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DAY AND NIGHT
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Procedure |
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The
actions of students and teachers and the interactions among and between students and
teachers: |
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What Teachers Do
- Introduce the Learning Experience in both the math and science classes. (Both teachers
shared these students.) Review the Vocabulary handout or
assign it as homework prior to the activity
- Introduce the statement "Length of day is a cyclic change". Discuss the Length of Day handout, the Satellite
Photos, and the Sample Spreadsheets
- Conduct a Length of Day Symposium, using the symposium outline below
Length of Day Symposium
Describe Patterns
Show graphs from different latitudes in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
- Include vocabulary words: inverse, transformation, equator, ecliptic, rotation,
latitude,
- symmetric, tropics (Cancer, Capricorn), nodes, range, equinox, mirror image
- Include points of intersection. Compare different hemispheres
- Start with Sunrise/set overheads showing patterns
- Then, show length of day using same latitudes
Demonstration using Globe and Light
- Discuss terminator, rotation with relation to the sun
- Discuss ecliptic, 23º, tropics, solstice, equinox
Satellite Photo
Discuss the world map
- Discuss the relationship to climate, seasons, and types of vegetation due to the
suns position
Biological clocks
Autumn leaves based on length of day
Flowering
- Short day flower (forest)
- Long day flowers (prairie)
Animal-Hibernation-fur changes migration time
Pattern for Dinosaur distributes
- Autumn: warm but the polar areas still had long periods of darkness
- Dinosaurs probably migrated to get to areas of more daylight- end line of migration of
polar dinosaurs
Growing Seasons- plants need a certain amount of time to grow.
Introduce the report-writing assignment and the Rubric of the
Sunrise-Sunset Project.
Divide students into teams of 2 or 3 and assign each group a specific latitude and the Sunrise Sunset Length of Day handout. In math class, the
teams organize their data on spreadsheets and graphs, using the Spreadsheet
Information handout, Sample Graphs, making copies of
results to be shared with the other teams.
- In math class, share the graphs, analyzing them for patterns, symmetries and cycles. Ask
students to make predictions using the graphs.
- At the same time, in science class, students retrieve satellite photos from the Internet
to help students understand the earths rotation and revolution.
- Assign a written report discussing length of day, including all its components as a
cyclic change. Distribute the handout Writing the Paper.
What Students Do
Students participate in this Learning Experience in both math and science classes.
- Complete Vocabulary handout.
- Participate in the Length of Day Symposium.
- Use Spreadsheets and Spreadsheet
Information and Prepare Graphs as a team.
- Discuss team graphs, examining for symmetries and cycles, and making predictions.
- Research satellite photos from the Internet, to better understand the Earths
revolution and rotation.
- Write a report on the length of day, using the handout Writing
the Paper.
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