The Earth spins round and round like a top. It takes 24 hours to turn round once.
Because the Earth is spinning, a part of the Earth always gets light from the Sun. In this part of the Earth it is daytime. In the other part of the Earth it is night-time.
When is the Sun high in the sky? At midday.
The day begins when we see the Sun coming up. This is the sunrise.
At midday the Sun is high in the sky. The day ends when we see
the Sun going down. This is the sunset. We cannot see the Sun at night because the Earth turns. the Earth the Sun the Sun the Earth night day
Day and night
• Explain the rotation of the Earth using a spherical object for the Earth and a lamp for the Sun. Explain that this is how we have day and night time. Ask the following questions:
– Where is it daytime? Why do you say that?
– Which object is moving? The Earth or the Sun?
– What happens to the areas where there is not light?
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Earth
The Earth is the planet we live on. It is spherical and when we look at pictures of the Earth taken from space the predominant colour is blue. This is why the Earth is sometimes called the Blue Planet. When we look at the Earth from space we can see three different areas:
• The water (oceans, seas, river and lakes) covers most of the Earth’s surface.
• The land is the part that is out of the water. It is made up of the continents and the islands. There is also land under the water. • The air surrounds the Earth and makes up the atmosphere.
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OBJECTIVES
• To relate the changing of day to night to the rotation of the Earth
ORDER OF ACTIVITIES
1. Read the text and ensure that
the students understand all the words.
2. Look carefully at the pictures. 3. Discuss the pictures and the
text with the class.
4. Read the instructions out loud
and ensure that the students know what they should do.
5. Do the activities.
6. Discuss the results of the
activities with the whole group.
7. Read the text at the bottom
of page 89 to ensure that the students have understood the most important information.
The Moon
The Moon is the Earth’s only satellite. It has a very similar shape to the Earth but it is much smaller. There is no air or water on the Moon. The changes in temperature are very sharp and life cannot exist on the Moon. The Moon takes about 28 days to orbit the Earth. We can see four lunar phases which are the result of the position of the Moon with respect to the Sun:
• New Moon: we cannot see the Moon at all in this phase. • Waxing Moon: only the right-hand side of the Moon is visible
from the Earth.
• Full Moon: we can see the whole of the Moon.
• Waning Moon: only the left-hand side of the Moon is visible from the Earth.
UNIT 8
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Label the pictures day or night. Write three differences.
What do you do at these times of the day? F. A.
•At sunrise .
•At midday .
•At sunset .
•At night .
Find the information in a newspaper. Complete the sentences. F. A.
•The Sun came up today at . •The Sun went down today at .
The Earth takes 24 hours to turn round once.
It is daytime where the Earth receives the light from the Sun.
It is night-time where the Earth does not receive the light from the Sun.
ACTIVITIES
1 2 3 It is . It is . unit8
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Nigh†: t™æ Moo> an∂ t™æ starfi a®æ ou†. I†´fi dar§.
Da¥: t™æ Su> ifi ou†. I†´fi ligh†. Wæ ca> ßææ colourfi.
• Tell the students to look carefully at the pictures for the times of the day on page 88. Tell the students to describe the light in the
pictures. Ask them to describe the colour and the intensity. Tell them to also look carefully at the shadows and describe the length and position of the shadows.
• Work with the vocabulary for the times of the day.
• Explain to the students that the sunrise is when the sun is coming out. We also call this time of the day, dawn. The sunset is when the sun is going down behind the horizon. We also call this time of the day, dusk.
Multidisciplinary link. Language
Teach the students this riddle. Ask them to copy the riddle and illustrate it once they have worked it out.
I’m big and yellow and sometimes red.
I’m the king of the sky, so it is said. Some think I move through the daytime sky.
But I don’t. I just sit here way up high.
I warm up the Earth and light up the day.
I’m the king of the sky, so they say.
Resources for the teacher
Reinforcement and extension: Reinforcement sheet 8. (See pp. VI-VII)
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