First Grade Earth Science – Supercharged Science

Getting Started

One of the most incredible areas of science is astronomy. I'm constantly amazed by how much astronomy inspires excitement and awe in people, no matter what they study or what careers they have later in life. There's just something magical about the celestial skies, and that's what I'm going to share with you in this section.

Our first dip into astronomy is going to cover planets, stars, the sun and moon, and let you play with phases, transits, and ways of observing different astronomical phenomena, just like real scientists do. Although there's a handful of activities here, if you feel your student is ready for it, feel free to dive into the full-blown Astrophysics section and find experiments that will challenge and engage them in a meaningful way.

By the end of the labs in this unit, students will be able to:

Use observations of the sun, moon and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.
Make observations at different times of the year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year.
Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation) and know scientists’ explanations come partly from what they observe and partly from how they interpret their observations.
Measure and estimate the weight, length and volume of objects.
Formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships.
Conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships between predictions and results.
Follow a set of written instructions for a scientific investigation.

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	Special Science Teleclass: Astronomy This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too Our solar system includes rocky terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn), ice giants (Uranus and Neptune), and assorted … Continue reading "Special Science Teleclass: Astronomy"
	Sundial Using the position of the Sun, you can tell what time it us by making one of these sundials. The Sun will cast a shadow onto a surface marked with the hours, and the time-telling gnomon edge will align with the proper time. In general, sundials are susceptible to different kinds of errors. If the … Continue reading "Sundial"
	Phases of the Moon The Moon appears to change in the sky. One moment it’s a big white circle, and next week it’s shaped like a sideways bike helmet. There’s even a day where it disappears altogether. So what gives? The Sun illuminates half of the Moon all the time. Imagine shining a flashlight on a beach ball. The … Continue reading "Phases of the Moon"
	Star & Planet Trails These are a set of videos made using planetarium software to help you see how the stars and planets move over the course of months and years. See what you think and tell us what you learned by writing your comments in the box below. What’s odd about these star trails? You can really feel … Continue reading "Star & Planet Trails"
	Star Charting If you want to get from New York to Los Angeles by car, you’d pull out a map. If you want to find the nearest gas station, you’d pull out a smaller map. What if you wanted to find our nearest neighbor outside our solar system? A star chart is a map of the night … Continue reading "Star Charting"
	Pinhole Solar Projector You might be curious about how to observe the sun safely without losing your eyeballs. There are many different ways to observe the sun without damaging your eyesight. In fact, the quickest and simplest way to do this is to build a super-easy pinhole camera that projects an image of the sun onto an index … Continue reading "Pinhole Solar Projector"
	How to View the Sun Safely You know you’re not supposed to look at the sun, so how can you study it safely? I’m going to show you how to observe the sun safely using a very inexpensive filter. I actually keep one of these in the glove box of my car so I can keep track of certain interesting sunspots … Continue reading "How to View the Sun Safely"
	Eclipses and Transits It just so happens that the Sun’s diameter is about 400 times larger than the Moon, but the Moon is 400 times closer than the Sun. This makes the Sun and Moon appear to be about the same size in the sky as viewed from Earth. This is also why the eclipse thing is such … Continue reading "Eclipses and Transits"
	Flying Over the Earth at Night Many wonders are visible when flying over the Earth at night, especially if you are an astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS)! Passing below are white clouds, orange city lights, lightning flashes in thunderstorms, and dark blue seas. On the horizon is the golden haze of Earth’s thin atmosphere, frequently decorated by dancing auroras … Continue reading "Flying Over the Earth at Night"
	Seasons One common misconception is that the seasons are caused by how close the Earth is to the Sun. Today you get to do an experiment that shows how seasons are affected by axis tilt, not by distance from the Sun. And you also find out which planet doesn’t have sunlight for 42 years. The seasons … Continue reading "Seasons"
	Making Clouds Indoor Rain Clouds Making indoor rain clouds demonstrates the idea of temperature, the measure of how hot or cold something is. Here’s how to do it: Take two clear glasses that fit snugly together when stacked. (Cylindrical glasses with straight sides work well.) Fill one glass half-full with ice water and the other half-full with … Continue reading "Making Clouds"
	Meteorites A meteoroid is a small rock that zooms around outer space. When the meteoroid zips into the Earth’s atmosphere, it’s now called a meteor or “shooting star”. If the rock doesn’t vaporize en route, it’s called a meteorite as soon as it whacks into the ground. The word meteor comes from the Greek word for … Continue reading "Meteorites"
	Song of the Sun Helioseismology is the study of wave oscillations in the Sun. By studying the waves, scientists can tell what’s going on inside the Sun. It’s like studying earthquakes to learn what’s going on inside the earth. The Sun is filled with sound, and studying these sound waves is currently the only way scientists can tell what’s … Continue reading "Song of the Sun"
	Simple Microscope & Telescope Did you know you can create a compound microscope and a refractor telescope using the same materials? It’s all in how you use them to bend the light. These two experiments cover the fundamental basics of how two double-convex lenses can be used to make objects appear larger when right up close or farther away. … Continue reading "Simple Microscope & Telescope"

Getting Started

By the end of the labs in this unit, students will be able to:

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