Earth's Rotation

1. Sarah was asked to demonstrate what causes days and nights on planet Earth. Her teacher placed a lamp on a table as a model for the Sun. To show days and nights, Sarah began to spin around in one place in front of the lamp (Sun). Next, Sarah was asked to demonstrate what makes a year of days and nights on planet Earth.​

2. ​

What should Sarah do to demonstrate a year of days and nights on planet Earth?​

• Spin 365 times in the same spot.

• Stop spinning and walk around the table.

• Stop spinning and move back and forth from the lamp.

• Continue spinning and move completely around the lamp.

The star patterns (constellations) are fixed patterns of stars seen in the night sky.  When looking at the sky at different times of night, the constellations can be found in different parts of the sky.​

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What causes the apparent motion of the constellations throughout the night?​

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• ​

  1. the daily rotation of earth

• the revolution of the moon

• the motion of clouds around the earth

• the revolution of earth around the sun

. Four students explained the reason for the different Moon shapes during a month.​

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Robert: The Moon shines from different parts of the sky at different times of the month.​

Julia: The Moon shapes are caused by clouds that cover parts of the Moon.​

Eduardo: The Moon reflects sunlight and revolves around Earth. This causes the amount of light seen from Earth to be different each day.​

Latoya: The Moon grows a little each day until becoming full and then gets smaller each day.  This pattern is repeated each month.​

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Which student wrote the best explanation?​

• Robert

• Julia

• Eduardo

• Latoya

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.8

CCSS.RI.5.8

CCSS.RI.6.1

CCSS.RL.4.5

CCSS.RL.6.1

Sandy observes that he can see some star patterns during the winter, but not during the summer. Which motion causes his observations?​

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• Earth rotating on its axis

• Earth revolving around the Sun

• the stars moving around earth

• the stars moving around the sun

The Sun shines brightly in the sky overhead in a city in Australia.  At the same time, the stars can be seen in a city in Florida. How can such different events happen at the same time?​

• 1. When it is summer in Australia, it is winter in Florida.​

• 1. When the days are long in Australia, they are short in Florida.​

• When Australia faces the Sun (day), Florida is turned away from the Sun(night).

• When Australia is tilted toward the Sun, Florida is tilted away from the Sun.