Lesson

Why do we have seasons? Date Dec. 6th, 2017

Title/Focus
Subject/Grade Time
Grade 6 Science 2:04-2:45
Level Duration

Unit Sky Science Teacher Miss Tkach

Students will learn about seasons through a model demonstration at the front of the classroom. After
watching this demonstration, students will be able to update a season description paper we
previously begun to more accurately describe how the seasons are created. Students will then
Lesson
develop ideas about how the sun and amount of day changes from season to season, and we will go
Overview
over the definitions solstice, and equinox. Time permitting, we will talk about how the sun changes
its angle above the horizon throughout the seasons as well.

OUTCOMES FROM ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES

General
Learning
67 Observe, describe and interpret the movement of objects in the sky; and identify pattern
Outcomes:
and order in these movements.

Specific
Learning 6. Describe seasonal changes in the length of the day and night and in the angle of the Sun above
Outcomes: the horizon.

Main Inquiry
Question What objects exist in the sky and what movement makes up their patterns?

Guiding
Questions
How does the axis tilt of Earth cause seasons?
(These
facilitate and
How does the length of day change with the seasons and the angle of the sun above the horizon?
guide the
lesson)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will:
1. Be able to explain how Earths axis tilt creates seasons.
2. Know how the length of day and nighttime changes in the seasons.
3. Understand that the North Hemisphere and the south hemisphere have opposite seasons.
ASSESSMENTS
Formative:
Observation/Anecdotal Conversation- When I do the class demonstration, I will ask students to explain to me
Self-Assessment periodically throughout the demonstration what is happening. I can formatively assess
Peer Assessment which students understand the material.
Student/Teacher Observation- When students are updating their season description papers, I can
conferencing circulate the classroom and formatively assess which students are writing down
correct ideas and which are struggling with the material.
Summative:
Final Product
Rubric
LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT
Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe 1
 An orange
Edmonton Public A basketball or other ball (take during gym class)
Program of studies

PROCEDURE
Prior to lesson - Load smartboard lesson (Seasons Smart)
- Put a pen or pencil through the orange.
- Make sure that you have a ball which will act as the sun.
- Photocopy season definition notes for students

Introduction Time
Attention Grabber - Tell the students that we will be doing a demonstration with a
model to show the seasons.

Assessment of Prior
Knowledge
Expectations for
Learning and Behavior
Transition to Body
Learning Activity #1
Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe
- Ask the students what do we remember about the way Earth tilts
and the seasons?
2 min
- Call on students who volunteer (this was a difficult concept for
many and there were many absences yesterday)
- Students may move out of their seats for the demonstration if they
cannot see.
- Students will be respectful of the speaker, this means that if they
have a question or comment, they will raise their hand.
- When I say eyes on me, students will stop what they are doing and
look at me.
- Tell students to get out their seasons paper, and look up at the
front for the demonstration.
Body Time
- Get students to look at the front by saying eyes on me.
- Hold the basketball up and say that the basketball will be
representing the sun.
- Ask the students which direction Earth orbits around the sun,
clockwise or counterclockwise? (call on a student who is
volunteering information) this should be a review.
- Tilt the model Earth (orange with a pen or pencil through it) and
have it orbit the sun.
- Stop when it is summer in the northern hemisphere and ask
students what season is it in the northern and southern
hemisphere? get a volunteer student to answer and lead them
through the proper explanation (the northern hemisphere it is
summer because it is tilted toward the sun, and it is winter
because it is tilted away from the sun). Mention the word
15 min
solstice.
- Stop at the next season, Fall (in northern hemisphere), but get
students to identify which season comes up after summer by
asking which is the next season. Mention the word equinox.
- Call on a volunteer student to explain where Earths axis is tilting
during the fall (northern hemisphere) and spring (southern
hemisphere) (it is neither tilted toward the sun or away from the
sun).
- Move to the next season, winter (northern hemisphere). Ask
students which season this is in for both hemispheres. Get the
student to explain the axis tilt. Mention the word solstice.
- Move to the last season, spring in the northern hemisphere, fall in
the southern hemisphere. Call upon a student to say the seasons of
both the northern and southern hemisphere and explain that the
2

Teacher Notes: Assessments/
Differentiation
Learning Activity #2
Teacher Notes: Assessments/
Differentiation
Learning Activity #3
Teacher Notes: Assessments/
Differentiation
Consolidation of
Learning:
Feedback From Students:
Feedback To Students
Transition To Next
Lesson
Reflections from the
The demonstration for this lesson supplemented well to what students already know
lesson
Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe
earth is pointed neither toward nor away from the sun. Mention
the word equinox.
- Students may move if they cannot see the demonstration.
- Formatively assess which students are understanding which way
the axis tilts during each season.
- Some students were not here the day we extensively covered this,
so may have a harder time understanding it.
- Allow students to return to their seats (if they moved)
- Tell students to update any information on their seasons
description if they need to and hand out the printed out notes for
the students who missed yesterdays class.
- Ask students if the demonstration helped/ if they liked the
demonstration.
- Remind students that yesterday at the end of class we begun
talking about differences between the amount of sunlight during
the seasons, discuss these patterns with your elbow partners.
- Call upon students to answer the chances in sunlight throughout
the year (look for answers such as winter has less day and more
15 min
night than summer, summer has longer days than winter, summer
has more direct sunlight than winter)
- Write these ideas up on the smartboard, so all students can refer to
them.
- Bring students attention back to the words equinox and solstice.
Give them a minute or so to think/pair/share their predictions
about what they think these words might mean.
- Get a couple people to share their predictions.
- Tell students to get out a lined piece of paper and write down the
definitions for solstice and equinox.
- Show these definitions on the smart board.
- Have printed copies of these definitions for students who do not
get it written down, or who are having difficulty writing it down.
- Hand out the sunlight angle season notesheet.
- Introduce that that the amount of day time and nighttime isnt the
only thing that changes during the seasons.
(may not get
- The angle of the sun above Earth also changes.
to this)
- This impacts how intense the sun is, and how our weather will be.
9 min
- Students can now update their seasons description worksheets
and work with an elbow partner to do so.
- If there is enough, go over the answers to this sheet.
- Walk around and help students update their season description
worksheets by re-explaining the differences between the seasons.
- Assess which students understand differences between the
seasons with respect to amount of daylight, angle of the sun in the
sky and how Earth is tilted during each season. Ideally, students
will have identified these three items on their sheet.
Closure Time
- By working on their seasons description sheet, students will be
able to put together all they know about seasons and things we
need to cover more next class.
- Note the responses if they liked the demonstration or not.
- Next lesson we will learn about how our shadows change during
the season and throughout the day.
3
 about this material. I think the demonstration clarified some confusion for some students

and allowed for a visual representation of what we had been discussing about the

seasons. I was able to formatively assess student understanding throughout the

demonstration by having conversations with students. Students were slightly off task

during the think/pair/share activities, so I circulated around the classroom and had to ask

thought provoking questions to get them on task. Once I did so, students were able to

come up with ideas about what equinox and solstice meant, and they were close to

correct, for the most part. Additionally, I had printed out copies of these definitions for

each student, because many students were struggling to copy down definitions from the

smartboard, so this worked well.

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe 4