Earth, Moon, & Sun Webquest

How do the sun, the moon and the earth rotate and revolve in relationship with one another?

Work with your group to find the answers to one of three specific questions that help answer the above essential question.  (Other groups will work on the other two questions.)

Step 1:  GET TO KNOW THE PEOPLE IN YOUR GROUP  Get to know the people with whom you will be working for the next few weeks.  Take the "Get To Know Your Fellow Group Members" survey and compare how you like to work in a group with how your peers feel about their roles as group members. Also, review the Cooperative Group rules hanging in the classroom.  You will complete a cooperative group assessment form at the end of each week to evaluate how well your group is working together and what you need to improve on to be happier and more productive as a team!

Step 2:  PICK A TOPIC  Choose  one of the topics listed in the "TASK" section of this Webquest. 

That's ONE...just ONE...only ONE TOPIC!  (So choose the ONE you and your teammates want to learn more about.)

Step 3:  RESEARCH YOUR TOPIC  Search the websites listed in this webquest as well as books, articles, models and videos from the media center and the science classroom.

Click on the links below your topic to find  websites from which to gather answers to your questions:

Topic 1:  The Cause of Day and Night On Earth

Question:  What causes day and night on the earth?

1.a) Good article and diagram!  http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question31.html

1.b) See which parts of the world are in receiving light from the sun and which parts are in darkness.  http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunearth.html

1.c) View images of the Earth from the point of view of the sun or moon using recent satellite data. Click on the images to make the earth rotate!  http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/

Topic 2:  The Monthly Changes in the Appearance of The Moon

Question:  What causes the monthly changes in the appearance of Earth's moon?

 2.a) Great diagram of the moon phases with text.  http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/uts/moon2.html&edu=mid&back=/search/search_navigation.html

2.b) Image and text about the moon's orbit and rotation.  http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/uts/moon1.html&edu=elem

2.c) Great animation of the phases of the moon!  http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es2503/es2503page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

2.d) Moon phases (picture)  http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/en/educators/images/moon/Moon_phases_all_L.jpg

2.e) Be sure to check out the solar and lunar eclipse websites in the "Additional Questions" section below!

Topic 3:  The Reason for the Earth's Seasons

Question:  What causes summer, fall, winter and spring on the earth?

 3.a)  This diagram and text explain why the seasons change from winter to spring to summer to fall.  http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/climate/cli_seasons.html&edu=elem

3.b)  Here's a useful article.  http://starryskies.com/solar_system/Earth/reasons_for_seasons.html

3.c)  The diagrams with this article are great!  Try to answer the two questions at the bottom of this webpage using the diagrams to help you.  http://www.uwm.edu/~kahl/CoVis/Seasons/

 3.d)  This "applet" models how the earth rotates and revolves around the sun to create the seasons.  (Keep in mind that the sun in the model is very small, so it must not be a scale model because the sun is actually over 109 times the earth's size!)  There is an article you can click to see.  The text is VERY CHALLENGING.  http://www.ioncmaste.ca/homepage/resources/web_resources/CSA_Astro9/files/multimedia/unit3/reasons_seasons/reasons_seasons.html

*Here's a useful site for all three topics!  http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webunits/cycles/

 **Go to the Windows To The Universe website to explore any of the topics above.  You can type key words into the search box and you'll get lists of pages to visit with helpful diagrams, videos and written explanations.  http://www.windows.ucar.edu/

***This article and the links toward the bottom of the page will be helpful to all groups as well!

http://teacher.scholastic.com/researchtools/researchstarters/space/

Additional questions:  You may have more questions about the earth, moon and sun.  Look through the list below to find answers to other relevant questions. (USEFUL TO GROUPS WORKING ON ANY OF THE ABOVE TOPICS):

What is a star?

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/cool_stuff/tourstars_1.html

Why do we need our star (the sun)?

http://stargazers.gsfc.nasa.gov/pdf/products/books/Sun_booklet_English.htm

I know Earth rotates on its axis.  Does the sun rotate too?

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/sun/Solar_interior/Sun_layers/differential_rotation.html&edu=mid

What is a telescope?

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/physical_science/basic_tools/telescopes/telescopes.html&edu=elem

What is it like to visit an observatory? (Take a trip with a real astronomer!)

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/people/observatory.html

How big is Earth compared with the sun, the moon and the other planets? (Great website!)

http://btc.montana.edu/messenger/Interactives/ANIMATIONS/Planet_Size_Comparison/planet_size_comparison_full.htm

 What is a solar eclipse?

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/science/moon_interactives.htm

What is a lunar eclipse?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,5860,419794,00.html

What objects exist in our solar system? (Click on the sun, the moon, our earth and other planets in our solar system to learn more!)

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=SolarSys&Display=Kids

See this website as well:  http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/neo/index.cfm

What is the geological history of the earth? (How did it form to be the Earth we know today?) This page also show you how to make a timeline!

 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/explorations/tours/geotime/gtpage1.html

 What is astronomy? (Want to know more about astronomy?  This site is for you!)  http://www.amnh.org/ology/?channel=astronomy&c