Science Content Standards:
Grade 3:
Physical Sciences (1a, 2a, b, d)
Earth Sciences (4b, c, d, e)
Investigation and Experimentation (5a, b, c, d, e)
S.C.O.R.E.
Lessons Standards Search by Grade and Subject
S.C.O.R.E.
Standards and Framework
California Content Standards
Grades K-12
California
Content Standards Grades K-12 - Science - PDF Format
Background:
Phases of the Moon
is
at the top of the list of things that students seriously misunderstand.
Most teachers run into problems in trying to explain
the Moon's phases to third graders, and my experience suggests that
many have a very difficult time with the concepts. The BrainPop
movie and
quiz
provides excellent background information.
Open Issues:
Why are the Maria concentrated on the near side?
Why is the Moon's center of mass off center?
Because of the tidal lock with the Earth?
Now that we've found water on the Moon, what are we going do to with
it?
Only twelve men have ever on walked the surface of the Moon. Who will
be the 13th?
Who will be the first woman to visit the moon?
Who was the first woman astronaut?
Skills:
Making inferences, forming hypotheses, making predictions
Assessment:
Teacher observation, peer evaluation, teacher made worksheets, web
quiz, writing samples,
"Moon Journal" documenting the lunar cycle during one month.
Enrichment:
Students can create their own
puzzles, visit interactive sites, and information on the web.
What is the is possibility of finding intelligent in the universe? - See
the Drake equation.
Closure:
"We can observe the shape of the moon and the direction of the moon
during one day and over the course of a month. The shape of the moon does
not
change over the course of a day, but the direction you must look to
see the moon changes over the course of a day. The moon generally moves
from east to
southeast to south to southwest to west. The shape of the moon changes
over the course of a 30 day period. As the moon waxes, we see more
of the moon (from new moon to waxing crescent to first quarter to waxing
gibbous to full moon). As the moon wanes, we see less of the moon each
day (from full to waning gibbous to third quarter to waning crescent to
new moon). " Students record closure statement in their science learning
log under Summary of learning.
Evaluation:
Learning log entries will be used to assess student learning. The concepts
and examples from the data will be assessed for scientific accuracy.
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