Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade 4

Lesson Video

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Performance objectives

• Describe the Sun as a source of light and heat.
• Explain day and night using Earth's rotation.
• Describe the phases of the Moon.
• Recognize stars as distant suns.

Lesson summary

This week, we delve into the fascinating world of the Sun, Moon, and Stars! Understanding these celestial bodies is important because they influence our lives in many ways, from providing light and warmth to marking time and influencing our cultures. For example, the position of the sun in the sky helps us know when it's morning, midday, and evening. The moon's phases have also been used in traditional calendars by different South African communities to plan agricultural activities. Learning about stars allows us to appreciate the vastness of the universe and our place within it.

Lesson notes

The Sun: Our Star The Sun is a star, just like the ones we see at night, but it's much closer to us. It's a giant ball of burning gas that provides Earth with light and heat. Without the Sun, life on Earth would not be possible! The Sun's energy warms our land, oceans, and air, allowing plants to grow and animals to thrive. It also helps water evaporate, creating clouds and rain. Think of the Sun like a giant stove burner – it gives off heat that keeps us warm. In South Africa, we rely heavily on the sun to grow crops like maize, sunflowers, and citrus fruits.

Day and Night: Earth's Rotation The Earth is always spinning, like a top. This spinning is called rotation. It takes 24 hours for the Earth to make one complete rotation. As the Earth rotates, different parts of it face the Sun. When our part of South Africa faces the Sun, we experience daytime. When our part of the Earth turns away from the Sun, we experience night. Imagine holding a ball (Earth) and shining a torch (Sun) on it. As you slowly turn the ball, different parts are lit up, representing day, while the other parts are in shadow, representing night. The line dividing day and night is constantly moving as the Earth rotates.

The Moon: Earth's Satellite The Moon is a large, rocky object that orbits, or travels around, the Earth. It doesn't produce its own light, but it reflects light from the Sun. This is why we see the Moon at night. The Moon orbits the Earth in about 28 days, and as it travels, we see different amounts of its lit surface. These different shapes are called the phases of the Moon.

Phases of the Moon: New Moon: We can't see the Moon because it's between the Earth and the Sun, and the side facing us is not lit.

Crescent Moon: A thin sliver of the Moon is visible. It looks like a curved fingernail.

Quarter Moon: We see half of the Moon lit up.

Gibbous Moon: More than half of the Moon is visible, but it's not quite full.

Full Moon: The entire Moon is lit up and appears as a bright circle in the sky. The phases then repeat in reverse order (gibbous, quarter, crescent) back to new moon. You can demonstrate the phases of the moon by using a ball (Moon) and a lamp (Sun). Hold the ball and walk around the lamp, observing how the illuminated part of the ball changes from your perspective (Earth).

Stars: Distant Suns Stars are giant balls of burning gas, just like our Sun, but they are much, much further away. That's why they look so small and faint in the night sky. The light from these stars takes a very long time to reach us. Some of the stars we see may even have disappeared a long time ago, but their light is still traveling towards us. In South Africa, certain constellations like the Southern Cross are important for navigation and cultural storytelling. Remember, stars are not always the same brightness. Some are closer, and some are bigger!