W E EXCEL: S UN, E ARTH, M OON Eric M. Sullenberger

O VERVIEW - E NVIRONMENT Russia Local School Rural Public Mostly upper-middle class Less than 10% on Free/Reduced Lunch Two sections of 8 th grade students (1 st & 4 th per.) 18 students per section. 20 males, 18 females About 4 students on IEPs

O VERVIEW - S TANDARDS 8 th Grade Earth and Space Sciences The Universe 1. Describe how objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motions that explain such phenomena as days, years, seasons, eclipses, tides and moon cycles.

A SSESSMENT Prior to lesson students took two pretests. The first was the pretest from Wright State. The second was a pre-test that I wrote. The test included 8 multiple choice test questions (one of which came from last year’s Science OAT-8) and one short answer question on moon phases. During the lesson students were observed and questioned regarding their understanding. After the lesson students took a test that was the pretest integrated with some other test questions over other similar topics in the unit. In May, the students took Wright State’s post-test. Data gathered for the pretest and posttest included which choice was selected for the multiple choice section and how many points were earned on the short answer section (out of 2 pts.).

D ATA & R ESULTS

D ATA I NTERPRETATION Overall, this lesson helped students to improve their understanding of how the moon interacts with the Earth and why it goes through phases. Students still had difficulty picking out the locations of the Sun, Earth, & Moon relative to one another when not a complete diagram (see question 8). Only 2 students showed no improvement. Both of these students struggle with written test and should be assessed by alternative means.

O VERALL R EFLECTION Most students enjoyed participating in this activity and were better able to retain the phases of the moon because of interactive experience. Overall, the unit went very well. The biggest issue is the time it takes to direct the students through the station where they observe moon phases with real shadows from a light. Having an aid or running these activities in a station format might help, but it is hard for students to pick out what they should see on their own. The biggest need for improvement is shortening time and helping students to review this material after the lesson to help with retention.