Science Technology

This Science lesson is based off Standard 1 objective 1 from the Utah Core Curriculum and is targeted towards a third grade audience.

Standard 1: Students will understand that the shape of the 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 1: Describe the appearance of Earth and Moon.

We will use the Computer Program, Google Earth, to assist us in teaching these concepts.

First we will begin by having students open up the Google Earth program on their computers. Next, they will observe the appearance of Earth from Space. After which we will have the students discuss with their neighbors what they have observed about the Earth’s qualities. Students should observe that the earth is round and that most of the earth’s surface is composed of water.
Next, we will have students use the Google Earth Zoom tool to observe the Earth’s surface in closer proximity. This will allow students the opportunity to view the various geographical components of the earth. For instance, students will be able to see the seven continents, several mountain ranges, and large bodies of water. Once again, they will discuss their observations with neighbors.
The last part of our lesson will focus on the earth’s movement and rotation using the tools (arrows) that make the earth spin. As students experiment with Google Earth, they will see that the earth is constantly spinning on its axis. In fact, it is spinning so fast that we as human beings on the earth’s surface do not feel the movement!
This is just half of the material we would cover when focusing on Standard 1 Objective 1. The remainder of our lesson would be directed towards the properties to the moon and its relationship to the earth. We chose to focus on the earth because it would take several weeks to cover all the material within this objective.