MOON UNIT Lesson 9 – The Closest Star

Standard:  Earth and Space Science. Students will gain an understanding of Earth and Space Science through the study of earth materials, celestial movement, and weather. Objective  Observe, describe, and record patterns in the appearance and apparent motion of the moon in the night sky.  Observe and describe the number, arrangement and color/brightness of stars in the night sky.

Vocabulary  sun: the star around which the earth orbits and the light or warmth received from the earth's sun.  galaxy: a huge body of stars and other matter in space.  solar system: the Earth and eight other planets that revolve around the Sun.

 What are some differences you see between the daytime sky and the nighttime sky?

Can you see stars during the daytime?  When you look at the sky at night you can see stars. Did you know that when you look at the night sky during the day you can see a star too?

 When you look at the sky at night, you can see lots of bright stars. On a clear night they may look close enough to grab. But you can’t grab them because the stars are very, very far away. Even though they look tiny, stars are actually huge. They just look small because they are so far away.

 Which star is closest to the Earth? You see it all the time, but unlike the stars you see at night, you see this star during the day. It’s the sun! The sun is actually a star.

 The sun looks much bigger than the other stars because it is closer to the Earth. Compared to the other stars, the sun is really just medium sized. Even so, it is still gigantic.  The sun is bigger than you, bigger than a skyscraper, and even bigger than all of planet Earth. If the Earth were sitting right next to the sun, the Earth would look like a tiny dot—much smaller than what you see in the picture. Click here to see the earth, moon, and sun compared to other stars in the solar system. j_PjkQqrDo Click here to see the earth, moon, and sun compared to other stars in the solar system. j_PjkQqrDo

 Watch this video to learn about the sun and how it effects the earth. 

 Go over the parts of the sun with your teacher. Color each part of the sun as you learn about the sun. Glue the sun diagram in your science journal

Video and Songs  Outer Space: "I'm So Hot," The Sun Song by StoryBots 