Science Challenge

Describe the technology-enhanced science activity that you will be doing.

We are going to be teaching students about the 24-hr rotation of the sun on it's axis. The teacher will be shining a flash-light on a globe. The flashlight (our model of the sun) will remain stationary, while the teacher slowly has the globe turn on it's axis.

As teachers show the bigger picture of why it grows light and dark over a 24-hour period, students will have the opportunity to use the program Stellarium to chose a location and watch, hour by hour (or by shorter intervals) the sun and moon move across the sky. Thus, the students can see an technological representation of the 24-hour revolution of the sun, helping them form connections and giving them a clear representation of what the teacher is modeling.

What is the content you will be focusing on in your science activity?

3rd Grade Science

Standard 1
Students will understand that the shape of Earth and the moon are spherical and that Earth rotates on its axis to produce the appearance of the sun and moon moving through the sky.

Objective 2
Describe the movement of Earth and the moon and the apparent movement of other bodies through the sky.

Indicator c)
Use a model of Earth to demonstrate that Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours to produce the night and day cycle.

What is the pedagogy you will be using and why is it a good fit with the content?

We are going to have our students build a conceptual knowledge through "building activity types." Students will have the opportunity to view a presentation/demonstration by the teacher as the teacher models the movement of the sun and the earth in space. Thus, our first step in the pedagogy is to have students gain information from the teacher.

Second, students will have the opportunity to view Images/Objects and do a simulation. This is where Stellarium comes in. Students will use Stellarium to see and examine both the still and moving images of the 24-hour day cycle. They can see the location of the sun and the moon over a 24-hour range. While using this program, students will interact with digital simulations that demonstrate the science content.

This is a good fit for our content because it provides students with a unique opportunity to see for themselves the movement of the earth, sun and moon in a short period of time. Students don't have to go outside, they can see what they wouldn't see otherwise and the big picture comes together quickly. Because the content is so precise and compact, learning will be more efficient, leaving less room for misunderstanding. What an amazing way to learn this content--to see what's happening in space with the teachers model and being able to connect that with the movement of the sun and the moon across the sky. This connection will make the learning session much more powerful.

What is the technology you'll be using and why is it a good fit with the content and pedagogy?

Stellarium is a good fit for the pedagogy because we want our students to learn this content with building activity types. We want our lesson to have a constructivist theme where our students can explore and build their own knowledge. Stellarium allows for students to do their own manipulations. It lets them see an amazing representation of the the movement of the sun and moon across the sky in a time, place, and at a speed, they can choose.

How would you describe the representation of the content produced by the technology you use in your science activity and in what way would it help students better understand the objective you are aiming to teach?

Perhaps it will sound repetitive when I say that students will better understand the objective by having a visual, multimodal representation of the content we intend to teach. The representation of the content is deep, clear and concise. Students are instructed on the scientific reasons behind the 24-hour night and day period. The teacher models in front of the class. Then, students get to explore and discover for themselves. Students get to do the manipulations. They get to teach themselves. Their learning experience is interactive and they are fully engaged because they are conducting their own learning experience. The content specifically stresses the movement of the sun and moon through the sky and the 24-hour cycle. What better way to teach this content than by showing the MOVEMENT of these bodies through the sky? That is an experience students can't get from lecture or a textbook.