TE 402: Lesson Plan Guide (3-day) Part I: Clarifying Your Goals. Big Ideas. Lesson Placement

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1 TE 402: Lesson Plan Guide (3-day) Name: David Clark Mentor Teacher: Sue Palomba Topic: Moon Phases Lesson Placement Partner: Todd Goshorn School: Lansing Gardner Middle School Type of class: 7 th Grade Honors Science This lesson falls in the astronomy unit after a weeklong focus on the seasons. Students will have learned about the Earth and Sun interactions, the tilt of the Earth on its axis, and its revolution around the Sun. The next logical step is to add the Moon into this relationship and the outcome is the EMS (Earth-Moon- Sun) system. This 3-day lesson focuses on collecting data on the phases of the Moon. The unit also focuses on disproving the myth that we only see the Moon at night. The rest of the unit continues with other planets then discussions about stars. It is a natural progression from Earth to phenomenon progressively farther from us. Part I: Clarifying Your Goals Big Ideas The Earth is tilted on its axis, causing the seasons. These changes are not caused by the distance between the Earth and the Sun. With the tilt, the Earth receives either direct (90 degrees to Earth s surface) or indirect (angles greater than 90 degree) rays from the Sun. As the Earth revolves around the Sun, there are changes in the length of daylight, in temperature, and in the height of the Sun in the sky. There are certain days within the year which specify the beginning of the seasons (summer and winter solstices/ spring and fall equinoxes). Signs of seasonal change can be seen by comparing shadows of objects during various times of the year at set times (shadows become smaller or larger depending on angle of the Sun s rays). The Moon goes through changes (phases) over a period of time. As it orbits the Earth, we observe different portions of the lit Moon. Half of the Moon is always lit as it revolves around the Earth, but what we see depends upon our relative position to the Sun and Moon. A complete orbit of the Moon causes 8 distinct phases; new/full moons, quarter moons, waxing/waning crescent and gibbous. The Moon is not only seen at night. In fact, the Moon rises in the east and sets in the west like the Sun does. However, these times change by almost an hour each day as the Moon moves in its orbit around the Earth. Therefore, it is not rare to see the Moon in the sky during broad daylight. Because the Moon rises in the east, it revolves around the Earth in a counterclockwise direction.

2 Experiences, Patterns, and Explanations Observations or experiences (examples, phenomena, data) The moon s size and shape changes every night Sometimes the moon is a ball, sometimes a sliver. Sometimes there is NO moon Sometimes there is a moon and then it is eclipsed a lunar eclipse We can see the moon during the day. The moon has some darker spots on it. Patterns (laws, generalizations, graphs, tables, categories) The moon appears to change shapes throughout the month. It takes 28 days for the same shape of the moon to reappear in the sky. The moon rises in the east and sets in the west. It rises between 45 to 75 minutes later each day. The face of the moon we see from Earth is always the same. Explanations (models, theories) The moon is orbiting the Earth in a counterclockwise fashion. Each day, the moon moves a little in its orbit around the Earth. Therefore, the Earth needs to rotate more before you can see the moon the next day. The moon slightly rotates as it revolves around the Earth. Therefore we always see the same face of the moon from Earth. Application: Model-based Reasoning using models/theories to explain experiences Inquiry: Finding and Explaining Patterns in Experience Objectives for Student Learning Objective Type Stage(s) in Learning Cycle Michigan Objectives 1. Describe, compare, and explain the motions of solar system objects. 2. Describe and explain common observations of the night skies. Using Using Establishing the problem Modeling Coaching Fading Maintenance Establishing the problem Modeling Coaching Fading Maintenance Specific Lesson Objectives 1. Describe and explain the phases of the moon. Using Modeling Coaching 2. Use computers to create a set of moon observation data. 3. Explain and model why the moon rises around an hour later each day. Constructing Using Establishing the problem Coaching

3 Part II: Classroom Activities Materials Presentation materials (Overhead transparencies or Powerpoint presentations, etc): None Copied materials (Handouts, worksheets, tests, lab directions, etc.): Computer lab, moon phase diagram, moon rise-set data table Pages in textbook: Book: Pages: Laboratory materials: For the teacher or the class as a whole: For each laboratory station: Flashlight, Earth Model, Moon Model Other materials: Activities Note The activities and lessons were already devised by my mentor teacher and her colleagues prior to this unit. For my 3-day lead teaching I was to use these materials. I went in another day during my teacher s planning hour to discuss and plan these three days ahead of time. The first two days are part of an inquiry cycle that my mentor and her colleagues put together. DAY 1 Introduction (10 minutes) Take attendance. Explain that we are going to the library today to work on the computers. All materials except a pencil should be left in the classroom. I will get the students to line up at the door and we will go the library, stopping every once in awhile to make sure everyone is together and that we are orderly. (Doors to other classrooms are open sometimes. Disruptions are not tolerated. Anybody making a large amount of noise will automatically get a zero for the day.) Once in the library, each student will sit in front of a computer and I will begin to explain what we will be doing today. Main Teaching Activities (30 minutes) I hand the packet out, which contains the directions for the students computer work. The activity is to look on a certain website, change the

4 day for the Lansing area, and record the given moon phase in the calendar provided in the packet. This allows the students to gather their own data and begin to see patterns of the moon phases. Go around and help students who are having technical difficulties. The directions are not completely fool-proof, as I had some difficulty figuring out a few steps when I tried this myself at home. Ask students questions about what they are seeing and the general trend they notice when they draw the moon phases. Eventually, some students should reach a realization that it took 28 days for the same picture of the moon to show up again. They should also notice that the same craters are always seen on the face of the moon. (We will not delve too deeply into this when we discuss back in class the next day.) The main point of this day is for students to collect some data and start thinking about some of the patterns it shows. There are also some extra questions in this packet which utilize the computer to learn more about the moon. (Things like a blue moon, etc.) These are supplemental and we won t be going into these in depth. Conclusion (10 minutes) Students will return their computer s to their homepages. We will return to the classroom in a similar fashion to how we came to the library. Once in their seats, I will quickly ask the students to write down on a half-sheet of paper any patterns they saw when filling out the calendar with all of the moon phases. They will hand both this and the packet to me before they leave. I will announce that we will start tomorrow by discussing some of these patterns that they discovered. Day 2 Introduction (5 minutes) Take attendance. Return the half-sheets of paper with the patterns they recorded the previous day. (I will have looked over these the previous night and made a few comments on patterns I believe students should bring up when we begin our discussion today.) Ask the students to give some of the important patterns they discovered yesterday. The one I will guide them to focus on is that

5 there is a time span of 28 days between full moons. Our goal for today will be to use models to explain this pattern. Main Teaching Activities (40 minutes) However, the first thing I want to do is add another pattern among what we already know. The website we were working on did not include moon rise and moon set times. Since the moon rise and set depends upon the moon s orbit around the Earth, it would be beneficial to tie together that pattern with the 28 day orbit pattern. Students will get into groups of three. In this class there should be 25 students if all are present. Depending on the number of students, there will be a group or two with two students. Hand each group a data table of moon rise and moon set data. Ask the students, What is the first thing you notice about the times that may seem alarming? (Keep gathering ideas and verifying until someone points out that the moon rises in the morning a few days and sets in the evening. This should be used as a discrepant event that the moon isn t just out at night. It can be seen during the daytime as well depending on where the sun and moon are in the sky. The pattern the students need to discover is that the moon seems to rise minutes later everyday. (If they are having trouble, scaffold them into this discovery by going around in the groups pointing out certain oddities about the time intervals.) Have a runner from each group come up and get a flashlight, Styrofoam Earth, and Styrofoam Moon. Quickly go over the two main patterns once again. (It takes 28 days for the moon to show the same phase again, and the moon seems to rise minutes later each day.) Explain to the students that they are to take these to patterns and try to explain them by using the models. In other words, model the patterns. Go around and give very subtle hints if students are having trouble understanding what to do. However, they are trying to explain these patterns on their own using the models, so do not give them the answers in any way. When a group believes they have an explanation, have them raise their hands and show you what they came up with using the models. Begin scaffolding the students thinking toward the explanation if they are close or have at least something to build off of.

6 Students should be able to show that the moon orbits the Earth in a counterclockwise motion. They should say it is this way because the moon rises in the east and sets in the west, like the sun does. (The moon rising in the east and setting in the west is information given on the data sheet.) They should demonstrate that it takes 28 days for the Moon to return to the same place in its orbit. This is the reason for the phases of the moon we see on Earth. The most difficult explanation will come in trying to explain why the moon rises minutes later each day. Students will need to show that the moon moves in its orbit a small amount in one day. If you are in the same location as the day before, it will require the Earth to rotate on its axis a longer amount of time before the moon will become visible in the east horizon. Therefore, the moon will rise at a later time. The goal for today is to have students model the patterns they found yesterday and today. As of yet, we have not gone into any vocabulary or distinction about the different moon phases. This is strictly a different way to teach this concept so that the students are discovering on their own instead of just spoon feeding information. I like to think of today as me being there as a guide. Conclusion (5 minutes) Have the runner from each group return the models to the front of the room. Come back together as a class and tell the students that tomorrow we will be looking more in depth at the specific phases of the moon and how the Earth, Moon, and Sun need to be aligned (in the simplest of matters) in order for each specific phase to occur. Day 3 Introduction (5 minutes) Take attendance. Have the students get out a single piece of paper, (or their notebook) and gather at the back of the room. I will have already set up a globe in the center of the room. There will be a light source at the desk up front, and I will be using one of the large Styrofoam ball models. Main Teaching Activities (35 minutes) This part of the activity will take about 20 minutes. I will turn the lights off in the classroom and turn on the sun. I will position myself (with

7 the Styrofoam ball, the moon) between the sun and the earth. Students standing on the other side of the earth will draw the moon from that perspective. (In this case, it would be a dark circle because of the sun shining on the side facing away from the earth.) I will move 1/8 counterclockwise in the orbit. The students shall also move an equidistant amount so that they see the moon from the perspective directly behind the earth. At this point they should see a sliver of light. They will draw their observations. We will continue on until we reach the new moon phase again. Students will return to their seats and we will begin discussing the patterns we observe from their drawings. (The amount of light we see grows and then declines, the full moon is directly opposite the side of the new moon, etc.) We begin to name these phases of the moon. I begin telling them that waxing means the moon has more light reflecting than the previous phase and that waning is the opposite of that. Furthermore, a crescent is when less than half of the face we see is lit, and gibbous is more than half. They are to label each of their drawings with the names of the phase. This will be turned in to be graded as a daily assignment. When we discussed this lesson plan on the day I came in, my mentor mentioned that most of this day would be devoted to getting the students to understand the naming method for the moon phases. By doing it this way, they should be able to come up with a technique to name a phase of the moon instead of just memorizing what each one is, making the learning more authentic. For the remainder of this class period, I will go around and help individuals who are having trouble with naming the phases. Conclusion (10 minutes) In addition, I get 10 minutes at the end of this class period to talk about a seminar I saw about the Mars rovers Spirit, and Opportunity. An engineer from NASA spoke about some of the findings they ve had about liquid water being on Mars at some point in the past. I m going to put it as simply as possible explaining that hematite was found on Mars, which requires water to form. (OH is part of its chemical formula.) For hematite to form, there must have been water present at some time. And this hematite was found at a place other than the poles! Also mention that the rovers are way past their expected lifetime.

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