ISE 5-14 Curriculum Support Materials                                                           Overview advice

Group 6 exemplar Earth & Space  - Sun, Moon & Stars (Word)

 1. It would be useful to start this lesson by looking at the changing position of the Sun over a period of a few hours. Worksheet A2a (G) can be used to record the children’s observations.

An easy way to do this on a sunny day is to take the children outside and note where the Sun is in relation to the school or another landmark such as a tree. Return an hour or two later. Where is the Sun now in relation to the school? How has it moved and where will it end up before it sets?

The globe activity could follow this and reinforce the idea that it is the Earth moving and not the Sun.

An alternative activity would be to use worksheets A2b (G) and A2c (G) for each child. Cut out the Earth shape with the person on it and use a paper fastener to attach it to the other sheet on the spot marked. Turn the Earth until the person is facing the Sun - midday.

By turning the Earth around the children can see how they move out of the Sun’s light and get night time.

For additional information on children's likely existing ideas see the relevant section, below, of the South East Earth and Space (SEES) Consortium's CPD materials on this aspect. A table on children's ideas is followed by some strategies additional to those given above.

1. The Sun shines in the sky during the day

2. At night we see the Moon and stars in the sky

The ideas that may need to be addressed here are those connected with the shape of the Earth. This in turn affects children’s ideas about the shape of the Sun, Moon and stars. These common alternative conceptions fall into the following categories:

- the Earth is flat, with an absolute ‘down’ and we live on a limited space which may be thought to be a saucer shape;

- a spherical Earth whereby we may live inside the sphere, on the top half of the sphere or all over the sphere;

- a spherical Earth with sky all around and people living all over it, where ‘down’ is the surface of the Earth or down is to the centre of the Earth;

- there are two Earths, one flat that we live on and one round in space.

We live on the surface of a spherical Earth.

Introduction

One of the recognised ways to encourage pupils to be motivated to learn is to involve them directly from the outset. Hence the importance of giving clear information at the beginning, in particular about the learning outcome and the performance that will indicate that learning has occurred (7). One tool that has been developed to tackle this is WALT which stands for We Are Learning To… The sheet in appendix A1.1 shows how the character WALT could bring this to life for the pupils and in fact they could draw their own character. Therefore, the lesson would start with a statement of the following phrases about what we are going to learn and how we will know we've learned these things :

Learning Outcomes: When the Sun can and cannot be seen in the sky. When we see the Moon and stars & what they look like.

Success Criteria: Know what the Sun gives us during the day. Be able to draw the Moon & stars in the night sky.

When applying the WALT tool in P1 and P2 it would probably be more appropriate not to present learning outcomes and success criteria, as this is a lot for this age range to grapple with. Possibly just the learning outcomes could be shared with very simple language being used.

Identifying existing ideas

Research has shown (3) that it is important to identify the pupil’s existing understanding or conceptions, not just to be informed about what the pupil understands, but so as to influence the way that the teacher responds. Mere presentation of the ‘correct’ concept has been shown to have limited value. Good teaching practice ought to involve opening up discussion about existing ideas and then providing input that challenges these ideas by introducing new evidence and arguments. Through this process of cognitive conflict the learners actively reconstruct the concepts for themselves, improving the chance of a permanent progression in learning (2). Although existing concepts will undoubtedly be identified through discussion, the previous table outlines a summary of research findings (4).

‘What are the main differences between day & night?’

Possible answers: ‘Light/dark; temperature differences; presence of Sun, Moon & stars.’

Card sort: In small groups (3-4), sort these cards into two groups – what can be seen in the day time sky and what can be seen in the night time sky.

Some of the cards are not easily sorted and this should encourage further discussion.

The groups, or a selection of them, could then be encouraged to stick their cards up on the board. This would allow pupils to express their existing understanding, consider other peoples’ understanding and start to question what their existing concepts are, thus encouraging the all important process of cognitive conflict.