Agnes Scott Observatory Tours

3rd Grade Teacher Resources

One way to get your students interested in astronomy is encouraging

independent observation! And few things are more fun to observe than a meteor
shower. Here’s a chart of all the annual meteor showers you may wish to share
with your students:

Helpful Websites and Videos:

http://spaceweather.com/
Information on meteor showers, comets, and all sorts of cool stuff! This
website has a live feed of the sun so you can see the position of all its
sunspots, as well as the current speed of the solar wind. Students can even
track a specific sunspot to determine how fast the sun is rotating.

http://scienceforkids.kidipede.com/chemistry/atoms/heat.htm
This page explains how heat and temperature work, complete with a Bill
Nye video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gKoN4yPzy4

This work was supported by a grant from the Georgia Space Grant Consortium.
 If we didn’t show this clip on our tour (or if you wish to revisit it), this
amazing video compares our sun with the truly colossal largest known
stars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhokvJZFURg
This video provides a thorough explanation of the phases of the moon.

Simulations and Games:

“Planet Hop”
Students can calculate their own weight and age on different planets in the
solar system (and check their answers) on this website:
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/activity/
planet_hop.html

Interactive Seasons Simulation

Here students can see how a planet’s seasons are affected by axial tilt as
well as compare the axial tilts of different planets in the solar system. A
short quiz is available below the simulation. Link to website:
http://highered.mcgraw-
hill.com/sites/007299181x/student_view0/chapter2/seasons_interactive.ht
ml

Oreo Moon Phase Activity:

It’s just like the title suggests—students create moon phases out of Oreo cookies.
Here is a helpful template for this activity, but students can also create their own:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phases-of-the-Moon-Oreo-
Activity-FREEBIE-158654

Create-Your-Own Star Wheel Activity:

Here is an easy template to create a star wheel, which is great for finding objects
in the night sky:

http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/starclock/starwheel.pdf
This work was supported by a grant from the Georgia Space Grant Consortium.
Sundial Activity:

If we didn’t already do so on the tour, making sundials is an easy craft that

students can take home for their own enjoyment. The steps for making a simple
sundial are as follows:
1. To make the base of the sundial, cut a circle out of cardboard or a similar
material that is eight inches in diameter. Mark the center with a pencil or
pen.
2. Get an item that will act as the hand or “gnomon” of your sundial. This
will cast a shadow onto the base. A pencil, pen, or something similar
should do the trick.
3. Print out a sundial face diagram from the NASA website:
http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/sundialn.pdf
4. Follow the instructions on the diagram—Atlanta’s latitude is about 34
degrees.
5. Line up the diagram with your circular base. Copy the lines onto your
base, labeling each line with the corresponding hour.
6. Insert your gnomon so that it lines up with the vertical line on your circle.
If it doesn’t stay upright, tape it in place.
7. Your sundial is now ready to use! Take it outside and, using a compass,
point the gnomon North. The shadow should fall on the correct hour.

Setting Sun Activity:

If you carefully watch the sunset

day after day, you will notice that
the sun does not always set in the
same place on the horizon. Here a
helpful visualization:

This work was supported by a grant from the Georgia Space Grant Consortium.
Have your students draw a picture or take a photograph of the sun a couple times
a week for the remainder of the school year so they can observe this motion for
themselves.

This work was supported by a grant from the Georgia Space Grant Consortium.