This cluster includes the following access points.
Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this topic.
| Name |
Description |
| NASA and the Space Program Change Florida: The Space Program Changes the Economy and Culture of Florida: | The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite, into space in 1957. Americans watched the Soviet satellite beeping and blinking across the American night sky. Sputnik I weighed only 184 pounds and could do little more than beep, but many people worried that this meant the United States was losing the race to develop space technology.
Pressure exploded from United States politicians and the American public demanding that the country catch up and increase investment in rocket technology and aeronautics. In this lesson students will analyze the film Florida: Moonport USA to describe the effect of the United States space program on Florida's economy, growth and culture. |
| Lesson #3 - Moon Phase Unit: | This is the final lesson in the Moon Phase unit. In this lesson, students will complete an algorithm sheet to understand how they can connect the flowchart model to real-world programming. It also gives an insight to various blocks used in Scratch and their significance. This lesson allows students to program in Scratch based on the flowchart model made in the previous lesson and switch the costumes based on the operational conditions placed on the sprite. The final product in this lesson will showcase the students' conceptual understanding of the Moon phases in a computer science medium. |
| Lesson #2 - Moon Phase Unit: | This is lesson 2 of 3 in the Moon Phase unit. This lesson will help students design a flowchart model to find the phase of the Moon by making decisions based on certain conditions. This lesson also gives students insight into working with the design model made earlier and an opportunity to upload/draw costumes of different lunar phases in Scratch. |
| Lesson #1 - Moon Phase Unit : | This is lesson 1 of 3 in the Moon Phase Unit. This lesson introduces students to the eight Moon phases and their names in a counter-clockwise sequential order starting with the New Moon as phase 1. Students will also be introduced to how a flowchart can help make decisions, in this case whether or not the Moon is full. |
| Moon Phases: | This activity asks students to use models of Earth, the Sun, and the Moon system to discover why moon phases occur. Students use a Styrofoam ball to represent the Moon, which will be lit by a single light source in the classroom, to observe how different portions of the ball are illuminated as they hold it in various positions. |
| Dance by the Light of the Moon: | Professional Partiers, Inc. is having a difficult time setting a date for a client's Halloween party. The client has specific criteria they like would to have included in deciding on a good date. This project will familiarize students with the phases of the moon. It allows students an opportunity to interpret data from charts and collaborate with one another to provide a thoughtful written response for the company. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom. |
| Traveling to the Moon MEA: | This MEA is designed to help students create a process for selecting a Space Shuttle to send to the moon given the particular criteria provided. Students will master the Science Standard SC.4.E.5.2: Describe the changes in the observable shape of the moon over the course of about a month . Students will also practice and reinforce the Math Standard MAFS.4.MD.1.2: Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, and money, including problems involving simple fractions or decimals. Represent fractional quantities of distance and intervals of time using linear models. Students will also practice ELA Standard LAFS.4.W.2.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom. |
| How is the Earth Connected to the Moon, Sun and Other Parts of the Universe?: | There are many connections between the Earth and other heavenly bodies. The Earth's rotation creates night and day. The moon's rotation and revolution around the Earth creates the moon phases. |
| Phases of the Moon: | In this lesson, students will model and draw the phases of the moon from the perspective of both the Earth and the Sun using 3-dimensional foam balls. Students will learn the reason for the moon's phases and that the moon is always illuminated on one side by the sun. |
| The Lunar Cycle: | In this lesson, students learn about the Moon's changing appearance and
its pattern of movement. Through class discussion, activities, and
multimedia resources, students explore the phases of the Moon and are
introduced to the concept of orbital motion. The Moon, Earth's only natural satellite, is easily observed with the
naked eye. Over the course of one month, students observe and investigate its full range
of appearances and its pattern of movement in the sky. Students then model the sun, earth and moon system in the classroom. |
| Florida's Space Industry: | In this lesson, students learn about the creation, time-line, and impact of the "space race" and consequent space industry in Florida. |
| What Makes Day and Night? The Earth's Rotation: | In part one of this activity, students are introduced to day and night through a whole class reading. In the second part of this lesson, a kinesthetic modeling of day and night allows students to experience the spinning Earth and the day/night cycle. |
| How do Earth's Rotation and Revolution Work?: | This lesson demonstrates how the earth rotates creating nights and days. It also demonstrates the revolution of the earth around the sun. The earth and the sun's movements are connected. |
| Moon Light Through the Month: | Students will work in small groups to arrange moon phase cards into the correct sequence. |
| What Causes the Phases of the Moon?: | The phases of the moon occur because of the revolution of the moon around the Earth. The amount that one sees of the moon depends on where the moon is in its revolution around the Earth. The time it takes for the moon to rotate/revolve around the earth is about 28 days. |
| Why do the Stars Seem to Move Across the Sky?: | This lesson teaches students why the stars seem to move across the night sky. The lesson also teaches why we see different stars during different times of the year and why constellations are in different positions in the sky during different times of the year. |
Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this topic.
Vetted resources caregivers can use to help students learn the concepts and skills in this topic.
