
08:00 13.5 133.1 0.00
09:00 20.6 145.4 0.00
10:00 25.5 159.3 0.00
11:00 27.9 174.4 0.00
12:00 27.3 189.9 0.00
13:00 23.9 204.6 0.00
14:00 18.0 217.8 0.00
15:00 10.2 229.4 0.00
16:00 1.4 239.5 0.00
17:00 -9.0 248.7 0.00
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