Earth And Beyond [grade 6 English]

WESTERN CAPE PRIMARY SCIENCE PROGRAMME A SHORT LEARNING PROGRAMME ON THE NATURAL SCIENCES THEME:

EARTH

Grade 6

AND

activities

ACTIVITY 1 The shape of the Earth and outer space ACTIVITY 2 Our Earth’s moon ACTIVITY 3 Moon watch

ACTIVITY 4 Light on the moon

ACTIVITY 5 Travelling to the moon ACTIVITY 6 The sun and its family of planets

ACTIVITY 7 Reading about the sun, Earth and moon

ACTIVITY 8 Additional reading tasks and project ideas

We welcome the wide use of these materials. © PSP 2002 Please acknowledge the PSP

BEYOND

DEVELOPED BY WESTERN CAPE PSP TEAM AND TEACHERS This learning programme will work towards the following learning outcomes in the Natural Sciences

s LO1: Scientific Investigations The learner will be able to act confidently on curiosity about natural phenomena, and to investigate relationships and solve problems in scientific, technological and environmental contexts

s LO2: Constructing Science Knowledge The learner will know and be able to interpret and apply scientific, technological and environmental knowledge

s LO3: Science, Society and the Environment The learner will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the interrelationships between science and technology, society and the environment.

Moon

Earth

Course presented by Rose Thomas and Sandra Mahote Booklet designed by Welma Odendaal and illustrated by Janet Ranson and Nicci Cairns Western Cape Primary Science Programme Edith Stephens Wetland Park Lansdowne Road Philippi 7785 PO Box 529 Howard Place 7450 Tel: 021 691-9039 Fax: 021 691-6350 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.psp.org.za

All images of the planets courtesy of NASA. Our thanks to the South African Astronomical Society for the information about the planets.

Contents • • •

This booklet illustrates an example of a short learning programme for Grade 6. It develops concepts, skills, attitudes and language in a step-wise fashion. It includes activities and tasks for learners, teacher tasks, support materials and assessment suggestions.

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 1

The shape of the Earth and outer space

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 2

Our Earth’s moon

6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 3

Moon watch

11 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 4

Light on the moon

15 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 5

Travelling to the moon

20 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 6 23

The sun and its family of planets Fact sheet: ‘The Planets’

24 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 7

Reading about the sun, Earth and moon

28 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Suggested workscheme for this learning programme Assessment sheets 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Assessing a task 30-31 . . . . . . . . . . .Blank assessment sheets 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Recording sheet for task assessment 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Codes for recording Teaching aids to photocopy 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 1

Map of the World

36 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Task card

‘Our Earth is a like ball moving in space”

37 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 3

Moon watch chart

38 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 4

Task card ‘Light on the Moon’

39 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 5

Task card and reading ‘Travelling to the Moon’

42–44 . . . . . . . . . .Photographs taken on the moon: 46 . . . . . . . . . . . . .‘The Solar System’ 48 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 6

Task card ‘The sun and its family of planets’

49 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Readings: ‘The Sun, Earth and Moon’ 51 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Activity 7 – Learner task card 53–56 . . . . . . . . . .The nine planets in our solar sytem Cover . . . . . . . . . .Mind map for Earth and Beyond

Activity 1 Key concepts

Teacher task

Learner task

GROUP

The shape of the Earth and outer space

• • • • •

The Earth is round like a ball The Earth’s surface consists of land and water There is more water than land on the surface The atmosphere is a thin layer of gases surrounding the Earth Outer space is beyond the atmosphere.

Demonstrate the following activity as an introduction. 1. Ask learners to choose the correct shape of the Earth from the things in the box and explain why they chose that shape. 2. Hand out sheets of newspaper and strips of white paper 3. Make water and flour glue. 1. Make a paper model of the Earth: A Crumple 10 sheets of newspaper to make a ball shape. A Tear two or three sheets of white A4 paper into thin strips. A Make a glue paste out of flour and water. A Spread the glue paste onto the strips of white paper with your fingers. A Bandage the strips around the ball of newspaper until the ball is completely covered.

2. Put your model in the sun to dry. Next day: 1. Draw a line around the middle of your Earth model to represent the equator. 2. Draw a dot to represent the position of the North Pole and another to represent the South Pole. 3. Cut out the continents on the map of the world. (See page 34 and 35 to photocopy.) 4. Paste the continents onto the model in the correct position (use a map and the equator line to help you).

2

5. Colour the land in orange. Colour the water in blue. 6. Put on the air – it is a very thin layer. Stretch a piece of pantihose around your model to represent the thin layer of air. 7. Complete the worksheet “Our Earth is like a ball moving in space”. (See page 36.) Our Earth is like a ball moving in space: A Draw onto the diagram and label clearly: • Water • Air • Outer space • Land

OUR EARTH

air

water

Outer space

Outer space land

air

water

land

air water land

water

Outer space Outer space

A s se ss m en t Activity

1

The shape of the Earth and outer space

What we want to assess

What we expect from learners

Model of the Earth

The model must have: a a spherical shape a the equator and poles properly positioned a continents in approximately the correct position a land and sea correctly coloured a a piece of pantihose stretched over the ball to represent the air

Diagram of the Earth

The diagram must a be clearly drawn a be labelled clearly, showing the land water and air (shown as a very thin layer close to the earth) a have outer space correctly identified (everything beyond the Earth and its atmosphere)

3

Activity 2

Our Earth’s moon The moon There are many stories about the moon, traditional stories, children’s stories and adult science fiction stories. The moon also features in poems and songs. In addition it has been associated with romance and with werewolves. It is also said that dogs will howl at the full moon!

Key concepts

Teacher task

• The moon is smaller than the Earth • The moon is a round sphere (about ∞ of the size of the Earth) • The moon revolves around the Earth.

Model of the moon

1. 2. 3. 4.

Ask learners to draw the night sky on a piece of paper for homework. They bring drawings to class the next day for a discussion. Discuss why learners could not draw all they saw on the paper. Talk about the many things we look at in space (The sun, the moon, millions of stars and sometimes satellites which look like moving stars). 5. Ask learners to find any stories or poems about the moon and discuss these in class the next day. 6. Hand out sheets of newspaper and strips of white paper. 8. Make water and flour glue.

Learner task

GROUP

1. Make a paper model of the moon. 2. Use the instructions you followed when you made the model of the Earth but use only 2 sheets of newspaper (the size of the moon is about ∞ of the size of the Earth). 3. Leave overnight to dry.

wire coathanger wool or string

model of the moon

4

my paper wasn’t big enough!

model of Earth

Next day 4. Use the model of the Earth that you made before and the model of the moon and make a mobile as illustrated in the diagram on the left.

Teacher task

A A

Introduce the word ‘revolve’ to explain how the moon travels around the Earth in its own orbit or pathway. Introduce the word ‘orbit’. The moon has its own orbit or pathway around the Earth. This means that as it travels around the Earth it always stays the same distance from the Earth.

The moon is revolving around the Earth in its orbit

orbit

A

Learner task

A s se ss m en t Activity

2

Use the mobile to demonstrate that the moon revolves around the Earth (rotate the handle of the coat hanger and you can see the moon travelling around the Earth).

Complete the following sentences by filling in the missing words: A The moon is smaller than the Earth. A

The moon revolves around the

A

The moon travels around the Earth in its own

Earth. orbit (pathway).

Our Earth’s moon What we want to assess

What we expect from learners

Model of the moon

a The moon’s shape must be spherical a The moon must be approximately ∞ of the size of the Earth a Make sure that the moon can travel around the Earth in the mobile

5

Activity 3

Moon watch

Key concepts

• The moon’s appearance changes every day • One full revolution of the moon around the Earth takes about 29 to 30 days • We see the moon because the light of the sun shines on the moon’s surface.

Teacher task

1. Read this poem to the learners. Explain the words ‘wax’ and ‘wane’. When the moon ‘waxes’ it means that it is growing or getting bigger each night. When it is ‘waning’ it means the moon is getting smaller each night until it disappears altogether for a few nights.

Watching the Moon There is a new moon in the sky tonight A thin little arc of clear white light Night by night I’ll watch her grow Until she’s full and all aglow The moon is full for just one night A great white ball of shining light Night by night I’ll watch her wane Until she’s an arc of light again The night will be dark without a moon But I know she’ll be in the night quite soon First as an arc of new white light She’ll wax until she’s full and bright

2. Read this background information and then decide what to read or explain to the learners. A People have always been aware of the moon and the way it appears to change A The moon appears to change shape over the course of time. We call these changes the phases of the moon, but it is difficult to explain why or how this happens. A Several calendars (including religious calendars) are based on the phases of the moon. A The time of the full moon is used to determine the date for Easter (it is the Sunday closest to the full moon about 4 full moons after Christmas). A The appearance of the crescent moon is used to signal the beginning and the end of the holy month of Ramadan in Islam.

6

The phases of the moon seen from the Southern Hemisphere The diagrams and photographs show what the moon looks like from the Earth.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

crescent crescent quarter gibbous gibbous full gibbous

8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

gibbous quarter crescent crescent new moon( this cannot be seen as it is in complete darkness)

Photographs extracted from ‘The Solar System’ – South African Astronomical Observatory

3. Photocopy and hand out moon watch diagrams (page 8 and 37). A Explain how to fill in the moon watch diagram. A Decide together with learners, which day will be Day One. (Any day of the month can be the start as long as everyone starts together. Make sure it is a night when the moon is visible) A Let the learners compare their drawings every few days.

7

Learner task

INDIVIDUAL

1. Find the moon each day (at night or day) and observe it carefully. 2. Draw what the moon looks like each day on your diagram. Write down the date and time. 3. When it is cloudy and you cannot see the moon, draw clouds on your diagram. 4. If you miss a night, write down your reason. 5. Compare your drawings every few days with those of the other learners. 6. Complete the 29-day cycle. 7. Put these labels onto your moon watch diagram, with the help of your teacher: • crescent moon • new moon • full moon • ¢ moon

THE PHASES OF THE MOON

MOON WATCH CHART

name

A

8

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Large moon watch chart for learners to photocopy on page 37.

Write down some interesting things that you have seen about the moon.

Moon watch I saw some interesting things about the moon.

when I started, I could see only a small part of the moon. Each night the part that I could see got bigger and bigger until I could see the whole moon. Then the light part started getting smaller each night until there was no moon at all. One thing I saw was,

the moon moves in the sky at night. Each night it rises in a slightly different place. For a few nights the moon seems to disappear from the sky. I also saw that

as the moon grows bigger, it is the left-hand side that I can see. But after full moon, as the moon becomes smaller, it is the right-hand side that I can see. Another thing I noticed was that,

A ss e ss me n t Activity

3

Moon watch

What we want to assess

What we expect from learners

Moon watch chart

The drawings on the chart must be: a completed a filled in to show how the shape changes (see diagram) a full, crescent, quarter and new moon must be correctly identified and labelled.

Writing sentences about the moon watch

Sentences should include some of the following: a that the moon’s shape changed a that it was not in the same position every night a sometimes you cannot see it at all (new moon) a as the moon gets bigger, one side is visible a as the moon gets smaller, the opposite side is visible

9

THE PHASES OF THE MOON MOON WATCH CHART am

am am

am

am

am

p

pm

am

pm

am

m

pm pm

l ful

m

on 10

o

am

Activity 4

Light on the moon

Key concepts

• The moon does not give off light of its own • We can see the moon because the sun illuminates it (the sunlight falls on the moon) • The moon’s shape appears to change as it moves around the Earth because we can only see the part facing us that has sunlight falling on it.

Teacher task

1. Read the following information to the learners

We see the moon when light from the sun falls on it The moon revolves around the Earth and at the same time, the Earth revolves around the sun. The moon takes 29.5 days to go once round the Earth. The sun shines on the moon as the moon moves around the Earth. A person standing on Earth sees different parts of the moon “lit up” by the sun as the sunlight illuminates the moon’s surface. 2. Demonstrate how we see the moon, which is lit up by the sun.

NOTE TO TEACHER … sun (a Use a bright light for the light bulb or an overhead projector). The child is an moon observer on Earth. Use the m that the learners made fro little a m paper. Darken the roo er the by putting newspapers ov windows.

11

What the learner must do: A Put a label on the learner saying ‘Earth’. A Push a pencil or stick into the model of the moon. The learner stands with her back to the light and holds the moon by its pencil handle. She holds it at arm’s length just above eye height. A Now, still holding the moon, she slowly rotates (turns around standing in one place), looking at the moon all the time. As the moon moves around her, she will see that different parts of the moon are lit up by the light bulb (sun).

earth

A

B

C

Ask her to tell you what she sees on the moon: A When she is standing with the sun behind her back A When she is standing sideways to the sun A When she is facing the sun What the learner will see: A When the sun is behind her back she will see a full moon. A When she is standing sideways to the sun she will see a quarter moon. A When she is facing the sun she will see the new moon. (The part of the moon facing her will not be illuminated by the sun). When the real moon is in this position, then we can not see it at all ) 3. Now learners work in pairs and take turns to hold the moon to see how it changes as they move it in relation to the sun.

12

Learner task

Light on the moon 1. Hold the moon as shown below.

earth

A

C

B 2. Still holding the moon at arm’s length, stand in one place and turn around slowly and look to see how the light falls on the moon. 3. Write and draw your observations below.

A. When the sun is behind me and the moon is in front of me this is what I see: Underline the correct one and draw on the circle: I can see the Full / Quarter / New Moon.

A

B. When I am standing sideways to the sun and the moon is in front of me, this is what I see: Underline the correct one and draw on the circle: I can see the Full / Quarter / New Moon.

B

C. When I am facing the sun and the moon is in front of me, this is what I see: Underline the correct one and draw on the circle: I can see the Full/ Quarter / New Moon.

C

What do I see if I stand sideways to the sun with the moon right in front of me?

TH R A E 13

A s se s sm en t Activity

4

Light on the moon What we want to assess

What we expect from learners

Questions about light on the moon

The answer must include the following information: a. When the sun is behind me, I can see the full moon b. When the sun is sideways to me, I can see the quarter moon c. When the sun is facing me, then I can see the new moon.(i.e. there is no light on the side of the moon facing me)

Picture: NASA

14

Activity 5 Key concepts

Teacher task

Travelling to the moon • People travelled to the moon and landed on it in 1969. This was the first time in history that people landed on the moon. • The people, who were Americans, used specially designed rockets and spaceships to get to the moon – it was a technological triumph. • This was the first time human beings had travelled so far. They came back safely bringing photographs and samples of moon rock. • This was also the first time that a human being had ever landed on the surface of another object in space. 1. Read a poem or song about travelling to the moon.

Amagorhaoo-Apollo Amagorha oo-Apollo Amagorha oo-Apollo! Amagorha ase Amelika Alimangalisile lonke ihlabathi!

Wasiphuka wenyu- – - ka! UNeil Amstrong, uMichael Collins noBuzz Aldrin! Halala! Halala! Hala- – - la! Siqhayisa ngo Apollo weshum’ elinomvo! (Taken from one of the

Xhosa songs composed during the Apollo moon landing, in

praise of the three

astronauts and the

great historic event.)

Picture: NASA

2. Explain to learners that they are first going to imagine about travelling to the moon. Then they will read about travelling to the moon to find out what actually happened when people went to the moon. 3. Supply learners with the task card and the reading ‘Travelling to the moon’ (page 16).

15

Travelling to the moon

For thousands of years people have looked up at the moon in the night sky but nobody had ever been to the moon.

People decide to explore the moon 1. In 1961 President John Kennedy announced that the United States of America would send people to travel to the moon to explore it. No human being had ever travelled to the moon before. For the next 8 years they experimented with different rockets and space vehicles. They made several trips to the moon to check the equipment but did not land on it. Travelling to the moon 2. Finally in 1969 the Apollo II space ship was ready to be launched into space. The space ship had to travel about 400 000 km to reach the moon and 400 000 km to get back. Apollo raced all through space. After three days and nights, it came near the moon. 3. Two astronauts flew down to the moon’s surface in a moon lander. One astronaut stayed up in the rocket and circled around the moon. He did this to make sure that they could all get back safely, even if the moon lander could not fly back. Neil Armstrong was the first man to step out of the space ship onto the surface of the moon. These were his words as he stepped onto the moon: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Edwin Aldrin was the second man to step onto the moon. On the moon’s surface 4. The moon looked scary. It had no air, water, plants or animals. The astronauts went outside in space suits to explore. They took many pictures. They drove a moon car and set up science experiments. Then they returned to Apollo in the top of the lander. Apollo brought them home safely.

One day you too could travel to the moon 5. Perhaps you’ll be on a moon station one day! You’ll catch a moon ship at a space station that will circle around the Earth. People will load supplies onto the ship. They will put fuel in your new moon ship and lander. Finally you’ll blast off. Near the moon, the rocket engines will fire again. You’ll go into orbit around the moon. People and supplies will go into the moon lander. Engines will fire. Down you’ll go. What will you say when you step onto the moon? What will it be like to live on the moon?

16

Adapted from: Amazing Rockets by Dinah L. Moche; Western Publishing Company Inc. Wisconsin 1990

Learner tasks

Imagine what it would be like to fly away from Earth and travel through space to the moon. 1. Explore the moon and outer space. 2. Talk to your group about how you imagine it will be. 3. Then read ‘Travelling to the moon’ on page 39 to find out.

Task card: Travelling to the moon Learner Talking and Reading Tasks: TASK 1 1. Imagine that you are the first person to travel to the moon. Discuss: A What plans would you make to get there? A How long would you spend planning? A How many people would go with you? A What kind of vehicle would you use? A Would you go on your own or would your country send you there? A What would it cost? And who would pay? Now read paragraph 1 to find out what did happen. TASK 2 1 Imagine how many days your journey would take to get to the moon. Discuss: A How far do you have to travel to get there? A How many days will it take you to get there? Now read paragraph 2 to find out how far away it was and how long the journey took.

How much longer will my journey be?

17

Learner task (continued)

my rocket has a parachute to help it l and.

TASK 3 1. Imagine how you will land on the moon safely so that you can come back again. Discuss: A How will you land on the moon? A How will you get back again? A What will you say when you step onto the moon for the first time? Now read paragraph 3 to find out what did happen. TASK 4 1. Imagine you are on the moon’s surface. Discuss: A What will the moon look like? A What will you do on the moon? A Did you get home safely? Now read paragraph 4 to find out what it is like on the moon.

that won’t work – there is no air on the moon! my rocket has springy legs to land on.

Teacher task

1. Hand out the set of photographs taken on the moon. The teacher’s copy of the questions and answers is on page 42, and the learner’s copy on page 43–44. 2. Learners look at the pictures and discuss the questions. 3. Facilitate a class discussion about this.

18

Learner task (continued)

TASK 5 1. Imagine that you are living on the moon one day. Make a drawing to show where and how you will live on the moon.

but how high would you jump on the moon?

on sports day i jumped 1,2m high …

how long would my rocket take to reach the moon?

Writing task – My place on the moon 2. Write to tell what it will be like to live on the moon.

A ss es sm e n t Activity

5

Travelling to the moon

What do we want to assess

What do we expect from learners

Reading: Tasks 1 – 5.

a Tell verbally (in groups) what actually happened during the exploration of the moon.

Writing and drawing about living on the moon

a Make a creative detailed drawing and write creative sentences imagining what it would be like to live on the moon. a Show evidence in drawing and writing of some facts about the moon e.g: – no atmosphere – plants can’t grow there – animals can’t live there – no water and no clouds or rain – they have to take everything such as food, clothing, air and water with them – they have to dispose of their own waste, etc,

19

The sun and its family of planets

Activity 6 Key concepts

• • • • •

Teacher task

Nine different planets make up our solar system The planets vary in size and mass Planets are different distances away from the sun All planets revolve around the sun Planets revolve in fixed orbits and they remain in these orbits.

Introduction to the solar system A A A A

R … NOTE TO TEACHE sequence When learners cut out and ir the planets according to the must y the , sun the distances from mbers. nu e larg y ver se work with the rposes of This is one of the main pu activity we this activity. In doing this able to hope that learners will be then and er mb nu h interpret eac mber and nu big r the ano compare it to st from the decide which is the furthe e placed sun and so on until they hav order. each planet in the correct

Learner task

IN PAIRS

Teacher task

Explain that Earth is found in one small part of the sky called the solar system. We are close to one star called the sun. All the other stars are very, very far away from us. Tell learners that we will study our solar system.

A. 1. Hand out photocopies of a the “Nine planets” (see page 53–56).

Each group works with one full set of planets. 1. Cut out the planets. 2. Write each planet’s name on the back. 3. Write down the planet’s distance from the sun. 4. Use the different distances from the sun and place the planets in order. Start with the sun and place the planet closest to the sun first. 5. End with the planet, which is the furthest away from the sun.

B. Hand out The Planets fact sheet (see page 23) and the drawing of the solar system (see page 46–47) to complete.

20

Learner task

INDIVIDUAL

Task card – Activity 6 The sun and its family of planets 1. Read the paragraph for your information. We know that Earth is a planet. There are eight other planets. Together with Earth, there are nine planets. They all get light from the sun. Each planet travels around the sun on its own special pathway called an orbit. Each planet is different. The sun and its family of planets is called the solar system. 2. On ‘The Planets’ fact sheet find the column marked “Distance from the Sun”. This will tell you how far each planet is from the sun. 3. Find each planet on your ‘Solar System sheet’ and label it correctly.

Pluto

Mercury Saturn Earth Neptune

Mercury

Venus

SUN

Venus Mars

Jupiter Uranus

Earth’s Moon Earth Mars

Jupiter Saturn Uranus

Neptune

21

Teacher task

Learner task 1.

Hand out the following questions and explain how to use ‘The Planets’ fact sheet to answer the questions.

About the planets

Use ‘The Planets’ fact sheet to answer the following questions: Which planet is the smallest?

Pluto is the smallest planet. 2.

Which planet is the largest?

Jupiter is the largest planet. 3.

Which planet has two moons?

Mars has two moons. 4.

Name the planet that has a red spot.

Jupiter has a red spot. 5.

Which planet do we know very little about? Why?

We know very little about Pluto because it is very far away from Earth. 6.

Why is Mars called the red planet?

Mars is called the red planet because it looks red in the sky. 7.

Name the brightest planet.

Venus is the brightest planet. 8.

Which planet has the most moons?

Saturn has the most moons. It has 18 moons. 9.

What is unusual about Saturn?

Saturn is unusual because it has 18 moons and it has large rings around it. 10. How far is Saturn from the Earth?

Saturn is 1 250 000 000km from Earth. 11. Which is the nearest planet to the Earth? How far is it from us?

Venus is the nearest planet to Earth. It is 46 000 000km from us. 12. How far away is Pluto from Mercury?

Pluto is 5 840 000 000km from Mercury.

6

Assessering Aktiwiteit

22

The sun and its family of planets What we want to assess

What we expect from learners

Solar System

Planets should be: a identified correctly a placed in correct order according to their distances from the sun a labeled correctly using the table provided.

Answering the questions about the solar system.

a Correct answers to questions

The Planets fact sheet PLANET

Distance from the sun in km

Size of planet Number (diameter in km) of moons

Mercury

60 000 000 km

5 000 km

0

It looks like our moon

Venus

104 000 000 km

12 000 km

0

It is the brightest planet

Earth

150 000 000 km

13 000 km

1

It is the only planet known to have life on it

Mars

240 000 000 km

7 000 km

2

It is known as the red planet

Jupiter

800 000 000 km

143 000 km

16

It has a red spot and striped appearance

Saturn

1 400 000 000 km

120 000 km

18

It has a set of rings around it

Uranus

3 000 000 000 km

52 000 km

15

It looks green. Most of it is ice.

Neptune

4 500 000 000 km

8

It appears blue

Pluto

5 900 000 000 km

1

Very little is known about this planet

50 000 km

2 000 km

Other features

23

Activity 7 Teacher task

Learner task

Reading about the Sun, Earth and Moon

1. Copy the readings about the Earth, the moon and the sun for learners from pages 48–50. Also copy the table ‘Comparing the Sun, Earth and Moon’ from page 51. (See page 26 for completed table.) Read about the Earth, the moon and the sun and then complete the table below.

Our Planet Earth

Our home, the Earth, is a planet. It looks like a large ball made mostly of rock. Our planet is made of a number of different layers of rock. First, there is a crust on the outside where most of the rock is hard. Under the crust is a mantle, which is made of softer rock and which is slowly moving all the time. Deep inside the Earth is a core made of the metals called Iron and Nickel. On the outside the Earth is surrounded by water (in the oceans), and air. The Earth is a medium sized planet. It measures about 40 000 km around the equator. If you could cut through it and measure the diameter it would be about 12 762 km. The Earth moves in two ways at the same time. One way in which the Earth moves is in a circle around the sun. We say the Earth revolves around the sun in its own orbit. The other way in which the Earth moves is that it spins (rotates) all the time while it is moving around the sun. The Earth does not give off light of its own but receives light from the sun. The Earth also receives heat from the sun so that the temperature on Earth is just right for living things. It is not too hot and it is not too cold The Earth looks like a beautiful blue and white ball. The blue that we can see is the water that surrounds the Earth. The white parts are the clouds that float in the air. Near the North and South Poles are large white areas. These are the polar ice caps made of frozen water. There are other planets in space, but Earth is the most important to us, because people, animals and plants can live on it.

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The moon

The moon is our nearest neighbour in space. It is about 400 000 km away from us. It is a ball of rock like the Earth, but it has no water and no air. The moon is so close to us that if we look carefully we can see some details on its surface. There are light and dark areas on the surface. The light areas are high mountains and the darker areas are large, flat, dusty plains. The moon also has a lot of round marks on its surface. These are called craters. They are made when rocks from outer space hit the surface of the moon and leave dents in it. The moon is not a planet. It is a moon because it revolves around a planet and not around the sun. It does not give off its own light but gets light from the sun. As the moon moves around the Earth we can see different parts of it lit up as the sunlight falls onto the moon. The moon is much smaller than the Earth. The Earth is five times bigger than the moon. If you could break the Earth into five equal balls then the moon would be the size of one ball. The moon has a diameter of about 3 500km.

The sun

The sun is a star, not a planet. It is a huge ball of very hot gas in space. The main gas is hydrogen. A star is a ball of gas so hot that it gives off light and heat and other radiation. The sun is the star closest to us. We can feel the sun’s warmth and see its light. It is so bright that we cannot look at it directly without hurting our eyes. The sun is so hot that huge explosions and fountains of gas shoot up high above its surface. There are also dark patches, called sunspots, which come and go. Without the light and heat of the sun, Earth would be cold, dark and dead. The sun is about 100 times bigger than the earth but it looks small, because it is so very far away. The sun spins all the time while the planets are revolving around it.

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Learner Task Card Read about the sun, Earth and moon and then complete this table:

Comparing the Sun, Earth and Moon

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Questions

Sun

Earth

Moon

What does it look like?

The sun looks like a very bright ball of fire.

The Earth looks like a blue and white ball.

The moon is a round ball that looks pale yellow or white. It has light and dark patches on its surface.

What is it made of?

The sun is made of very hot hydrogen gas.

The Earth is a ball made of rock. On the outside the rock is hard but on the inside the rock is softer and deep inside, the core is made of iron and nickel. The Earth is surrounded by water and air.

The moon is made of rock.

How does it move?

The sun spins.

The Earth spins and it also travels around the sun.

The moon travels around the Earth.

How does it get its light?

The sun produces its own light from the hot hydrogen gas.

The Earth gets light from the sun

The moon gets its light from the sun.

How big is it?

The sun is much bigger than the Earth (about 100 times bigger).

The Earth is smaller than the sun but bigger than the moon. Its diameter is about 12 762km.

The moon is smaller than the Earth. Five moons could fit into the Earth. Its diameter is about 3 500km.

Any other interesting thing that you read?

There are big gas explosions and black spots on the sun.

The Earth has just the right temperature for living things.

There are mountains and craters and flat dusty plains on the moon.

A s se ss m en t Activity

7 Reading about the Sun, Earth and Moon What we want to assess

What we expect from learners

Reading and completing the table of comparison of the sun, Earth and moon

Correctly compare the similarities and differences in answer to the questions for the sun, Earth and moon

Activity 8 A research project for learners Learner task

Do a book research about space travel and exploration. You can research anything about space and space travel that interests you. Here are some ideas about what to focus on in your research: a The Apollo missions to the moon. These missions were exploration flights, then later people flew past the moon and finally they landed on the moon. a The Mariner missions. These missions are explorations to Mars, our nearest planet. a The Pioneer 10 and 11 missions. These spacecraft have explored the furthest away from Earth. They have photographed the other planets and have now left our solar system. a The Viking spacecraft. These spacecraft also photographed the planets in our solar system. a The space shuttle. The space shuttle flies close to the Earth and takes people and supplies to and from the International Space Station where experiments are carried out in space. a The Hubble telescope. This telescope is in orbit around the Earth. It takes photographs of space that we cannot see from Earth because our atmosphere makes this difficult. a Etc, You can present your project as: a a model a a song or speech a an art work a a play a a poster with drawings and writing a Etc Your presentation must show what you have learned from your research about space exploration and travel.

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SUGGESTED WORK SCHEME ON EARTH AND BEYOND Grade 6 learning programme PERIOD 1

PERIOD 2

PERIOD 3

PERIOD 4

A Start with Activity 3 as the moon watch will take a whole month

• Discussion about what is in the night sky

Activity 1

• Putting the continents on the model

Activity 3 • Give learners homework to draw the night sky including the moon as they see it in the sky

• Learners copy the moon drawing on to their moon watch charts (50 min)

• Choosing a shape which best resembles the Earth & explaining their own choice • Making of the Earth paper model 50 min

• Colouring in the continents & putting on air 50 min

• Show learners how to complete the moon watch chart (50 min) NB. Calendar shows the day when the moon will be visible

PERIOD 5

PERIOD 6

PERIOD 7

PERIOD 8

• Completing the task card Our Earth is like a moving ball in space

Activity 2

• Making the Earth & moon mobile to compare the sizes of the two and to explain the revolution of the moon around the Earth

Activity 3 (cont)

50 min

• Poems and stories about the moon • Making of the moon paper model 50 min

• Sentence completion 50 min

• Looking at the learner’s progress with the moon watch chart and reading of the poem (Watching the Moon) • Discussion about why the moon changes 50 min

PERIOD 9

PERIOD 10

PERIOD 11

PERIOD 12

• Helping learners to name the phases of the moon

Activity 4 (cont)

Activity 4 (cont)

Activity 5

• Demonstration and discussion about light falling on the moon

• Reading of a poem or song about travelling to the moon

• Discussion and reading about travelling to the moon continued

• Sentence completion

• Discussion & reading about travelling to the moon

Activity 4 (start) • Prediction and discussion about light falling on the moon

50 min

50 min

50 min

50 min

PERIOD 13

PERIOD 14

PERIOD 15

PERIOD 16

Activity 5 (cont)

Activity 6

Activity 6 (cont)

Activity 7

• Drawing and writing about travelling to the moon

• Discussion about the appearance of the different planets as seen from the planet pamphlet

• Using the planet fact sheet to label the solar system diagram

• Using the planet fact sheet to answer questions

50 min

• Reading to find each planet’s distance from the sun and placing them according to the distances from the sun 50 min

• Using the planet fact sheet to ask questions

50 min PERIOD 17 Activity 7 (cont) • Readings about the sun, moon and Earth • Reading and completion of table to compare sun, moon and Earth 50 min Activity 8 (additional) • Book research project about space exploration (± 2 weeks) • Presentations of research project

This learning programme will take approximately 850 min = 3,5 weeks to complete (NS = 4 hours per week) plus additional time to do the projects and present them

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Learner task card – Activity 1

Our Earth is like a ball moving in space A

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Draw onto the diagram and label clearly – Land – Water – Air – Outer space

Learner task card – Activity 3

The phases of the moon Write down some interesting things about the moon, that you have seen.

MOON WATCH CHART Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .................................

Moon watch I saw some interesting things about the moon. One thing was . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I also saw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................................................................................. ................................................................................. Furthermore, I saw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................................................................................. ................................................................................. .................................................................................

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Learner task card – Activity 4 Light on the moon 1. Hold the moon as shown below:

A

B

C

2. Still holding the moon at arm’s length, turn around slowly and look to see how the light falls on the moon. 3. Write and draw your observations below: A. When the sun is behind me and the moon is in front of me this is what I see: Underline the correct one and draw on the circle: I can see the Full/ Quarter/ New Moon

B. When I am standing sideways to the sun and the moon is in front of me this is what I see. Underline the correct one and draw on the circle: I can see the Full/ Quarter/ New Moon

C. When I am facing the sun and the moon is in front of me this is what I see: Underline the correct one and draw on the circle: I can see the Full/ Quarter/ New Moon

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Learner task card – Activity 5

Reading for learners Travelling to the moon For thousands of years people have looked up at the moon in the night sky but no body had ever been to the moon. People decide to explore the moon 1. In 1961 President John Kennedy announced that the United States of America (USA) would send some people to travel to the moon to explore it. No human being had ever travelled to the moon before. For the next 8 years they experimented with different rockets and space vehicles. They made several trips to the moon to check the equipment but did not land on it. Travelling to the moon 2. Finally in 1969 the Apollo II space ship was ready to be launched into space. The space ship had to travel about 400 000 km to reach the moon and 400 000 km to get back. Apollo raced all through space. After three days and nights, it Aiming for the moon … Apollo II is ready to be launched. Picture: NASA came near the moon. 3. Two astronauts flew down to the moon’s surface in a moon lander. One astronaut stayed up in the rocket and circled around the moon. He did this to make sure that they could all get back safely, even if the moon lander could not fly back. Neil Armstrong was the first man to step out of the space ship onto the surface of the moon. These were his words as he stepped onto the moon: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Edwin Aldrin was the second man to step onto the moon.

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On the moon’s surface 4. The moon looked scary. It has no air, water, plants or animals. The astronauts went outside in space suits to explore. They took lots of pictures. They drove a moon car and set up science experiments. Then they returned to Apollo in the top of the lander. Apollo brought them home safely.

One day you too could travel to the moon 5. Perhaps you’ll be on a moon station one day! You’ll catch a moon ship at a space station that will circle around the Earth. People will load supplies onto the ship. They will put fuel in your new moon ship and lander. Finally you’ll blast off. Near the moon, the rocket engines will fire again. You’ll go into orbit around the moon. People and supplies will go into the moon lander. Engines will fire. Down you’ll go. What will you say when you step onto the moon? What will it be like to live on the moon? (Adapted from: Amazing Rockets by Dinah L. Moche Western Publishing Company Inc. Wisconsin 1990

Above left: Lift off! 16 July 1969 was launch day for Apollo II. Left: The landing craft. Above: Neil Armstrong … The first person on the moon! (All pictures courtesy of NASA)

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Learner task card – Activity 5

Travelling to the moon Learner talking and reading tasks:

Task 1 1. Imagine that you are the first person to travel to the moon. Discuss: A What plans would you make to get there? A How long would you spend planning? A How many people would go with you? A What kind of vehicle would you use? A Would you go on your own or would your country send you there? Pictures: NASA

Now read paragraph 1 to find what did happen

Task 2 2. Imagine how many days your journey would take to get to the moon. Discuss: A How far do you have to travel to get there? A How many days will it take you to get there? Now read paragraph 2 to find out how far and how long the journey took

Task 3 3. Imagine how you will land on the moon safely so that you can come back again. Discuss: A How will you land on the moon? A How will you get back again? A What will you say when you step on the moon for the first time? Now read paragraph 3 to find out what did happen

Task 4 4. Imagine you are on the moon’s surface. Discuss: A What will the moon look like? A What will you do on the moon? A Did you get home safely? Now read paragraph 4 to find what it is like on the moon.

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Teacher’s copy: Photographs taken on the moon Why is the sky black? There is no atmosphere on the moon. So, you do not look through the atmosphere into space like here on the Earth. When we look through the atmosphere from Earth the sky looks blue. What is this? This moon car runs on batteries (remember there is no air on the moon to burn petrol). This is an umbrella-shaped solar panel to pick up sunlight energy and change it to electrical energy to charge the batteries. What is this? This is a footprint of an astronaut. What is this? This is the sun that also shines on the moon. What is this? This is a crater on the moon’s surface. It is a large dent left by a rock from space that crashed into the moon. There are many craters on the moon’s surface. What can you say about this environment? It is barren, dry and rocky Why does he have a shadow? He is standing with his back to the sun so his shadow falls in front of him.

Why does he wear a helmet? He wears a helmet to protect him from the harmful rays of the sun. There is no atmosphere to protect him. He also needs a helmet to protect him from any harmful dust or stones from space. He also needs a helmet for breathing. The air from the air tanks on his back is pumped into his helmet. What is this? This is a hill or mountain in the background. What is he carrying on his back? He is carrying air to breathe on his back in tanks. What is this? This is an astronaut’s footprint. What is he doing? He is taking soil samples with a special tool.

What is this? This is the moon lander spacecraft. What is this? This is the moon buggy or motor car What are these marks on the surface? They are the marks from the tyres of the moon buggy.

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Learner’s copy: Photographs taken on the moon Why is the sky black?

What is this?

What is this?

What is this?

What is this?

What can you say about this environment?

Why does he have a shadow? 43

Why does he wear a helmet? What is this? What is he carrying on his back?

What is this?

What is he doing?

What is this?

What is this?

What are these marks on the surface?

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Task 5 Imagine living on the moon one day Writing Task: When I live on the moon I will live in a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..................................................................... ..................................................................... I will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... I will also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... I will also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... .....................................................................

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Learner task card – Activity 6 The sun and its family of planets 1. Read the paragraph for your information. We know that Earth is a planet. There are eight other planets. Together with Earth, there are nine planets. They all get light from the sun. Each planet travels around the sun on its own special pathway called an orbit. Each planet is different. The sun and its family of planets is called the solar system. 2. On ‘The Planets’ fact sheet find the column marked “Distance from the Sun”. This will tell you how far each planet is from the sun. 3. Find each planet on your ‘Solar System sheet’ and label it correctly.

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THE SOLAR SYSTEM

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Learner task card Activity 6 – Individual About the Planets: Use The Planets fact sheet on page 23 to answer the following questions:

1. Which is the smallest planet?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

2. Which is the largest planet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Which planet has two moons? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Name the planet which has a red spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. Which planet do we know very little about? Why? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............................................................ 6. Why is Mars called the red planet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............................................................ 7. Name the brightest planet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Which planet has the most moons? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. What is unusual about Saturn? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10. How far is Saturn from the Earth? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. Which is the nearest planet to the Earth? How far is it from us? . . . . . ............................................................ 12 How far away is Pluto from Mercury? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Readings about the Sun, Earth and Moon 1. Read about the Earth, the moon and the sun and then complete the table on page 52.

Our Planet Earth

Our home, the Earth, is a planet. It looks like a large ball made mostly of rock. Our planet is made of a number of different layers of rock. First, there is a crust on the outside where most of the rock is hard. Under the crust is a mantle, which is made of softer rock and which is slowly moving all the time. Deep inside the Earth is a core made of the metals called Iron and Nickel. On the outside the Earth is surrounded by water (in the oceans), and air.

Earth as seen from the moon.

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The Earth’s atmosphere is clearly visible from this photograph.

The Earth is a medium sized planet. It measures about 40 000 km around the equator. If you could cut through it and measure the diameter it would be about 12 762 km. The Earth moves in two ways at the same time. One way in which the Earth moves is in a circle around the sun. We say the Earth revolves around the sun in its own orbit. The other way in which the Earth moves is that it spins (rotates) all the time while it is moving around the sun. The Earth does not give off light of its own but receives light from the sun. The Earth also receives heat from the sun so that the temperature on Earth is just right for living things. It is not too hot and it is not too cold The Earth looks like a beautiful blue and white ball. The blue that we can see is the water that surrounds the Earth. The white parts are the clouds that float in the air. Near the North and South Poles are large white areas. These are the polar ice caps made of frozen water. There are other planets in space, but Earth is the most important to us, because people, animals and plants can live on it.

The moon

The moon is our nearest neighbour in space. It is about 400 000 km away from us. It is a ball of rock like the Earth, but it has no water and no air. The moon is so close to us that if we look carefully we can see some

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details on its surface. There are light and dark areas on the surface.

Earth, the sun and the moon.

The light areas are high mountains and the darker areas are large, flat, dusty plains. The moon also has a lot of round marks on its surface. These are called craters. They are made when rocks from outer space hit the surface of the moon and leave dents in it. The moon is not a planet. It is a moon because it revolves around a planet and not around the sun. It does not give off its own light but gets light from the sun. As the moon moves around the Earth we can see different parts of it lit up as the sunlight falls onto the moon. The moon is much smaller than the Earth. The Earth is five times bigger than the moon. If you could break the Earth into five equal balls then the moon would be the size of one ball. The moon has a diameter of about 3 500km.

The sun

The sun is a star, not a planet. It is a huge ball of very hot gas in space. The main gas is hydrogen. A star is a ball of gas so hot that it gives off light and heat and other radiation. The sun is the star closest to us. We can feel the sun’s warmth and see its light. It is so bright that we cannot look at it directly without hurting our eyes. The sun is so hot that huge explosions and fountains of gas shoot up high above its surface. There are also dark patches, called sunspots, which come and go. Without the light and heat of the sun, Earth would be cold, dark and dead. The sun is about 100 times bigger than the earth but it looks small, because it is so very far away. The sun spins all the time while the planets are revolving around it.

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Learner Task card – Activity 7 Read about the sun, Earth and moon and then complete this table:

QUESTIONS

What does it look like?

What is it made of?

How does it get its

How big is it?

Any other interesting thing that you read about?

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SUN

EARTH

MOON

The nine planets in our solar system

The four Galilean moons

Jupiter Diameter

142 800 km

Mass

318 Earth masses

Distance from the sun

800 million km

Number of moons

16

Rotation period

length of day in Earth hours 9.8

Time to go round the sun

length of year in Earth years: 11.9

Jupiter is the largest of the gas giants. The white clouds that we see are at a temperature of –153 o C and consist of ammonia ice crystals. Lower down, the clouds are coloured red and brown by organic compounds and chemicals such as sulphur. Winds speeds of over 400 km/h are common; the Great Red Spot is thought to be a long-lived hurricane and is larger than Earth. Jupiter probably has a rock or ice core surrounded by liquid hydrogen with helium dissolved in it.

Jupiter has 16 known moons, but four are larger than the rest and can be seen easily with binoculars. They are known as the “Galilean moons” after their discoverer Galileo.

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Earth Our Home Planet Diameter

12 750 km

Distance from sun

150 million km

Rotation period

length of day in Earth hours

23.93 Time to go round the sun 365.24

length of year in Earth days

Uranus

Mercury

51 118 km

Mass

14.5 Earth masses

Distance from the sun

3000 million km

Diameter

4 878 km

Number of moons

15

Mass

0.06 Earth masses

Rotation period

Distance from Sun

60 million km

length of day in Earth hours 17.9

Number of moons

none

Rotation period

length of day in Earth days 58.7

Time to go round the sun

length of year in Earth days 88

At the equator it is hot enough to melt lead. At the poles there are craters with ice frozen to –150 °C. Mercury has no atmosphere.

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Diameter

Time to go round the sun length of year in Earth years 84 Uranus shows an almost featureless green ‘surface’ of clouds floating in a cold (–197°C) atmosphere of hydrogen, helium and methane. Beneath the clouds, most of Uranus (85%) is ice.

Venus Diameter

12 104 km

Mass

0.8 Earth masses

Distance from Sun

104 million km

Number of moons

none

Rotation period

length of day in Earth days 243

Time to go round the sun length of year in Earth days 225 Venus is a hot and hostile planet. An atmosphere of carbon dioxide 90 times as dense as Earth’s keeps the surface hot enough to melt lead. Clouds of sulphuric acid hide its surface.

Saturn Like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant consisting mainly of hydrogen and helium. Its famous ring in fact consists of thousands of narrow rings made up of lumps of ice and rock as small as dust grains and as large as minibus.

Diameter Mass Distance from Sun Number of moons Rotation period Time to go round the sun

120 660 km 95 Earth masses 1 400 million km 18 length of day in Earth hours 10.2 length of year in Earth years 29.5

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Mars Diameter Mass Distance from Sun Number of moons Rotation period Time to go round the sun

6 787 km 0.1 Earth masses 240 million km Two. Phobos and Deimos length of day in Earth hours 24.62 length of year in Earth days 687

The atmosphere of Mars is 100 times less dense than Earth’s and consists mainly of carbon dioxide, with traces of water vapour. In winter temperatures drop to –125 °C, giving Mars its well known white ‘ice caps’. In summer equatorial temperatures can reach 20 °C. The planet’s reddish colour is caused by iron in the soil. Bacterial life forms may once have existed on Mars.

Neptune Diameter

49 528 km

Mass

17 Earth masses

Distance from sun

4 500 million km

Number of moons

8

Rotation period hours 19.1

length of day in Earth

Time to go round the sun years 164.8

length of year in Earth

Neptune is another ‘ice giant’ like Uranus and even colder (–225°C). Its bluish atmosphere of hydrogen and helium shows occasional large dark spots, and is probably the windiest place in the solar system with storm winds reaching speeds of 1400 km/h.

Pluto Diameter 2 300 km Mass 0.0025 Earth masses Distance from sun 4 400–7 400 million km Number of moons 1 Rotation period length of day in Earth days 6.4 Time to go round the sun length of year in Earth years 247.7 Pluto is smallest of the planets, and usually the remotest and coldest. At –233°C, frost of methane and nitrogen coat the pinkish surface. Pluto’s grayish moon, Charon, is only 19 400 km away, and more than half Pluto’s diameter.

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