🌼 Wattle Science

FREE PRIMARY SCIENCE · Year 6

Earth and the Sun

How do Earth’s spin, tilt and journey around the Sun give us day, night and the seasons?

Lesson 1 runs entirely on the iPad: students use the Sun and shadows simulation to find patterns across a day and explain day and night. Lessons 2 and 3 use a torch, an orange or ball and a skewer to model Earth’s rotation, then its tilt and revolution, to explain seasons and why day length changes more in Hobart than in Darwin.

3 free lessons · Australian Curriculum v9

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Lessons in this topic

Each lesson includes a teacher plan and activities. Check its materials label before teaching.

  1. Spinning into night

    Why do we have day and night, and why do shadows change during the day?

    No materials needed · AC9S6U02, AC9S6I04

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  2. Model a spinning Earth

    How can a model show why the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west?

    Materials needed · AC9S6U02, AC9S6I03, AC9S6I05

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  3. Tilt and the seasons

    Why are winter days in Hobart so much shorter than summer days, and why don’t Darwin’s days change much?

    Materials needed · AC9S6U02, AC9S6I04, AC9S6I05

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