Science 
Moon Phases/The  Grade 5 

Sun & Shadows Day1 

2 Days- 45min/40min 
  Unit4- Lesson #3a 
     

 
Standards  Materials 
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)   ● Classroom 
whiteboard/marker 
5-ESS1-2: ​Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily 
changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the  ● Classroom word wall 
seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky​.   with headings: Word, In 
my Language, Meaning, 
and Picture 
Learning Target 
● Chromebooks  
■ I will be able to gather data that illustrates the patterns and movement of the
sunrise and sunset, and the moon and its phases.   ● The Night Sky pdf 

● Blank Moon Phases 

Lesson Sequence and Activities  Handout 
1. Introduction (10min) 
● Sun/Time Handout 
a. Introduce learning target (on white board/choral read). 
b. I will explain to the students that there are other patterns of  ● Handmade Sundial 
change within the solar system just like we observed with 
the stars and constellations. It will be their job to identify  ● Flashlight 
the similarities and differences within their assigned 
investigation.    
c. Now that students are familiar with the data collection 
process, I will split them up into two types of expert groups 
to make similar observations and eventually share with the 
Resources 
class. ​(Each table has 4 students- 2 will be in Moon Group &  ● The Night Sky.pdf 
2 will be in the Sun and Shadow Group)  rourkeeducationalmedia.com 
2. Building Knowledge (25min)  ● Sun and Shadow Exploration 
a. Once I have split students into their groups, I will give them  https://mysteryscience.com/as
both an outline of their stations, tasks to follow, and  tronomy/mystery-2/earth-s-rot
assigned group member jobs   ation-time/74?r=1471203#slide-
i. Moon Group:   id-1144 
1. Read “The Night Sky” pgs.6-9 ​(3min)  ● Research Platform 
2. Use Chromebooks to look up the  http://kids.britannica.com/ele
moonphases-​ only researchers need a  mentary/art-88234/The-diagra
laptop ​(1min)  m-shows-the-position-of-the-
(​http://kids.britannica.com/elementary/art- Moon-at-each 
88234/The-diagram-shows-the-position-of-t

 
     

Moon Phases/The Sun & Shadows Day1    1 

 
 he-Moon-at-each​)   
3. Sketch and label all phases of the moon. 
Your sketch should include: earth position,   
sun position, moon shape/position, and 
 
name of the phase ​(15min) 
ii. Sun and Shadow Group: 
1. Use Chromebooks to watch MysteryScience 
exploration starting on ‘exploration slide 8’ 
(3min) 
https://mysteryscience.com/astronomy/mys
tery-2/earth-s-rotation-time/74?r=1471203#s
lide-id-1144 
2. Stop and discuss the questions with your 
partner ​(4minutes-**2min. per question) 
3. Watch ‘exploration slide 10’ ​and​ ‘shadow 
clock’ (PLEASE STOP HERE- you do not 
need directions on how to make sun clocks- 
I have them already made) ​(2min) 
4. Explore using the sundials I’ve made using 
the flashlight. Follow the directions on your 
handout and refer back to the information 
provided on the last slide of 
MysteryScience. ​(3min) 
5. Use the new information and sundials to 
answer the sun/time handout ​(7min) 
3. Closure (10min) 
a. Students will return to their table groups and orally share 
in FQR format (1 fact, 1 question, and 1 reaction) with the 
alternate group. Moon Group will share for 5min and then 
Sun and Shadow Group will share for 5 min.  

Accommodations for Language Learners 

1. Handout offers student the ability to collect data through sketches. 
I will provide sentence starters for their summary statements 
2. Table groups are set up with a variation in language proficiencies 
3. The classroom word wall with all vocabulary words will remain up 
throughout the entire unit for students to refer to 

 
 

 
     

Moon Phases/The Sun & Shadows Day1    2