Night and Day

We have been working on the patterns of day and night in science class. Small children often think that the sun shuts off at night because they can no longer see the light. We created a model mock up by using a lamp without a shade and a globe. We discussed how the sun constantly shines and the earth rotates showing that there is a constant pattern of day and night throughout the world. The students then created clay molds of the sun and earth to simulate day and night. The children had to place yellow clay on on a large styrofoam ball to simulate the sun. Then on a smaller styrofoam ball (which represented earth)  they had to determine which side facing the sun would have sunlight or darkness. They would represent this by adding blue clay to show daylight and black clay to show darkness. 

We were fortunate enough to have our three fifth grade science leads join us for our mini lesson and lab. As part of the Chets Creek science program our teachers continually work together from Kindergarten through fifth grade to make science integration smooth and interactive between all grade levels. 

Ask your little scientist about patterns of day and night. You’ll be amazed at what they will tell you!