OpenSciEd Unit 8.4, Lesson 3: Daylight & Solar Elevation Patterns Investigation
Task
Use this resource with the 8th grade OpenSciEd curriculum during 8.4, Lesson 3. Tuva has digitized the Observations of the Sun and Sun Patterns Over Many Hundreds of Years handouts to enable students to actively engage with and visualize the data. This is not a standalone lesson. Use it in tandem with the OpenSciEd Teacher Edition to guide overall instruction and collaborative sensemaking. Where This Investigation Fits into the Storyline In the previous lesson, we gathered information about stories of the night sky and analyzed data from a simulation of the sky during the day and night over the course of six months. In this investigation, we watch a video of the simulated motion of the Sun through the sky over a day for different parts of the year and notice that in summer the apparent path of the Sun in the sky is higher and daytime is longer. We also look at NOAA records spanning 1,000+ years to establish that these seasonal patterns are stable. When to Use Tuva Day 1 Complete Part 1, Navigation, outside of Tuva. (Use page 9 of the OpenSciEd Teacher Edition.) Complete Part 2, Make Predictions About the Sun, offline as well. Before Part 3, open Tuva. Divide students into groups as instructed in the Teacher Edition. Student groups will use videos to gather data about daylight hours or the Sun's angle at noon. After both teams have collected all of their data, get the two groups together. You'll scribe as they share their data aloud. Students will enter it into Tuva and use it to make graphs that help them process it. Gather the group together to discuss their findings, introduce the vocabulary term elevation, and open Part 4. (Use pages 15–17 of the Teacher Edition and Slides F–H.) After you have assigned groups their time spans, have them get back on Tuva. They will use the links to find and record data for their time span. Day 2 Complete Part 5, Navigation, outside of Tuva. Have students open Tuva again for Part 6. Students will share their own data and record the other groups' data in their data table. Then they'll work with a partner to graph and analyze it. Students may use their graphs and written responses during the Building Understandings Discussion at the end of Part 6. (Use pages 19–20 for facilitation tips.) The remainder of Day 2 and all of Day 3 will be completed off Tuva. What Happens Next Students will connect patterns of the Sun in the sky from our recorded data to the patterns identified by other civilizations in earlier lessons, revise their physical model of the Earth–Sun system to better reflect the data we recorded from the NOAA websites, and build understanding that in order to explain changes in sunlight and the angle of the Sun in the sky over the course of a year, the Earth’s axis must be tilted toward Polaris. *
During the last lesson, you looked at data of the sky during the day and night over six months. One thing you did not figure out is what makes the amount of daylight change during the year. In this investigation, you will be answering: How can we explain the Sun’s path change over time? Click Next to get started.
Topics and standards: MS-PS2-4, MS-ESS1-1, MS-ESS1-2, MS-ESS1-3, MS-PS4-2, OpenSciEd, 3.2.6-8.J, 3.2.6-8.R, 3.3.6-8.A, 3.3.6-8.B, 3.3.6-8.C