LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Science — Grade 3

Goal 3: The learner will make observations and use appropriate technology to build an understanding of the earth/moon/sun system.

Objective 3.06. Observe that patterns of stars in the sky stay the same, although they appear to move across the sky nightly.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

The spinning Earth: Spinning into darkness and light
In The Earth and Sun: Investigations for the third grade, page 10
Students will manipulate a model of Earth to study how we experience the fact that Earth spins about its axis from west to east, completing a rotation once a day. They will understand that this causes celestial objects, as viewed by observers on Earth, to appear to be moving around Earth from east to west.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 Science)
By Ronen Plesser and John Heffernan.

Resources on the web

Star search
In this Science NetLinks lesson, students observe stars in the night sky and are encouraged to stargaze on their own. This lesson is geared toward second and third graders who have some experience in the area of observing the night sky. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Lunar cycle
In this Science NetLinks lesson, students become familiar with repeating patterns in nature, namely the phases of the moon. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science