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Earth and Space Science

Earth and its' Seasons

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What activity can be provided to the students, so they can learn how and why Earth has four seasons, what would be the best way to present the subject and make it intresting and valuable at the same time in order for students to succeed in learning the subject?

Hanna Schmitt Hanna Schmitt 470 Points

These ideas are great for making learning about seasons interactive in the classroom! There are also a variety of online resources that simulate Earth's seasons that may be beneficial for remote learning. A quick Google search of 'earth seasons simulation' yields a variety of simulations and videos about the seasons that you could use for inspiration. To pique student interest, you could introduce the lesson with an interesting video and prompt the students to ask questions about it. During your lesson, you can help them find answers to those questions while learning about the seasons.

Stephanie Ramos Stephanie Ramos 280 Points

What I would do is have the students work in group while making a foldable. This make it fun for them while also having a hands on activity.

 

Amanda Behr Mandy Medlin 580 Points

A good hands on activity is to have a minimum of 4, max of 8 blow up globes. Black out the room, with only a lamp in the middle /no shade. Have a north star point so that the north pole points in that direction (have it be approx imately at the level to the Earth's axis has a tilt). Have 4 X's on the floor where  students would stand with the globes with the north pole pointing towards the north star. Show how the tilt is always the same, but dependong on where the Earth is in relation to the sun, the north pole can be tilted towards the sun (summer) or away from the sun (winter) and in between is the summer or fall. Students can move with their earth around the sun to see how the light hits different parts of the earth at diffeent times. If you used 8 globes, the other 4 would be the in between phases of the soltices and equinoxes.

 

I hope that made sense.

Megan Anderson Megan Anderson 945 Points

I am a teacher in training and have also been wondering what activities I could do to teach this topic. So, thank you all for sharing. I really like the idea of having students create a foldable. This would give students the opportunity to be creative while learning about the four seasons and why we have them. I also think having students act out the process of Earth rotating around the sun could be a great introduction to this topic. 

Derek Shrapnel Derek Shrapnel 10 Points

You will need materials to demonstrate earth orbiting the sun. I recommend that you use an apple for the earth and poke a pencil through it to show the axis. A large ball is needed for the sun, and the bigger it is, the better. You can also use other materials. For example, clay works to make an earth and you can use a basketball for the sun (just remind students that the sun in proportion is much, much bigger than the earth).
Some questions:
What are our seasons like? (These answers will of course depend on where you live. Be sure students explore weather changes and the difference in length of day when answering this question.)
What are seasons like in other parts of the world? (Students may know that some parts of the world are warmer or colder. They may also know that some places are in darkness for most of the winter.)
What do you think causes the seasons? (Students may come up with all sorts of suggestions, some of which may be wrong. Do not confirm or criticize their ideas, but ask them to elaborate, or reason out their ideas. See the Misconceptions about Why Seasons Occur teacher sheet for more information about common misconceptions that students might hold.)

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