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During my student teaching, the students were given an assignment to do over the summer. They were to create a night sky journal which would have them go outside daily and observe the night sky as well as what they could see, hear, feel, smell, and possibly taste (depends if they were eating something while they were doing their observation). They were to use adjectives that were creative and could draw a picture in our minds about that particular night. I thought about this assignment as I was creating my lesson. I was thinking of having the students do a night sky journal for a week before I teach the lesson then have them go and observe again for another week after I have taught the lesson. I have many of the SciPack animations incorporated into my lessons. I particularly like the animation that shows the length of the day as the months change. It is very visual and the students can relate more now because we are starting to see that the days are getting shorter. I am looking forward to see if they enjoy and learn from the lesson that I have made.

The idea of going outside at night and keeping a journal is very cool. I have taught astronomy for years and never thought of that. Great idea!!

I usually have the students draw what the moon looks like for 1 month so they can see the phases. I like the idea of having the students extend the assignment to listen, observe other celestial objects and then draw and label their picture. Thanks so much for your post: I hadn't thought of extending the assignment.

Traci, We've also had our students record and graph sunset times during the period they are journaling. They get to visually and graphically see the change, and it is a great way to add math into your lesson that isn't too painful!

The idea of a journal is wonderful. I think this would also work for my kindergarten students but I'd turn it into the day and night sky journal to tie in with our standards. It's also a great way to tie in weather and the differences in temperature during the day compared to night. It would be fun to give a few coloring or dot to dot sheets about constellations. The possibilites are endless. I'll be putting a bit more thought into this and trying it out. Thanks for the idea!

By having your students maintain a journal before and after you teach the lessons would be a great assessment tool for you to see how their thinking changed/evolved over time. It would be a kind of pre- and post- assessment piece. Not only will it show you what students learned, but it would also provide you with insight on what worked with your teaching.

Hi Tracie, That is a wonderful idea. I think it would be a great to see all the students perceptions of the night sky and it allows the students to incorporate writing and art as well. I too am working on teaching earth and space science and this will help them understand seasons and why it gets darker during the winter and so on. Thank you for sharing such great ideas. I may decide to do that as a class and see what we come up with. Thank you!

Hi Tracie, What a fantastic idea! I love the idea of having the students record their journals before and after you teach the lesson. As Denise highlighted, this will be a fantastic opportunity to evaluate your students' understanding of the concept use a "pre & post assessment" journal. Bravo on a great idea!! I'm doing a similar activity with the length of the days. I'm waiting until after Daylight Savings Time ends. I'd considered starting before we go back to ST, but was worried that some students may be confused by the extra hour of light on Nov. 4th! I think I may begin the activity after Thanksgiving and have my students record the sunset through January. I'm excited to correlate their with the shortening of days until Dec. 21 and then the lengthening of days as we move into spring. How are long are you planning to have your students record? Maureen

Tracie and Patricia! I really like both of your ideas about keeping the journal on the night sky and drawing the moon phases! I think it would be really cool to combine both of them. Maybe telling the children that one of the guidelines for their journal entry everyday is to draw the moon a long with writing about all the other things they see in the sky. The children could get an idea about what parts of the sky change (moon) or what may stay the same. Great Idea! Thanks, Ali

Hi Tracie, This is my first year teaching third grade and I also wanted to have my students to track the moon's phases. However, do you have or use a certain template? What information do you specifically ask them to log? Thanks, Alana

Although not a resources on moon phases this link will explain why the moon does not fall into the earth http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/11/why-doesnt-the-moon-crash-into-the-earth/

I used this activity in one of my classes. One student will be the Earth, one will be the Moon and one will be the Sun. The Sun will hold a flashlight, the Earth will stand in a fixed position and the Moon will hold a volleyball and orbit the Earth in a counterclockwise motion. The teacher will dim the lights and the Sun will shine the flashlight at the volleyball. The student who is the Earth will sketch a picture of the lighted portion of the Moon (volleyball) as the student orbits the Earth. The students will take turns in each role.