Year 3 Earth'S Rotation: Australian Curriculum Earth Science Activities With Links To Other Subjects

YEAR 3
EARTH’S ROTATION
Australian Curriculum Earth Science activities
with links to other subjects.

YEAR 3 – Teacher Introduction
The Primary Australian Literacy Mathematics & Science (PALMS) Program

aims to enrich and support the teaching of earth science from Kindergarten to
Year 5 across Australia. This will be achieved by providing, within the
mandated Earth and Space Science curriculum, hands-on activities integrating
aspects of Chemical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences as well
as relevant components of English, Mathematics and other subjects into
teaching packages.
These teaching packages will be made available at www.palms.edu.au.
Earth’s rotation on its axis causes regular changes,

including night and day.
Activities marked PPP (PALMS PARENT POWER) are ones you may wish to
send home with the students to do with their parents or by themselves. They
replay the concepts recently covered in Science. Studies demonstrate that if
a student describes what they have learned to another, they deepen their own
understanding and retain it longer.
Topic Topic Activities Student Subjects Page

No. Worksheet No.
1 Sun as a Seeing is Science + Health 1
Source of Believing
Energy Light Print X Science + 2+7
Paper technology
Sun Changed X Science 9+
Paper Structured 13
Learning
PPP - Think X Science 16 +
Ink 18

No. Worksheet No.
1 Sun as a What Colour is X Science + Health 20 +
Source of White Light? 22
Energy Sunlight X Science + English 24 +
Source 25
Invisible Light X Science + Health 27 +
31
Changing X Science 33 +
Christmas 35
Baubles
Word Wall X Science + English 37 +
38
What is Hot? X Science + Maths 39 +
43
Parallax Error X Science + Maths 44 +
45
Cool School X Science + Maths 46 +
49
Prediction & X Science 53 +
Testing 55
Heat from the X Critical thinking 56 +
Sun 57
Sunlight and X Science 58 +
Shade 59
2 Earth spins What the X Science 61 +
Sailor Saw 63
Earth Spins Science + HASS 64
Time Words X Science + English 67 +
68
Day & Night Science + HASS 69

No. Worksheet No.
3 Timescales Aboriginal X Science + HASS 71 +
Time 74
Day v Night English 76
Time Science + English 77
Vocabulary
Midday Around Science + HASS 78
the World
12 Hours Science + Maths + 80
HASS
Timely X Science + Maths 82 +
Fractions 83
Book of Hours X Science + English + 84 +
Maths 85
Relative Time X Science + Maths 86 +
Graph 89
Time Zones Science + 92
Technology
Solar & Science + HASS 94
Sidereal Day
4 Shadows Investigating X Science 97 +
Shadows 99
Shadow Graph X Science + Maths 102 +
105
Shadows & Art Science + Art 107
5 Sundials Nodal Sundial X Science + Maths 108 +
113
T Bar Sundial X Science + Maths + 117 +
Tech. 120
Gnomon X Science + Maths + 123 +
Sundial Technology 128

No. Worksheet No.
5 Sundials PPP - Digital X Science + 133
and Analogue Technology
Time
6 Sun, Earth Getting the X Science + Art 135 +
& Moon Right 139
Perpective
Modelling to X Science and Maths 141 +
Scale 143
Rotation and Science + HASS 145

Orbit Models
Worship the X English + Science 149 +
Sun 150
Australian Curriculum
Earth & Space Science

Earth’s rotation on its axis causes regular changes, including night and
day.
Elaborations
• Recognising the sun as a source of light.
• Constructing sundials and investigating how they work.
• Describing timescales for the rotation of the Earth.
• Modeling the relative sizes and movement of the sun, Earth and
moon.
English
Language has different written and visual communication systems,
different oral traditions and different ways of constructing meaning
Identify text structures, language features to describe characters,
settings & events.
Identify features of online texts that enhance navigation
Learn extended and technical vocabulary.
Use interactive skills
Maths
Tell time to the minute
Make models of three-dimensional objects and describe key features
Create simple column graphs
Recognise the connection between addition and subtraction and solve
problems using efficient strategies for multiplication.
They model and represent unit fractions.
Students identify symmetry in the environment. Match positions on maps
with given information.
Maths (continued)
Students recognise angles as measures of turn in everyday situations.
Interpret and compare data displays.
Students count to and from 10 000.
Use Iosmetric units for length, mass and capacity.
History (HASS)
Pose questions using past sources

Impact of changing technology
Geography (HASS)
Connections – Where did it come from & how did it get here?
Connections of people in Australia to other places in Australia, countries
in the Asian region and across the world.
Seeing is Believing – Teacher’s Notes
It is important that students know never to stare into the

Sun.
Their eyesight can become damaged. Damage is instant. It may take months
or years for the eye to recover. Prolonged exposure will result in
permanent damage. . Even the best sunglasses are not strong enough to
protect their eyes from direct sunlight or from light from laser pointers.
You can demonstrate a very mild example of the effect of staring into
strong light.
Materials
• A torch/flashlight or weak point source of
light
• White paper or a white/pale coloured wall
• A clock/watch to measure time.
Standing at your desk or at the front while holding

the torch, ask students seated at their desks to close one eye. They then
focus on the light from your torch for 10 seconds. Ask them then to look at
a white wall or white piece of paper. A black spot will appear on the white
surface. The spot will disappear over the next minute as their eyesight
recovers. (A similar effect can come from staring at a ceiling light for 10
seconds).
At the back of their eyes lies a chemical called visual purple. Light energy
bleaches this momentarily causing an electrical signal to be sent to the
brain and “light” is registered. If it is over-stimulated it takes longer and
longer to recover. The unstimulated nerve registers the zone as “no light”
or black. Students with eye problems should be excused from this.
Q Did the light cause a change? YES

Q What was that change? Staring at the light produced a temporary blind
spot in our vision
Page 1
Light Print Paper – Teacher’s Notes
The myth that the astronomer Galileo went blind in one eye
from observing the Sun through a telescope has been
discredited. His blindness was not reported until he was 72,
about 25 years after his solar studies. Descriptions of his
disability suggest the more reasonable cause was cataracts.
Sol was one of the old names given to our sun. That is why it and
the planets, asteroids and meteors which circle it are called the
Solar system.
Our Sun is the only star in our solar system. It alone can
produces light. The planets, moons and other heavenly bodies merely
reflect light from the Sun.
Apart from light produced by chemosynthetic organisms found near black

smokers in deep ocean trenches and from some bioluminescent creatures
such as glow-worms, most life on Earth depends on simple plants that use
light energy from the Sun to photosynthesise (make food) for themselves
and for the animals that eat them. The green chemical chlorophyll helps
plants bind together carbon dioxide and water to make simple sugars.
Sunlight is the energy that powers most food chains. We cannot live
without it
Sun > grass > grasshopper > emu > dingo > decomposers.
Page 2
A negative of parsley seeds, a key and a pair of scissors
A pleasant introduction to sunlight as energy can be done by using light

sensitive paper. Photosensitive paper will change colour when exposed to
light. Sunlight energy causes changes to chemical bonds in the solution the
paper has been treated with creating a new substance with a new colour or
lack of it. It can be bought (12 sheets for about $15.00 in 2016) and then
cut into smaller pieces so each student can make their own light print to
take home or display. Students can take quite some time cutting the paper
to size and exposure to light will affect the clarity of the final print. It is a
good idea therefore for the paper to be pre-cut to size by the teacher or
aide and returned to its light excluding envelope before the experiment
starts.
Asking students to write their name on the back of their paper with a black
pencil stops arguments over which print belongs to whom.
Some vocabulary (These can be used to help students with their Word Wall
Worksheet).
Transparent materials (E.g. glass or clear plastic) allow light to travel
through.
Translucent materials (E.g. frosted glass) allow some light to travel
through but the rays are distorted and the image vague.
Page 3
Opaque materials (E.g. brick or wood) do not allow any light to travel
through.
Photographic negative A print where the background appears dark and the
subject appears light.
In the example above I asked students to cut the initial of their first name
from old cardboard, which they laid on the paper before exposing it. Small
leaves, ferns or other opaque shapes can also be used. The opaque masters
must be smaller than the 3cm square of photosensitive paper and lie flat.
The paper was stopped from blowing away by being placed in a transparent
Petri dish. Small stones can also be used to hold down the two layers of
paper.
Materials
• A reasonably sunny day. On a sunny day the print should take less
than 5 minutes to appear.
• Photosensitive paper. This is sometimes known as Sunprint paper.
This can be sourced from education suppliers, from Scitech and
through the Internet.
• Scissors
• Scrap paper, card or small shapes
• A bowl or tray of water
• Ruler or rocks to hold paper in position while drying or plastic or
glass Petri dishes
Page 4
Method
1. Select a sunny dry day.
2. Cut out a shape from the opaque paper or select a shape provided.
3. Place the opaque shape onto the photosensitive paper.
4. Place a transparent plastic sheet, often provided with the paper,
over the photosensitive paper and opaque shapes. This stops wind
blowing the paper away or place these into a glass or plastic Petri
dish.
5. Leave in the sunlight for about 5 to 10 minutes until the paper
becomes coloured.
6. Rapidly remove the opaque material and wash the paper in the water
bath. Lie flat to dry or peg up on a string.
Students can wear these prints as badges if attached by small gold safety
pins or if the school has a badge-making machine they can make ones to
take home.
Light is energy. We know this because it can change things.
15 things were laid on white light sensitive paper and exposed to sunlight.
Page 5
What do you think they were? Write down your guesses.

A knife, a pencil, three coins, a paperclip, two leaves, a thin leaf, a dinosaur,
a ring, a key, a fork and two keys.
What had changed? The colour of the paper behind the objects.
What had caused the change? Being in light (exposed to light).
Why do most plants need sunlight? To make food (photosynthesise)
Why are indoor plants usually placed in front of

windows not walls?
See they are in sunlight (during the day).
PREDICT What do you think would happen if the

plants were moved away from the window?
The plants would die.
Can you think of anything else that is changed by light from the sun?
Answers will vary. May include things fading etc.
Page 6
Name ________________________
Light Print Paper – Student Worksheet
Light is energy. We know this because it can change things.

15 things were laid on white light sensitive paper and exposed to
sunlight.
What do you think they were? Write down your guesses.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
What had changed? ________________________________

Name ________________________
Light Print Paper – Student Worksheet
What had caused the change? _______________________
Why do most plants need sunlight? ______________________
________________________________________________
Why are indoor plants usually placed in

front of windows not walls?
______________________________
______________________________
PREDICT What do you think would happen if the plants were

moved away from the window?
______________________________________________
Can you think of anything else that is changed by light from the
sun?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Sun Changed Paper – Teacher’s Notes
Science tries to explain the causes of change. It relies on a structured

approach to observe the change (phenomenon) suggest a possible cause or
causes for the change and then test each possible cause by itself. This will
give us information that can be observed and measured by anybody. It does
not rely on unsupported opinion that may vary from person to person.
Science activities in early and middle childhood can be structured using the
first letters of the mnemonic COWS MOO SOFTLY
C Change one thing
M Measure one thing
S Everything else Stays the Same
When we run experiments we always have an unchanged part so we can see
and measure any changes. The part left unchanged is called the CONTROL
and the part that has had one thing changed (in this case it has been
exposed to sunlight) is called the EXPERIMENT. If we obey the rules
above our experiment is a “FAIR TEST”. This scientific method gives us
the best chance to get good results (data).
HINTS
Select your papers with care. Expensive white paper has been bleached and
coated with kaolin (china clay) to give it a whiter, smoother and more
reflective surface. Light cannot easily penetrate through the coating.
Recycled paper, paper used for newspaper and paper kitchen towels are
less bleached and more porous allowing the energetic light rays to
penetrate and cause change.
In Scotland and England until recently wet linen sheets and clothing were
laid out on grass during sunny days to bleach whiter. Oxygen released from
photosynthesis in the grass used energy from the sun to form ozone, an
oxidizing agent or bleach. (Sometimes urine and lye were also added!)
Page 9
Materials per student or group

• A sunny day
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pen or pencil
• An A4 sheet of white or coloured paper
• 4 or 5 same sized strips of different white papers. I used, old cheap
copy paper, good white copy paper, kitchen towel, a paper napkin and
the unprinted strip from the edge of a newspaper.
• Glue
Method (See picture for more information)

1. Draw a dashed line that vertically halves the sheet of paper along its
length. Students may carefully fold the paper in half and draw along
the fold or use a ruler to find the width of the sheet of paper
(21cm), half this and measure (10.5cm)
Page 10
2. Write “CONTROL” at the top on one side and on the other

“EXPERIMENT”.
3. At the bottom of each column write the names of the experimenter
or experimenters.
4. Cut strips of each paper to the same size. I used strips 10cm x 3cm.
5. Label each strip.
6. Glue the strips across the vertical dividing line you have drawn.
7. Using the scissors cut the sheet into two halves along the dashed
line.
You now have two halves of the experiment. The control strip will be left
unchanged inside. The experimental strip will be placed outside in the
sunshine and left for at least 2 hours. Anchor your strips with stones,
books and rulers so that they do not blow away.
NOTE : The strips cannot be left on a sunny windowsill if the glass is tinted.
Many classroom windows have tinted glass that reduces the energy of
sunlight. These papers will be unaffected.
8. Bring the experimental paper back inside and lie it alongside the
control. This will allow you to observe any changes.
9. Write any changes in the “Observation” table.
Observations
Type of white paper Control colour Experimental colour
(Before) (After)
Old rough paper Cream Yellowish
Good quality paper Bright white White
Kitchen towel Cream/white Brownish
Paper napkin White Yellow
Newspaper Grey Brownish
Page 11
Discussion
What was the one thing we CHANGED? Sunlight or no sunlight
What was the one thing we MEASURED? Change of colour of the paper
Did everything else Stay the Same? YES
Was this a fair test? YES!

Would it have been easy to measure a change without the control sheet?
No. Some of the changes were very slight.
Why is it a good idea to hang out your clothes overnight if you live in the
north of our state? This stops the Sun bleaching and rotting our clothes. If
coloured materials are folded across the washing line a white line can be
bleached into the material lying over the line and exposed to the most
sunlight. Once bleached it cannot be changed unless dyed again.
Conclusion
What have we learned by this experiment? Sunlight can change the colour
of some materials.
Page 12
Name ________________________
Sun Changed Paper – Student Worksheet
Sunlight can change some paper

Science tries to explain the causes of change. We conduct
experiments as “Fair Tests” using CMS rules.
(COWS MOO SOFTLY)
C Change one thing CMS

M Measure one thing
S Everything else Stays the Same
Your teacher will provide you with materials and you will follow
C M S rules for a Fair Test”.
Name ________________________
Predict
What do you think will happen?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Are all pieces of paper the Same Size? _______________

Observations
Type of white Control colour Experimental
paper (Before) colour
(After)
Discussion
What was the ONE thing we CHANGED? _______________
________________________________________________
Name ________________________
What was the ONE thing we MEASURED? _______________
________________________________________________
Did everything else Stay the Same? ___________________
Was this a fair test? ___________________________
Would it have been easy to measure a change without comparing

with the control sheet? Explain your answer.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Why is it a good idea to hang out your clothes overnight if you

live in the north of our state? _________________________
________________________________________________
What have we learned by this experiment? ________________
________________________________________________
Think Ink – PPP – Teacher’s Notes
This investigation could be done as part of PALMS parent

power!
As a follow up to the ‘Sun Changed Paper’ activity students can use post-it
notes or highlighter pens to test if sunlight energy affects their colour. As
long as only one thing is changed and everything else remains the same it
will be a “Fair Test”.
In the experiment above with post-it notes, the green was most bleached,
followed by the pink and yellow notes. The orange background paper was
also affected.
The pink highlighter pen was most affected with the orange less so.
Evidence from home that sunlight changes things (including people)

• Clothes bleaching when hung out in sunlight. Black clothes lose colour
quickly.
• Bathers and beachwear bleaching in sunlight.
• Car Duco (automotive paint or lacquer) changing due to sunlight (and
oxidation), especially up north. My old car is several tones lighter on
the roof than on the side panels.
• Houses needing repainting due to sunlight (and oxidation)
Page 16
Think Ink – PPP – Teacher’s Notes
• Glare from sunlight removed by sunglasses. Area of skin around eyes

not sunburnt – owl eyes.
• Posters, wallpaper, upholstery and carpets fading in sunlight.
• Plants grow in it and die without it.
• In parts of the world far from the equator, people can suffer from
SAD (Season Affective Disorder or winter blues). They become
depressed during the short dark days of autumn and winter but
cheer up during spring and summer. Light therapy helps to fix things.
In northern Russia some schools use these special lights to help
students keep positive and achieve.
Page 17
Name ________________________
Think Ink - PPP
Think Ink - Palms Parent Power!

We have been experimenting to demonstrate that sunlight is
energy, because it changes things.
When we test things we split them into two groups. One is left
unchanged so we can use it to measure the effect of what we
are testing. This is called the CONTROL. The other half is the
EXPERIMENT. We only test for one thing at a time so any
difference must be due to the thing we have changed (in this
case exposure to sunlight or not).
In class we conducted an experiment to see how exposure to
sunlight affected different types of paper.
As a follow up to this perhaps you would like to investigate how
exposure to sunlight affects different coloured papers or
highlighter pens.
On the left we have two identical columns of Post-it Notes. This
is spilt down the middle and one half is placed outside on two
sunny days. On the right we have a similar test with different
Name ________________________
Think Ink - PPP
coloured ink being tested by half being exposed to the sun.
This is also a great time to consider if you have any other

evidence at home that energy in sunlight changes things.
Examples may include faded curtains or bleached clothes.
What Colour is White Light? – Teacher’s Notes
Looking into the Sun can damage our eyes so most of these activities are
carried out using man-made lights indoors.
The sun emits a broad range of energies we call the electromagnetic

spectrum. This spectrum includes all radio waves, microwaves, infra red
light, the rainbow colours of light we can see, ultraviolet radiation, X rays
and gamma rays. The light range our eyes register is called the visible
spectrum. It is a small fraction (about 1\26th) of the energy range emitted
by the Sun.
These streams of energy constantly radiate in all directions from the sun,
hence “solar radiation”. Luckily our planet’s magnetic field not only provides
us with a North and South Pole for navigation, with the atmosphere it also
screens us from the more harmful types of radiation with a magnetic
energy shield. Telescopes are sent into orbit above the atmosphere
because they can scan the whole electromagnetic spectrum from space.
Fireworks glasses or refraction glasses can be cheaply bought from OZ 3D

Optics (70c - $1.10 each) and other Internet suppliers. You may wish to
share the expense with other classes as the more you buy the cheaper they
become. These have optical grids which bend or refract light so that
different wavelengths (colours) are separated. Artificial light sources,
lamps or strip lights appear to have multicolour rays radiating from them.
Never allow students to look at the Sun with these glasses on.
Ask your students what colour the light in the room is. Usually they will
reply “white” or “yellowish”.
Explain that, as scientists, our ideas can change with changes in technology.
Provide each group with glasses and ask them to report on what they
observed.
The white light became a rainbow of colours – the visible spectrum.
Page 20
What Colour is White Light? – Teacher’s Notes
White light is made up of a mixture of all of these colours, When white

light travels through raindrops it is split up into its colours and is called a
rainbow.
Alternative Activity
Give students a CD and ask them to slowly spin the mirrored surface round
under a ceiling light. The white light will be diffracted into all the colours
of the rainbow.
The curved surface of a raindrop or a bubble acts in a similar fashion to
split white light and emit the separate colours of the rainbow.
Some birds, insects, fish and snakes can see ultra violet and infrared light.
Pit pythons and rattlesnakes, which hunt at night, cannot see their prey but
sense heat from pits in their jaws. Most living things emit heat. If you use
infrared glasses you can “see” living things in the darkest night. Soldiers
also use these glasses to spot the enemy at night. Many flowers which
appear white to humans, actually have ultra violet emitting markers which
direct insects to “landing pads” so that they can be efficiently fertilised.
Butterflies use UV light markings on their wings to attract mates but their
predators cannot see the attractive patterns. Reindeer recognise edible
lichen by its UV emission and can differentiate white-coated wolves (who
do not produce UV light) from snow, which reflects it.
Page 21
Name ________________________
What Colour is White Light? –

Student Worksheet
What colour are the classroom lights? ___________________

Check your answer with three classmates to make sure.
Do you all agree? ___________________________________
Your teacher will hand you some special glasses which will break
up the classroom light into its parts. Put the glasses on and look
at the light again.
What colours can you see now? _________________________
________________________________________________
White light is made up of a mixture of all of these colours,

When white light travels through raindrops it is split up into its
colours and is called a
________________________________________________
Light energy from our Sun has many more types of energy but
humans can only see the colour of the visibly spectrum.
Most humans draw the Sun as yellow. It is actually white when

viewed from space.
Name ________________________
What Colour is White Light? –

Student Worksheet
Hold the mirrored side of an old CD directly under a light.

Draw what you see on the picture below.
The ridges on the mirrored surface of the CD split the white

light into all the colours of the visible spectrum.
R__________ O______________ Y__________
G__________ B______________ I__________
V__________
Sunlight Source – Teacher’s Notes
How do you know the Sun is a source of light?

This is a “Think, Pair & Share” activity where students can assemble ideas
to contribute to a class finding.
Nothing is ever “proven” in science. Because ideas may change or new
technologies provide insights that were not previously available.
Materials
• Scrap paper
• Worksheet provided
• SmartBoard, whiteboard or blackboard
Method
1. Suggest to the students that they are early scientists and that they
have been asked to scientifically demonstrate that the Sun is a
source of light. They are told that the teacher will randomly select
one member of each pair to give a verbal report. This reduces
intellectual parasitism.
2. Give them 3 silent minutes to think up their own ideas and jot them
down on scrap paper before they form pairs. They should use the
worksheet to answer the question – how do you know that the Sun is
a source of light?
3. The teacher selects one of each pair to report on their suggestions.
4. They share their answers which are assembled on the class board.
5. They make suggestions on possible improvements.
Page 24
Name ________________________
Sunlight Source – Student

Worksheet
How do you know the Sun is a source of light?
This is a “Think, Pair & Share” activity.
Nothing is ever “proven” in science because ideas may

change or new technologies provide insights that
were not previously available.
How do you know that the Sun is a source of light? Discuss

this with your partner and come up with 3 good pieces of
evidence.
1. ______________________________________________
________________________________________________
2.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
3.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Name ________________________
Sunlight Source – Student

Worksheet
Share your evidence with the class
What is the most convincing evidence that you think that the
sun is the source of light?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Invisible Light – Teacher’s Notes
As scientists we are obliged to test all ideas before we can agree or

disagree with them. Our Western Australian schools usually have a rule “No
hat - No play”. It insists that students should not be allowed outside
without their hats. Lets find out why.
Teachers may say that nasty ultra violet light will damage our skin and
eyesight and that a hat will help counter this but is this so? You can’t see,
hear, taste, smell or feel this threat.
I have tested this activity in the south of this state in cold midwinter with
a slight drizzle falling. It still works! It takes the stress out of having to
keep hassling students about their hats as they leave the classroom.
Materials per student

• School hat. If students do not have hats fold a ‘pirate’ hat from a
double sheet of newspaper.
• A box of UV beads (available from Scitech – enough for two classes
was just under $10 in 2016 – educational suppliers or other Internet
sources). I find getting all the beads the same colour stops
bickering. Pale yellow beads are the least sensitive to UV light.
• Half a length of pipe clear for each bead
• A UV torch (if possible)
Method
1. Thread the pipe cleaner through the hole in the bead and twist it
once to keep it in position (and to stop it rolling away and getting
underfoot).
2. Ask students to use their five senses to observe the bead (NOT the
pipecleaner). They should enter their observations into the table.
Sight Feel Hearing Smelling Taste

Cylinder Hard/solid No sound No smell We do not
White Has a hole taste
Page 27
Solid/hard Cylinder things in

Has a hole Has a join Science
Plastic smooth
Translucent
Has a join
Shiny
3. Ask students to wind the pipe cleaner around their third finger on
their left hand (they are now ‘engaged to Science’). Students may
need to help each other.
4. Explain that we have
• The same students
• In the same place
• At the same time
• With the same type of bead
• On the same finger
• Of the same hand
5. Ask students how many things should we change in a Science
experiment that is a ‘fair test’? ONE!
6. Take students out to a sunny or well lit position and ask them:
• If the bead sounds different? No
• If the bead feels different? No
• If the bead smells different? No
• If the bead looks different? Yes. The bead has changed
colour.
7. Ask the students what it is about being outside that is different
from being inside that could have reasonably cause the bead to
change colour. Standard answers are heat/cold, light, wind, grass and
occasionally that it is a ‘mood’ bead (as students are happier outside)
8. Ask student if they, as scientists, would believe any of these ideas
without testing. NO!
Page 28
9. Take students back inside the classroom and test their ideas.
Idea Test Result

Heat On the outside of Nil
their top place the
bead in their warm
armpit for 10 seconds.
Cold Put the bead on the Nil
cold linoleum floor or
cold bench top for 10
seconds.
Wind Blow on the bead for Nil
10 seconds.
Grass Place some grass on Nil
the bead for 10
seconds.
Light “Power ranger” point Nil
the bead at the ceiling
light for 10 seconds.
Mood Split the class into Nil
two. One half whispers
nice things to the bead
whilst the other half
whispers about the
bead’s shortcomings.
Students may appreciate that something outside did cause the change but
our human senses cannot observe the cause. When we returned inside that
energy was no longer present.
If you have a UV torch you will be able to shine it on the beads and they
will change colour.
Page 29
Ask students to complete the questions on the worksheet.
What specifically caused the bead to change colour? Ultraviolet light
Where did this energy come from? The Sun
Why do we need to protect ourselves from this energy? Because it is

harmful
Why do all schools in Western Australia have the same rule?
NO HAT
NO PLAY
To protect their students
Should you have used a hat and sunscreen today? Yes
Ultraviolet light causes skin cancer and can also contribute to the growth
of pterygiums over the eyeball. Wearing your hat and appropriate clothing
will decrease your risk of cancer.
Students may put the bead under their school hat and walk outside. Under
the shade of the hat the bead will/should remain white.
Page 30
Name ________________________
Invisible Light – Student

Worksheet
No Hat No Play
As scientists we are obliged to test all ideas before we can
agree or disagree with them. Our Western Australian schools
usually have a rule “No hat - No play”. It insists that students
should not be allowed outside without their hats. Let’s find out
why.
Observations
Your teacher will give you each a bead on a pipe cleaner.
These descriptions are ONLY ABOUT THE BEAD!
Sight Feel Hearing Smelling Taste

Name ________________________
Invisible Light – Student

Worksheet
How many things should we change in any Science experiment

that is a “Fair test?”
________________________________________________
What specifically caused the bead to change colour?
________________________________________________
Where did this energy come from?
________________________________________________
Why do we need to protect ourselves from this energy?
________________________________________________
Why do all schools in Western Australia have the same rule?
NO HAT
NO PLAY
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Should you have used a hat and sunscreen today? ___________

Changing Christmas Baubles – Teacher’s Notes
Last year, when I hung up my Christmas decorations I used lots of new red
glass ball decorations both inside the house and outside over my Christmas
tree.
When the time came to take them in I discovered that the balls hung inside
the house still looked the same but the ones from the garden had changed.
They were different. Almost all colour had gone from the top of the balls
(see photograph).
Explain what you think might have caused the change.

Sunlight falling on top of the balls had bleached the colour from them or
more correctly, energy from the Sun had changed the chemistry of the
paint.
Page 33
Changing Christmas Baubles – Teacher’s Notes
Describe an experiment you could use to find out if

you were correct.
They would have to create an experiment where one
set of decorative balls was kept inside and another
set kept outside. Other conditions would have to be kept the same.
To measure any change in colour download the free App “Colour Assist”
onto your mobile phone. The camera can be pointed at the top and bottom
of the baubles and differences in colour measured to an international
standard.
Is this experiment a fair test?

To check if this is a “Fair Test”.
Change one thing = Inside and outside.
Measure one thing = Change in colour.
Everything else was kept the same.
Page 34
Name ________________________
Changing Christmas Baubles –

Student Worksheet
Scientists try to explain change
Christmas celebrations originated in the deep dark winter of the

northern hemisphere.
Last year, when I hung up my Christmas decorations I used lots

of new red glass ball decorations both inside the house and also
outside over my Christmas tree.
When the time came to take them in, I discovered that my
baubles hung inside the house still looked the same but the ones
from the garden had changed (see above). Almost all colour had
gone from the top half of the balls.
Explain what you think might have caused this change.
________________________________________________
Name ________________________
Changing Christmas Baubles –

Student Worksheet
Describe an experiment you could use to find out if you were

correct.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Is this experiment a fair test?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Word Wall – Teacher’s Notes
This activity is a great way to remind students of what they have done so
far and to informally correct any misunderstandings.
Students may like to use their notes to fill in their word wall.
Some suggestions are below.
light ultraviolet
Sun visible heat
fair experiment
hat senses testing
control ink
prediction rainbow torch
Page 37
Name ________________________
Word Wall – Student Worksheet
We have been learning about light. Fill in the wall below, place
words you have learnt during this topic on each full brick.
Write the important words and their meanings below.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
What is Hot? – Teacher’s Notes
Our sun is a giant thermo-nuclear reactor.

When we investigated light from the Sun, we noted
that there were parts of the spectrum (spread) of
radiation that humans could not see such as ultra
violet and infra red radiation. Infra red radiation
lies just beyond the red end of the visible spectrum
and although it cannot be seen it can be felt by
thermo (heat) receptors in the skin. Our bodies and
the bodies of plants and animals are powered by
enzymes, which require heat to function well. Life on Earth depends on just
the right amount of heat reaching us.
Heat can be transferred in three ways:

Radiation Waves of heat can radiate through empty space. This is how
heat from the sun enters our atmosphere.
Convection Heat is transferred from one place to another by the
movement of fluids (liquids and gasses) such as wind and water currents.
Conduction Heat is transferred between solids such as walking on a hot
road with bare feet.
About 23% of incoming heat energy is retained within the atmosphere and
is moved around by convection currents such as wind and ocean currents.
The rest is directly radiated back into space.
When experimenting we try not to use subjective words such as hot, cold,
warm or chilly as their meaning is not precise. Hot weather in northern
Europe is very different to hot weather in Western Australia.
Heat is measured by a thermometer (thermo = heat, meter = measurer)
Page 39
This activity is to encourage students to use standard measurements

rather than subjective words such as hot or cold.
I have always lived in Marble Bar so I find 33oC in
Geraldton in summer, rather cold.
We left Albany in winter and drove northwest to Perth
where the temperature was a much warmer 16oC.
In Marble Bar the temperature overnight in summer fell
to a cool 28oC. I had to put on a jumper.
During the heat of summer in Kalgoorlie the
temperature can rise to 38oC in the day and fall to 16oC
at night. I enjoyed the evening cool.
In Broome the average temperature of 30 to 33oC is
always pleasantly warm.
I was told the weather in Esperance was chilly so I took
my snow boots. The lowest temperature was 8oC!
Mark each temperature on the thermometer on your worksheet. Cool

temperatures mark with a blue cross and hot temperatures with a red
cross
How can the same temperature be hot to one person and cold to another?
The words only describe what it feels like to each person. Each person has
had different experiences and they are describing if there is more or less
heat than what they are used to.
Why do you think that weather reports always include the temperature in
degree Celcius?
Then everyone knows exactly what is the actual temperature. The number
means the same thing all around the world.
Page 40
Historical background
The word “thermometer” comes from the Latin “thermo”
meaning heat and “meter” to measure. If we describe
something as hot or cold it may mean different things to
different people. People in Scotland describe the weather as
hot if it rises over 18oC whereas in WA that would merely be
“warm” because we are used living in a higher range of
temperature. Heat makes the coloured fluid expand.
The idea of having a numerical scale for temperature was

first mentioned by the Roman physician Galen. He measured
equal volumes of ice and cold water and suggested that the
mix was “neutral” temperature. He added four degrees of
heat and four degrees of cold on either side.
In 1612, an Italian inventor called Santorio Santorio added a
wider numerical scale and the thermometer could measure
changes in temperature for humans. By 1715 the German
inventor Daniel Farenheit made a thermometer that
measured changes between the boiling point of water and its
freezing point using a scale of 180 degrees. Slightly later a
Swede called Anders Celcius used the same maximum and
minimum but had a scale of 100 units or degrees Celcius.
Some people use the term “centigrade” which means “divided
by 100. (Chemists use a scale which extends well below and
above this which was invented by the Scot, William Kelvin).
Students need to be reminded that when they take “the

temperature” of a location they are really measuring air temperature.
Although air often cannot be seen, felt smelled or touched, it is a gas and is
responsible for moving heat around our environment. On hot summer days
the air temperature may be 40oC when the dark surface of the playground
Page 41
can reach 50oC and above. On freezing cold days the air temperature can
be well below ground temperature. Official weather reports use the
temperature of air inside a Stevenson screen which shelters the
thermometer from rain, snow, wind, leaves and animals.
Of course, you never hold a thermometer by its bulb as that would mean
that you are really measuring your skin temperature not air temperature.
Most school thermometers rely on an enclosed liquid, often alcohol or

mercury that expands on heating and contracts on cooling. The famous
astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first person to try using wine in a
thermometer. Alcohol is more sensitive to heat and expands much more
than water. The thermometers are calibrated using the boiling point and
freezing point of water so that a reading in Australia will be the same as
another on the other side of the world if the temperature is the same.
Page 42
Name ________________________
What is Hot? – Student Worksheet
Mark each temperature on the thermometer on your worksheet.

Cool temperatures mark with a blue cross and hot temperatures
with a red cross
“I have always lived in Marble Bar so I find 33oC
in Geraldton in summer, rather cold.”
“We left Albany in winter and drove northwest
to Perth where the temperature was a much
warmer 16oC.”
“During the heat of summer in Kalgoorlie the
temperature can rise to 38oC in the day and fall
to 16oC at night. I enjoyed the evening cool.”
“In Broome the average temperature or 30 to
33oC is always pleasantly warm.”
“I was told the weather in Esperance was chilly
so I took my snow boots. The lowest
temperature was 8oC”.
How can the same temperature be hot to one

person and cold to another?
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Why do you think that weather reports always
include the temperature in degrees Celcius?
________________________________________________
Parallax Error – Teacher’s Notes
When reading a thermometer, or any other graded instrument, the

student’s eye has to be level with the part being read. If the eye is above
the reading will be too low and vice versa. Always raise or lower the
thermometer to be easily and correctly read at eye level. Students working
in pairs can quickly observe this error.
Materials per pair

• A ruler
Method
1. Students face each other
2. One student holds the ruler upright and does not move
3. The other holds one hand so that their index finger appears to be
pointing at the 15cm reading
4. Without moving their pointing finger, the second student moves
their head so their eyes are about 5cm higher and lower than the
original position and notes the apparent new readings
Page 44
Name ________________________
Parallax Error – Student

Worksheet
When reading a thermometer, or any other graded instrument, your eye

has to be level with the part being read.
Materials per pair

• A ruler
Method
1. Face your partner
2. One student holds the ruler upright and does not move
3. The other holds one hand so that their index finger appears to be
pointing at the 15cm reading
4. Without moving their pointing finger, the student then moves their
head so their eyes are about 5cm higher and lower than the original
position and takes reading.
How did moving your eyes change the reading? __________________
________________________________________________________
Cool School – Teacher’s Notes
Early scientists looked for something to use as a commonly understood very

cold thing to use to be the base level for a thermometer. They used the
temperature at which water freezes. To be zero. We now take readings
down to -273oC, which is known as absolute zero.
Before asking students to take temperatures around the classroom or
school, they may need practice in reading units and half units on
thermometers.
School classroom thermometers often only have temperatures labeled at 10
degrees and multiples thereof. Students may have to be guided on how to
estimate the temperature between labeled readings.
Estimate the correct temperature for each thermometer.
15oC 30oC 0oC 5oC 17oC
Page 46
Which is the highest reading possible? 50oC Unless your

thermometers are otherwise graded.
Which is the lowest reading possible? - 20oC
What do you estimate the temperature in the classroom is now? Please
remind the students to add the unit of degrees Celcius. Celcius was
originally known as Centigrade. This was a scale divided into one
hundredths.
Measure the temperature using a thermometer and tell the students.
How accurate was your guess? Very accurate (within 2oC), accurate (spot
on) or inaccurate (more than 2oC off).
Why do you think we need to use thermometers rather than guesses to

measure the temperature? Guesses can be very inaccurate
Why do we have thermometers, which can read below the freezing point of
water and above the boiling point of water? We need to know these
temperatures so we can do things safely. If we fry chips in oil and we heat
it too much, first the chips will burn and then the pan will go on fire. If the
temperature of the oil is too low the potatoes will absorb oil and not cook.
When we are healthy our body temperature is 37oC. If the body
temperature is above or below this we can tell that we are ill. Any
reasonable answer will do.
What do we use to measure cold? A thermometer. Hot and cold are
just positions along the scale.
Page 47
10oC 25oC 38oC 44oC -13oC
Colour in a red line indicating the temperatures given

Television news programs always include information on what the next 24
hours temperature readings will be. Why? We can wear clothes to keep us
warm or cool. We can decide which sports to play or not. We can decide
whether to walk, ride our bicycles or use the car. We can decide whether
to put new plants in the garden or leave off for a cooler or warmer day.
If there are 3 days of over 40oC, many schools ask parents to keep their
students at home. In some communities however school is the coolest palce
to be!
Page 48
Name ________________________
Cool School – Student Worksheet
Estimate the correct temperature for each thermometer.
________________________________________________
Which is the highest reading possible? __________________
Which is the lowest reading possible? ___________________
What do you estimate the temperature in the classroom is now?
________________________________________________
Your teacher will tell you what the temperature is using a

thermometer.
Name ________________________
How accurate was your guess? _________________________
Why do you think we need to use thermometers rather than

guesses to measure temperature?
________________________________________________
Why do we have thermometers, which can read below the

freezing point of water and above the boiling point of water?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
What do we use to measure cold? _______________________

Name ________________________
Colour in a red line indicating the temperatures given.
10oC 25°C 38oC 44oC -13oC
Television news programs always include information on what the

next 24 hours temperature readings will be. Why?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Name ________________________
What does 40°Cmean to you? Draw a picture of a day when it

reaches 40°C below.
Prediction and Testing – Teacher’s Notes
Scientists often make predictions about what they think will happen. They
try to base these sensible scientific guesses on information they and other
scientists already have. The important thing that follows this is that,
where possible, these predictions are tested. Finding that an idea doesn’t
work is just as important as finding what does, particularly in medical
science. We get better and better at predicting things as more information
comes in and as technology improves. Students who have made “wrong”
predictions can learn and make a better one next time.
Materials per group

• Thermometer
• Rough map of school or classroom
Method
1. Brainstorm to find student predictions of the hot and cold areas in
the room and in the yard.
2. Students should state their predictions giving a reason why they
chose this or these particular areas. E.g. I think that ….. is a
hot/cold area because … .
3. Board student predictions and reasons.
4. Select groups to take the temperature of specific areas reminding
them to take air temperature not surface temperature. And not to
hold the thermometer by the bulb.
5. Board their findings
Observations
Students may suggest that some areas are hotter because they are sunny,
are near the heater or are protected from the wind.
Ask the students what the source or sources of this heat are? Sun,
radiators, outlet fans from canteen kitchens.
Page 53
Prediction and Testing – Teacher’s Notes
Temperature outside each hour during one day
If you have sufficient thermometers and students remain with you all day
then they will be able to take their own readings. If however this is not
possible please use the data provided or use the information given daily on
your weather app.
DAY Monday Date 25/6/2016

Location West Perth
Predict which time of day will have the hottest temperature. Suggest
during school time. If you live on the equator and in the middle of a time
zone theoretically the hottest time would be about noon. If you live at the
western edge of a time zone, like Perth, the heat of the day will be
delayed. Heat build up is also modified by wind and cloud cover.
TIME 9am 10am 11am 12am 1pm 2pm 3pm

Temperature in oC 22 24 30 32 33 32 28
When was the hottest part of this day? 1pm

Using the information you have collected, predict when the hottest part of
tomorrow will be. 1pm or there about.
Is there a regular pattern for temperature each day? The warmest time is
between 11am and 3pm. (Between eleven and three stay under a tree).
Page 54
Name ________________________
Prediction and Testing – Student

Worksheet
DAY __________________ Date ___________________
Location ________________________________________
Predict which time of day will have the hottest temperature.
________________________________________________
Now take measurements at your chosen location at the following

times.
TIME 9am 10am 11am 12am 1pm 2pm 3pm

Temperature OC
When was the hottest part of this day? __________________
Using the information you have collected, predict when the

hottest part of tomorrow will be.
________________________________________________
Is there a regular pattern for temperature each day? _______
________________________________________________
Heat from the Sun – Teacher’s Notes
Our Sun radiates heat energy towards earth and most of it is bounced
straight back into space off reflective (shiny) surfaces such as snow, ice,
water and clouds.
How can we demonstrate that this heat comes from the Sun?
Background research questions. Answer with your best guess.
1. Is it usually warmer at night or during the day?

During the day
2. Why is this so?
During the day, our part of Earth is turned towards the Sun
3. When is the warmest time of day?
Midday, because the Sun is directly overhead. (Less heat is lost
through the atmosphere).
4. If you face the Sun, which part of your body is warmest, your back
or your front?
Your front
5. Which parts of the immediate school area are cool, warm and hot?
This is a poor question because different people have different ideas
as to what is hot and what is cool.
6. What do we use to measure heat? A thermometer (thermo=heat,
meter=measurer)
Page 56
Name ________________________
Heat from the Sun – Student

Worksheet
How can we demonstrate that heat comes from the Sun?
Background research questions. Answer with your best guess.
1. Is it usually warmer at night or during the day?
__________________________________________
2. Why is this so?
__________________________________________
3. When is the warmest time of day?
__________________________________________
4. If you face the Sun, which part of your body is warmest,

your back or your front?
___________________________________________
5. Which parts of the immediate school area are cool, warm

and hot?
____________________________________________
6. What do we use to measure heat? __________________

Sunlight and Shade – Teacher’s Notes
We shall be drying wet paper towel in sunlight and out of sunlight to see
whether sunlight or shade provides the most heat.
Students are asked to plan how to make this activity a “FAIR TEST”.
MOO!
Change one thing (softly)
Measure one thing
Everything stays the same
To make this experiment a fair test what will we have to keep the same?
Same paper, same size, same time, same conditions, same amount of water.
What will we be changing? We will change one thing, whether the paper is
left to dry in the sunshine or in the shade. We will be changing heat from
the Sun.
What will we be measuring? How long each piece of paper takes to dry.
I’d recommend that you use 1 teaspoon of water (5mL) on each sheet of
paper towel. Materials required could be paper towel, water, teaspoons and
something to tell the time e.g. clock, watch or mobile phone.
Share your answers with two other groups.
Observations
Group Time to dry in Time to dry in shade
sunshine (minutes) (Minutes)
Ask the students why we used other groups’ answers. To make sure one
answer wasn’t a fluke/atypical/due to something else or an atypical result.
Does sunshine include heat? Yes.
Why would people prefer to dry clothes in the shade? To avoid bleaching
them.
Page 58
Name ________________________
Sunlight and Shade – Student

Worksheet
We shall be drying wet paper towel in sunlight and out of

sunlight to see whether sunlight or shade provides the most
heat.
We will time how long paper takes to dry.
Plan how to make this activity a “FAIR TEST”.
MOO!
Change one thing
(softly)
Measure one thing
Everything stays the same
To make this experiment a fair test what will we have to keep

the same?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
What will we be changing? ___________________________
What will we be measuring? _______________________
Share your answers with two other groups.

Name ________________________
Sunlight and Shade – Student

Worksheet
Observations
Group Time to dry in Time to dry in

sunshine (minutes) shade
(Minutes)
Why will sharing results give us a better answer?
________________________________________________
Did the paper in the sunshine dry faster? ______________
Why would people prefer to dry clothes in the shade?
________________________________________________
What the Sailor Saw – Teacher’s Notes
Modern scientists can use satellites and the

space base images to see that the Earth is
almost round like a ball, that it spins on its axis
once a day and that it orbits the Sun once a year.
Many people thought that the Earth was flat, and

some still do.
Sailors were amongst the first to provide
evidence that it was round.
If you were a sailor standing on the beach 400 years ago and you were
watching a sailing ship, you might have drawn a picture like the one below.
10 minutes ago 30 minutes ago 60 minutes ago 100 minutes ago
Is the ship sailing towards you or away from you? It is sailing away from me
as the ship is getting smaller and at 100 minutes I can only see the top of
it.
How does this sketch help the sailor to realise that the Earth is round?
The bottom/hull of the ship cant be seen when it is far away. As it comes
up over the horizon it becomes more visible. It must be sailing on a curved
Page 61
What the Sailor Saw – Teacher’s Notes
surface. The Earth is spherical.
The first ship to sail round the world was the Santiago initially captained
by Ferdinand Magellan. It left Spain in 1519 and sailed south through the
Atlantic Ocean round the southern end of South America into the Pacific
Ocean. Magellan died in a war in the Philippines and the journey was
completed under captain Elanco.
Sailors had always realised that the Earth was round because they had
seen that as a ship sails away from the viewer it not only gets smaller but it
disappears over the horizon from the base up.
Page 62
Name ________________________
What the Sailor Saw – Student

Worksheet
Sailors were amongst the first people to provide evidence that

the Earth was round. If you were a sailor standing on the beach
400 years ago and you were watching a sailing ship, you might
have drawn pictures like the ones below.
10 minutes ago 30 minutes ago 60 minutes ago 100 minutes ago
Is the ship sailing towards you or away from you? How can you
tell?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
How did this sketch help the sailor to realise that the Earth is
round?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Earth Spins – Teacher’s Notes
Historical Background
Most people thought that Earth and mankind lay at the center of the stars,
although earlier ancient Greek and Indian scientists had speculated that
the Earth spun around its axis daily and orbited around the Sun annually.
Evidence to support these ideas was difficult to produce. The fact that
the much respected Greek philosopher Aristotle thought that the Sun
orbited the Earth made it difficult for others to refute his belief up until
medieval times. Newton suggested that if the Earth turned on its axis it
would bulge at the equator and flatten at the poles. Later accurate
surveying of the planet supported this idea.
By the early 1800s scientists tried dropping weights from particularly high
towers and it was noted that the weights landing spots were displaced from
under the spot from where they had been dropped suggesting that the
planet had moved slightly while the weight was dropping.
The French scientist and mathematician Leon Foucault (1819-1868) finally
produced an experiment that demonstrated that the Earth spins on its
axis. He suspended a very heavy pendulum from a very long (67m) wire
attached to the dome of the Parthenon in Paris. The pendulum was left free
to swing in any direction it wished. A stylus on the base of the pendulum
made marks in sand laid on the floor tracing any change of movement. The
pendulum should just have swung back and forth BUT it actually rotated 110
clockwise per hour. Something had forced the pendulum to slowly change
its direction of swing. The cause was the planet spinning on its axis under
the experiment in the Parthenon that caused the change of direction of
swing.
(Inertia causes any body to remain in its original position unless acted on by
another force. This is easily demonstrated by sitting on an office chair
with a full glass of water and swinging round. Yourself and the glass will
spin round but the water lags behind because of inertia and a circular
Page 64
splash is made. It is easier however to ask a student to demonstrate this

outside by spinning round quickly with an arm extended and holding a glass
of water).
Teacher Demonstration
This is based on an activity by Janice Van Cleave in her book “Icy, freezing,
frosty, cool and wild experiments”
Materials
• An office chair
• A short pendulum made from a piece of string and a weight
• A piece of paper with a large arrow drawn on it.
Method
1. Sit on the chair with the
paper on your knee. The
arrow should be aligned
along your upper leg.
2. Start the pendulum
swinging along the
direction indicated by
the arrow.
3. Gently swing the chair
clockwise.
4. Observe changes in the
pendulum swing.
The pendulum swing change was
caused by rotation about the
axis of the chair. Similarly
Foucault’s pendulum swing
changed because of rotation
Page 65
about the axis of the Earth.
Interesting fact
Pilots have to adjust their flight paths to account for the Earth turning
under them. If they pointed their plane toward their final destination at
the beginning of their flight it would no longer be in the same spot when
they arrive.
Page 66
Time Words – Teacher’s Notes
Early thinkers thought that the Sun orbited the Earth. To them this
explained why the sun appears to rise in the east on the morning and fall to
the west at night. Hunter-gatherer people like Aboriginal Australians and
Early Stone Age Europeans did not need to measure small amounts of time
but their language tells us they understood the regular predictable
progression of time through a day and a night. Ask your students to form
pairs and see how many words they can write down that mark the passage
of time over 24 hours that don’t involve the use of numbers or a clock.
Method
After providing a few starter words the groups (of two or three students)
are given scrap paper and 5 minutes to write down all the time words they
can think of and then 5 more minutes to arrange them into a sequential
timeline on the worksheet provided. Students share their words to be
entered on a common day to night timeline on the board. This should
demonstrate that time travels in a regular and predictable way.
An easy way to remember the direction the Earth turns is to make a fist of
your right hand with your thumb pointing upwards to the north. The
direction your fingers fold to form the fist is the direction the world turns
on its axis.
Most mobile phones have free compass Apps. To help you find north.
Page 67
Name ________________________
Time Words – Student Worksheet
Before people had clocks, they had special words, which could be
used to demonstrate the regular predictable progression of time
during the day. For example, breakfast time is earlier than
lunchtime.
Write down these words and share them with others. See if you
can order them in correct sequence during one day.
Rough notes
In correct sequence.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Day & Night – Teacher’s Notes
Teacher Demonstration
Evening falls in Western Australia

In a darkened room or storage cupboard, a bright light such as a torch or
desk lamp can demonstrate how the Sun shines on a spinning Earth bringing
daylight and dark.
Materials
• A globe, basketball or balloon with Australia drawn on it
• A bright light source
• Small stick men from the Reject or $2.00 shop or cut out paper
people or even coloured pencils to represent people.
Method
1. Set up the equipment
2. Ask a student to spin the Earth/globe/basketball or balloon
clockwise looking downwards from the North Pole
3. Arrange the varied people either on the surface of the globe or on
the desk below
Page 69
Day & Night – Teacher’s Notes
4. Describe the illumination on the globe as it rotates completely

representing one day
5. Ask students what time of day each “person” would observe.
Page 70
Aboriginal Time – Teacher’s Notes
How people in the past divided up the day depended on their lifestyle.
Nomadic people followed food sources and their day did not have regular
intervals as they had to respond immediately to any opportunities and
challenges provided by Nature.
Agrarian communities were more settled
but still had need only of general divisions
or information from bells or singing the call
to the faithful from the minaret, if nearby.
Looking after domestic animals and planting
crops provided their own times and
calendar.
City people had greater need

for organised time as trade
depends on people being in the
same place at the same time.
People needed to be organized.
Towns would have bells that
rang out the times of religious
services; town criers called out
the daytime hours and night
watchmen called out night
hours. “10 o’clock and all is well”.
Page 71
In the not too distant past, after about 70,000 years ago our ancestors
lived in sub-Saharan Africa. As the Ice Age finished they moved north to
populate the rest of the World.
One group moved quickly and arrived here in Australia

about 50,000 years ago to be followed by two later
waves before sea level rose and cut off the continent.
These were the ancestors of all present Aboriginal
Australians. It is said they lived in the Deamtime.
Aboriginal people had to keep moving so that they did

not exhaust local food and water supplies. They lived a
sustainable existence. They travelled in small family
groups of perhaps five adults and six children and A wanjina or ancestor spirit
followed a “Hunter Gatherer” lifestyle. The men
hunted large game such as kangaroo and emu whilst the women hunted small
game such as lizards, gathered seeds and fruit and looked after the
children. They wore simple skin clothes and carried only a few tools. They
didn’t “wander about” but cleverly followed routes they knew would bring
them seasonal food and water. These routes (Song lines) were described in
songs and stories, which they passed on to their children. They had no
permanent settlements or written language. Until recently Aboriginal
people in Australia followed such an apparently simple but actually very
efficient lifestyle. It was the only way to survive in such a vast resource-
poor land as ours.
The Aboriginal dreamtime starts with dark night. The spirits put fire in the
sky to warm the first men and women but it was a weak fire and they didn’t
feel much heat. Then fire is cunningly stolen to bring daylight to Earth. A
story from Melville Island tells how the first man Purnukapali lit the first
torch from this fire and his sister, Wurupranala, who later became the sun,
carried it during the day.
Page 72
Words common to most Aboriginal languages suggests that 24 hours could

be broken into:
Pre dawn Daybreak Morning Midday
Daytime Late afternoon Just before sunset Sunset
Middle of the night Nighttime
Since they did not carry clocks, how did people know when it is daybreak?
The sun “rises” over the horizon.
How did they know when it is midday? The sun was at its highest or directly
overhead. Their shadow stopped growing smaller and pointed in the
opposite direction.
How did they know it was sunset? The sun appeared to go down over the
horizon.
Some groups could mark the passing of time at night by the movement of
constellations through the sky.
Why do you think that early Aboriginal people did not need to break the
day into smaller fractions such as hours and minutes? They travelled in
small groups and rarely met up with others. They did not need to tell the
time as they reacted to whatever their travels and Nature brought them.
At what time of day would an early Aboriginal person go hunting game?
Anytime they were hungry and wanted meat.
At what time would an Aboriginal family eat roast kangaroo? Anytime after
it had been caught and cooked.
At what time of day would an Aboriginal family next eat roast kangaroo?
Anytime after the first kangaroo had been eaten and the next kangaroo
had been caught and cooked.
Page 73
Name ________________________
Aboriginal Time – Student

Worksheet
Aboriginal history starts in the

Dreamtime when ancestor spirits lived in
the sky.
A story from Melville Island tells how the
first man, Purnukapali lit the first torch
from a fire given by the ancestor spirits.
It was carried during the day by his sister
Wurupranala, who later became the sun.
Words common to most Aboriginal
languages suggests that 24 hours could be
broken into: A wanjina or ancestor spirit
Pre dawn, daybreak, morning, midday,
daytime, late afternoon, just before sunset, sunset, middle of
the night and nighttime.
Since they did not carry clocks, how did people know when it is
daybreak?
________________________________________________
How did they know when it is midday? ___________________
________________________________________________
How did they know it was sunset?
________________________________________________
Name ________________________
Aboriginal Time – Student

Worksheet
Some groups could mark the passing of time at night by the

movement of constellations through the sky.
Why do you think that early Aboriginal people did not need to
break the day into smaller fractions such as hours and minutes?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
At what time of day would an early Aboriginal person go hunting

game?
________________________________________________
At what time would an Aboriginal family eat roast kangaroo?
________________________________________________
At what time of day would an Aboriginal family next eat roast
kangaroo?
________________________________________________
Day V Night – Teacher’s Notes
Directed Discussion
(see Aboriginal Time for further information)
Other groups left Africa and traveled on to populate Europe, Asia and
finally the Americas. They too were initially hunter gatherers. For most
hunter-gatherer people and later for early farming people, day and night
were considered opposites. Daytime was considered
good because you could see to find food and water
and you could see to defend yourself against attack.
Night was a time of dark and fear, of unseen
predators and evil spirits.
Some believed that there was constant struggle
between the forces of day and night. The concept of
one “day” lasting through light and dark did not exist
Europeans still use dark, black or night to describe evil and uncertainty and
white or bright to represent good. In old fashioned cowboy movies the
“goodies” wore white hats and the “baddies” wore black. Ask students to
find examples of this use in present stories.
Black hearted, a shining light in the school community, fair maiden, dark
thoughts, dark deeds are not seen in the light of day, bright students win
prizes, in the dark recesses of your mind, ghosts and vampires walk at night
but are burned by the light of the sun, let’s shine some light on the
problem, you are a ray of sunshine! And more.
Page 76
Time Vocabulary – Teacher’s Notes
Short Class Discussion
You may wish to discuss with your students whether we should still use the
expressions sunrise and sunset, as they are misleading.
Should we instead use “Earthrise” and “Earth set” for first light and last
light?
Light from the sun illuminates the side of the Earth facing it. As the planet
spins on its axis part of the surface moves away from the Sun and becomes
dark.
Axis
Page 77
Midday Around the World – Teacher’s Notes
This activity is designed to assist students with their understanding of the

rotation of the Earth.
Materials
• The attached map cut into 24 pieces
• A powerful torch
Method:
1. Copy the map of the world, attached, with the equator marked on it
as large as possible (at least A3).
2. Cut the map in N/S strips of 24 (approximately equal) pieces.
3. Assemble students in a circle facing outwards with their strip of map
in the correct sequence and with the equator at the same height.
4. Ask one student to shine a torch at the equator of the student
nearest them (they are not to move for this activity).
5. Ask students to shuffle in their circle anticlockwise.
6. Students should call out when they think it is midday at their
location (the torch is shining directly on their equator).
Before clocks and watches were common, some cities would rely on bells or
flags to indicate specific hours. Both Edinburg in Scotland and Fremantle in
WA fired a cannon to indicate one o’clock and both ports sometimes a ball
on a high pole was also “dropped” to alert sailors entering the port to
adjust their timepieces.
Page 78
...
12 Hours – Teacher’s Notes
We have 12 hours of daylight and twelve hours of night at the equator.
When people settled into agriculture and towns appeared measurements

had to become uniform to control fair trade, develop technology and collect
taxes. Early Assyrian and Egyptian people used their thumbs and the three
joints each in their four fingers to count.
Numbered joints Thumb counting to five
This resulted in a numerical system based on the (sacred) number 12, as

compared to the present decimal system based on 10. (Some teachers may
even remember that prior to the arrival of decimal coinage there were 12
pennies to one shilling and twelve inches in one foot).
Sundials broke the day into twelve sections for those who needed it.
Most people just rose at dawn, worked until breakfast (which was the first
meal of the day and broke the night’s fasting), returned to work only to
stop about midday for a meal and then worked on until sunset when they
went home for their evening meal. The nighttime wasn’t broken up into
sections. Sailors estimated time at night by watching the stars.
Page 80
12 Hours – Teacher’s Notes
The advanced T bar sundial developed in Egypt and shown in some tomb
paintings was calibrated to divide the period between sunrise and sunset
into 12 hours. Since Egypt is close to the equator throughout
the year the days are of almost equal length. Elsewhere the
tilt of the Earth’s axis resulted in longer summer “hours” and
shorter winter “hours.” At night, time was estimated by
movement of significant stars or by using a water clock or
sand hourglass.
Although in ancient Greece about 140BC it was suggested that night and
day should be divided into 24 hours of equal length most people still
managed with hours that varied in length with the seasons until mechanical
clocks appeared in the Middle Ages. Many early clocks only had an hour
hand. Ordinary people estimated the time of day by the Sun or by church
bells ringing for service.
Page 81
Timely Fractions – Teacher’s Notes
Most modern people divide one rotation of the Earth into

• Day and night
• Hours
• Minutes
• Seconds
This is a great opportunity to have student considered the Mathematics

involved in this.
What fraction of one hour is one minute? 1/60
What fraction of one minute is one second? 1/60
What fraction of one minute is 30 seconds? 1/2
How many minutes are there in one and a half hours?

90 minutes
How many minutes would you have to wait if lunch is at 12noon and the clock
reads 11.40am? 20 minutes
What fraction of one hour is this? 1/3
If a one hour game of sport is divided into four quarters, how long must
each quarter last? ¼ of an hour or 15 minutes
What date is your birthday?
What is today’s date?
Page 82
Name ________________________
Timely Fractions – Student

Worksheet
What fraction of one hour is one minute? ________
What fraction of one minute is one second? ______
What fraction of one minute is 30 seconds? ______
How many minutes are there in one and a half hours?
_____________
How many minutes would you have to wait if lunch is at 12noon and the clock
reads 11.40am?
__________________________________
What fraction of one hour is this? _____________________________
If a one hour game of sport is divided into four quarters, how long must
each quarter last?
____________________________________
Days and Months mnemonic

30 days has September, April, June and
November.
All the rest have 31, excepting February alone,
which has but 28 days clear and 29 on each Leap
Year.
What date is your birthday? __________
What is today’s date? ______________________________________

Book of Hours – Teacher’s Notes
In Medieval times people read their “Book of Hours”.

They were used across society and contained prayers
and psalms and other daily and seasonal devotions.
Since they were often the only book in the
household, they also had an alphabet so they could be
used to teach children to read. They were often
given by a husband to his wife as a marriage gift and
were passed down through generations. Rich people
had books full of illustrations and often the major
initial letters were heavily illuminated.
Divide daylight hours amongst the class and ask them to produce a small
illuminated picture indicating what activities should be carried out at that
time. E.g. 12o’clock eating. These can be progressively organised along a wall
to represent the passing of the hours of daylight.
Rich people could afford beeswax candles to measure the passing of hours.
When Henry XIII had a son he gave a very large donation to the church
for candles to mark the passing of the hours. The child died at two months.
Town criers walked through cities calling out the passing of the hours when
clocks were rare.
Page 84
Name ________________________
Book of Hours – Student

Worksheet
In Medieval times people read their “Book of

Hours”. They were used across society and
contained prayers and psalms and other daily and
seasonal devotions. Since they were often the
only book in the household, they also had an
alphabet so they could be used to teach children
to read.
Draw a picture below to represent the hour you have been given
by your teacher.
Relative Time Graph – Teacher’s Notes
Ptolemy divided degrees of latitude into 60 smaller (more minute) parts. He

called these “partes minutae primae” and then these into even more minute
parts “partes minutae secondae”. This is why we call them “minutes” and
“seconds”. Again, the general public did not use these smaller
subdivisions until the development of mechanical clocks.
Medieval town clocks often had only an hour hand.
Artisans such as smiths, engineers and pharmacists could
estimate time using rhymes and prayers in much the same way
that one second can be roughly measured by saying “One Mississippi” or one
chimpanzeeses”.
This brings us to the idea that one day can be divided into 24 hours, which
can each be divided into 60 minutes, which can each be divided into 60
seconds. To create uniformity across the Earth, the new definition of a
second is taken as the time taken for 9,192,631,770 energy transitions of a
cesium atom. This not only allows for UTC (Co-ordinated Universal Time – in
French) it also allows for the addition of “leap” seconds to permit greater
accuracy and agree with astronomical time. Eight times in every ten years a
minute has 61 seconds.
Relative timescales
Materials
• Graph paper or the worksheet provided
• Three different coloured pencils
Method
We are going to see the differences in size of the units we use to measure
one day.
1. Each small square on the graph paper is two seconds
Page 86
2. Colour in 1 second in green in the square at the bottom left corner of

the graph paper. What fraction of the square will it be? ½
3. Label this “1 second”.

How many 1 seconds are there in a minute? 60
Do you think we can fit one minute of seconds into this graph paper?
Students write in their best guess.
How many squares would we need to fill in for one minute? Half of 60
= 30squares.
4. We shall colour one minute worth of seconds in red. (remember to

include the first second)
5. Label this “1 minute”.

Did the minute of seconds fit into the graph paper? Yes, easily.
Is a second larger or smaller than a minute? Smaller
What fraction of a minute is a second? 1/60
How many minutes make an hour? 60 minutes
Do you think you will be able to fill in an hour of seconds onto this
graph paper? Explain your answer. Yes because there is room for six
of these red blocks on the graph paper.
6. Outline this 1 hour block in blue

Guess how many seconds there are in 1
hour
a. 6 seconds (1/10 minute)
b. 60 seconds (1 minute)
c. 360 seconds (6X60 seconds)
d. 3,600 seconds (60X60 seconds)
Can we fit a day into this graph? No
because a day has 24 hours and there
Page 87
isn’t room for 24 blue blocks.

Why do we have a minute hand (and sometimes a second hand) on
clocks and watches? To accurately measure time for things which
take less than one hour
To boil an egg = 3minutes - Too little it is runny – too long it turns into
rubber!
Year 3 to run 100m ~16seconds (Teacher might take a little longer)
To measure heart rate 70 to 110 beats per minute
Page 88
Name ________________________
Relative Time Graph – Student

Worksheet
We are going to see the differences in size of the units we use

to measure one day.
Name ________________________

Worksheet
Method
1. Each small square on the graph paper is two seconds
2. Colour in 1 second in green in the square at the bottom left

corner of the graph paper. What fraction of the square
will it be? _______________________________
3. Label this ‘1 second’.

How many 1 seconds are there in a minute? ___________
Do you think we can fit one minute of seconds into this
graph paper? _________________________
How many squares would we need to fill in for one minute?
___________________________________
4. We shall colour one minute worth of seconds in red

(remember to include the first second).
5. Label this ‘1 minute’.

Did the minute of seconds fit into the graph paper? _____
Is a second larger or smaller than a minute? __________
What fraction of a minute is a second? ______________
How many minutes make an hour? _________________
Do you think you will be able to fill in an hour of seconds
onto this graph paper? Explain your answer.
______________________________________________
Name ________________________

Worksheet
6. Outline a 1 hour block in blue

Guess how many seconds there are in
1 hour.
a. 6 seconds (1/10 minute)
b. 60 seconds (1 minute)
c. 360 seconds (6X60 seconds)
d. 3,600 seconds (60X60
seconds)
Can we fit a day into this graph? __________________
Why do we have a minute hand (and sometimes a second

hand) on clocks and watches?
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
Time Zones – Teacher’s Notes
If students have access to iPads or you have a Smart Board or data

projector with Internet access, visit timeanddate.com and click on the time
zone interactive map.
1. Students may be surprised to see how economics and politics have

created time zones around the world which are not 24 vertical strips
as might be expected. They will see that WA stretches across its
time zone.
2. The International dateline is not a straight line running North to
South but zigzags about to include and exclude national boundaries.
3. Daylight saving affects some countries and not others
4. Western Australia stretches across a whole zone. The west coast of
our state is almost in the next time zone. (this will cause some
problems when they make their sundials as the solar time on the dial
may be different from the zone time).
Traditionally time was calculated as a deviation from GMT, Greenwich Mean

Time. Greenwich lies close to London on the River Thames. It was a great
seafaring center and so time was calculated from a spot near the Royal
Observatory there. You can stand with one foot officially in the Eastern
Hemisphere and the other in the Western Hemisphere. A recent more
Page 92
Time Zones – Teacher’s Notes
accurate estimation involves not only solar observations but also atomic
clocks spaced round the globe. This is known as UTC or Coordinated
Universal Time (in the original French Temps Universal Coordonné) UTC
times can be seen across the base of the map and can be used to estimate
time differences around the world. If students know the location of a city
on the map, they can click on the red dot to check their answer. If not they
or you can type the location into the space above the map.
If it is noon (12 am) at Greenwich, what time is it in:
Perth WA (or their own town) 12 + 8 = 20h or 8pm
Adelaide SA 12 + 9 = 21h or 9pm
Sydney NSW 12 + 11 = 23h or 11pm
Washington USA 12 – 5 = 7h or 7am
Students may be encouraged to name the nearest city close to where

relatives may be. They can then count the difference in time between
where they live and where their relatives live.
If your granny lives in Rome in Italy, is this a good time to call her on the
telephone from school? Usually not as it is too early in the morning!
Page 93
Solar & Sidereal Day – Teacher’s Notes
We say that it takes 1 day for the Earth to rotate so that the Sun appears
in the same spot in the sky. We also say that 1 day is always broken into 24
hours of even length. This is known as a SOLAR DAY.
BUT
In reality, the Earth does not travel in a circle round the Sun. It travels in
an elliptical orbit at different speeds affected by the Sun’s gravity. The
average day length in this case is 23.93 hours because some “days” are
longer than others. If we want one year to mean one complete revolution of
the Earth round the Sun so that it will appear in exactly the same spot in
the sky, we have to add about 4 minutes to every year.
Solar day = Sidereal day + 4seconds
Student Demonstration
Materials
• 1 teacher to model the Sun
• 1 student to model the Earth
Method
1. The teacher is the Sun (of course!) shining their light all around.
2. Ask the student to face you. It is noon or midday at Point A of the
Earth’s yearly revolution of the Sun. Every time the student rotates
to indicate one day they should be facing the same way. Sometimes it
is a good idea to ask them to pick a spot behind you in the classroom
and make sure they end up facing that spot.
3. Ask the student to complete one rotation on their axis to indicate
one day. They will be facing you. It is noon.
Page 94
4. Ask the student to continue rotating on their axis but make a

quarter revolution of you to Point B. By the time they are a quarter
of the way round they will find that at the point that was “noon” they
are no longer facing you but are 90o turned away from you. (one
quarter of a revolution). It will take them a quarter more of a
revolution’s to be facing you for “noon”. These days will be longer.
5. Half way along their revolution
POINT A
Facing Sun at noon
At these points students need 1/4 turn to face Sun
POINT D POINT B
POINT C
Facing away from the

Sun (midnight)
AND
Because the Earth is a slightly flattened sphere, the speed of rotation at
the equator has to be very much faster than at the poles. We hurtle round
Page 95
our axis at hundreds of kilometers in one day. Why do we not get spun off
at this great speed? That is because the “spin off” force is only one three
thousandths as strong as the much greater force of gravity.
Page 96
Investigating Shadows – Teacher’s Notes
The following activities are best done outside but some can also be done in
a classroom if the weather is inclement. Reducing the number of light
sources in the room will make shadows more apparent. Students will be
investigating their own shadows.
Materials
• Sunny day
• Chalk
• Ruler
• Hard smooth surface such as concrete and an uneven surface such as
grass or brick.
• A brush or hose to remove chalk marks
• Ruler
Observations
In Science we observe and (where possible) measure.
Find a partner and find out if:
1. Tall people always have longer shadows than small people? Only if
they stand together at the same spot and the same time. If the tall
person stands farther away from the light source their shadow will
become smaller.
2. Your shadows always lie in the one direction? At the same time in the
same place – Yes. Your shadow will swing around your feet
progressively during the day.
3. You can cross your shadow with your partner. Impossible unless you
use different light sources.
4. You can step away from your shadow. Not possible without some
obstruction (something else could block the lower part of their
shadow)
Page 97
Investigating Shadows – Teacher’s Notes
5. With the sun or a light at your back, find a way to change the shape
of your shadow. Change your bodies orientation to the light or
change the shape of your body.
6. Can you play shadow tag? No, unless you stand in line with the sun or
light source directly behind you.
List the ways your shadow are the same as you and different to you.
Same Different
More or less the same shape if you Only occur when there is strong
stand square on to the light. light source
Your shadow moves when you move Multiple light sources give multiple
and stops when you stop. shadows from one person
Your shadow moves in the same Your shadow is a different length to
direction as you do (unless there is you.
another light source) If you turn sideways your shadow
changes shape.
Discuss:
Does your shadow remain if the light goes out? No. Light is needed to
create a shadow.
Will a red torch cast a red shadow? No
Will a red balloon cast a red shadow? No
Will a red light give a red balloon a red shadow? No
Do the edges of a shadow become crisper or fuzzier with distance from
light source? Fuzzier (because some light will bend).
Why can you have multiple shadows in the classroom but only one outside?
Inside a classroom there are many lights causing many shadows. Outside
the sun casts shadows.
Page 98
Name ________________________
Investigating Shadows – Student

Worksheet
In Science we observe and (where possible) measure.
Find a partner and find out if:
1. Tall people always have longer shadows than small people?
______________________________________________
2. Your shadows always lie in the one direction?
______________________________________________
3. You can cross your shadows with your partner.
______________________________________________
4. You can step away from your shadow.
______________________________________________
5. With the sun or a light at your back, find a way to change

the shape of your shadow.
______________________________________________
Name ________________________

Worksheet
6. Can you play shadow tag?
________________________________________________
List the ways your shadow are the same as you and different to
you.
Same (Compare) Different (Contrast)
Discuss:
Does your shadow remain if the light goes out.
Will a red torch cast a red shadow?
Will a red balloon cast a red shadow?
Will a red light give a red balloon a red shadow?
Name ________________________

Worksheet
Do the edges of a shadow become crisper or fuzzier with

distance from light source?
Why can you have multiple shadows in the classroom but only one
outside?
Shadow Graph – Teacher’s Notes
For this activity, students, in pairs go outside and measure the height of
each other’s shadow an hour apart. They need to be standing on exactly the
same spot facing south every time. South can be found using an App, a
compass or map of the school. They enter their own data in the table
provided and draw a bar or column graph of the results.
Precision and accuracy

You may wish to discuss with students the degree of accuracy, which would
make the data acceptable. Using a standard ruler, students can only
accurately measure to millimeters. Although in secondary school they are
encouraged to measure to two decimal places, this equipment is limiting.
In the third column students can comment on anything else that they
notice about their shadow.
Materials
• Worksheet
• Ruler or measuring tape
• Pen or pencil
Why can’t you measure the length of your own shadow? Because the
moment you move down to measure it, it changes shape.
Note: If climate or class members make measurements difficult, the data

below can be used. (The average height for a Year 3 student is 127mm)
Page 102
Observations
Time Length in mm Comment
8.30am 130 The shadow is to my right and is longer than
my height
9.30am 125 The shadow is becoming shorter and seems
to be moving to my left (towards the south)
10.30am 115 The shadow has become even shorter
11.30am 105 The shadow lies directly in front of me (due

south)
12.30pm 114 The shadow is becoming longer and is moving
towards the east.
1.30pm 124 The shadow continues to lengthen and turn
east
2.30 pm 130 The shadow is longer than me and is further
to the east
If measurements are scaled by 1/10 then the bars can fit into the graph
sheet. Provided.
Extension
Students might wish to use this diagram to display both the change in
length and direction of the shadow. A suitably scaled line could be drawn on
the appropriate ray.
Please Note:The shadow moves anticlockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
Page 103
Page 104
Name ________________________
Shadow Graph – Student

Worksheet
Today you will be working with a partner to measure your

shadows.
Why can’t you measure the length of your own shadow?
Time Length in mm Comment

Name ________________________
Shadow Graph – Student

Worksheet
Title of graph ________________________________________

Shadows & Art – Teacher’s Notes
Silhouettes (shadow profiles) were very popular before photographs were

invented. This drawing shows a frame
used by professional silhouette artists.
The head is magnified because it is
some distance from the light source but
close to the frame.
White paper stuck on a wall and a
strong desk light or torch for
illumination can produce a good
silhouette. Someone else traces the
profile of the sitter in pencil. The silhouette is then cut out and placed on a
backing card of a different colour. Traditionally the head is a darker tone
than the background. Students can mount these as a display and challenge
others to guess which silhouette represents whom.
The Brocken specter is caused by a climber’s magnified shadow falling on

low-lying clouds. It is often surrounded by a rainbow effect and is deeply
scary! It only happens when the person is illuminated from behind. It
appears to stalk the viewer.
Whiteout occurs when snowfall, dust or fog diffuses light and there are no
shadows. The horizon disappears from view. Depth and distance are
impossible to estimate. In Canada people have been lost in their back
gardens and had to literally feel their way to their own back door. In
Europe climbers have walked off cliffs. Most people settle down and wait
until it passes. This has caused some traffic accidents on motorways when
cars have crashed into those already halted.
In Australia this used to happen during dust storms.
Page 107
Nodal Sundial – Teacher’s Notes
Ancient people noticed that shadows thrown by the Sun moved in

regular and predictable ways. They used this to make sundials.
Almost noon at midsummer
The nodal sundial measures 12 solar hours of different lengths. It was used
for general timekeeping and for religious ceremonies. We shall be
experimenting to find out how accurate it is.
Common Misconceptions
A. Sundials show the movement of shadows cast by the sun clockwise.
This only happens in the northern hemisphere. Shadow movement
south of the equator is anticlockwise. The word clockwise was coined
in the northern hemisphere because movement of the clock’s hands
are the same as the movement of shadows on a sundial
B. There is a common misconception that stele (needles of rock) such as
Cleopatra’s needle originally from the banks of the Nile River in
Egypt were used to estimate time. They were usually only memorial
rocks. Although the Solarium Augusti in Rome may have functioned to
tell the time as well as celebrating the birthday of Caesar Augustus.
Page 108
Materials
• This worksheet
• A blob of Blu-Tack, plasticine or play dough
• A pencil (nodus) and ruler
• A magnetic compass, phone compass app or school map
• Classroom clock, watch or mobile phone clock
Method
1. Select a dry sunny day if possible. (If unfortunately this activity has
to be done when it is raining or overcast then you will need a strong
torch. Once the dial has been drawn and nodus attached, switch off
classroom lights and arc the torch over the dial in an east to west
direction).
2. With pencil and ruler draw a straight line between 0 and 180 on the
paper protractor on your worksheet. This line must always lie east to
west.
The ancient people used 12 hours in one day so we need to divide the paper
into 12 parts of equal size. Night and day were considered antagonistic.
3. Start at zero and measure in units of 15 degrees. Look clockwise

round the circle until you see 15 and then join that point to the cross
in the middle of the base. You will have made the first section.
4. For every section you will need to add another 15 until you reach 180.
Draw lines from these numbers to the cross.
Q What numbers will we need to use? 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105,
120, 135, 150, 165 then 180.
Page 109
5. Mark these on the worksheet and draw in the sections from the
number to the central cross using a pencil and ruler. This is easiest if
a “step by step” instruction process is used. These mark where solar
hours should fall on the sundial if they were of equal length. (They
are not).
6. Using Blu-Tack or plasticine set your pencil upright on the cross.
7. Take your sundial outside, align the horizontal line east to west. If
you are using a magnetic compass it needs to be kept away from
metal and power lines. Phone apps use satellite information not
magnetism. Most school maps have “North” at the top. Mark where
the shadow falls on each standard (UTC) hour.
Horus was God of the Sky in Ancient Egypt. The pharaoh represented him
in life.
Page 110
Q How accurate is your sundial? It is not very accurate because solar hours
vary in length.
This Assyrian king needs a nodal sundial. What things

would he use it for?
Setting times for:
Organising religious and social control.
Meetings, meals, working hours, prayers, religious
activities,
ceremonies, changing of guard
Brain Strain
In Western Australia in February, daylight lasts 131/2

standard hours.
In summer will Ancient Egyptian solar hours be longer or

shorter than our standard hours?
Egyptian solar hours will be longer because they only had twelve. At that
time of year there was a longer period of daylight to be divided into 12. In
winter when there is less than 12 standard hours of daylight then the
reverse would apply
Why do you think that modern people need a more accurate measure of
time than the solar hour? Any reasonable answer that involves organising
many more people to work. How could you organise education for 300
students and 25 teachers together if they all arrived and left at different
times? Advanced technologies require more accuracy to get a good result.
Page 111
Name four things in your home that tell the time. Clocks, watches, mobile
phones, laptops, televisions, fridges, microwaves and cookers.
Page 112
Name ________________________
Nodal Sundial – Student

Worksheet
Nodal sundials show solar

hours.
Ancient Egyptians and Assyrians divided the daylight into 12

solar hours of equal length. We will divide the protractor above
into 12 equal sections of 15 “degrees” or units radiating from the
cross.
Name ________________________

Worksheet
What numbers will we need to use? _____________________
________________________________________________
Mark these on the worksheet and draw in the sections from the
number to the central cross using a pencil and ruler.
Using Blu-Tack or plasticine set your pencil

upright on the cross.
Take your sundial outside, align the horizontal

line east to west (your teacher will help you)
and mark where the shadow falls on each hour.
Horus was God of the Sky in Ancient Egypt.

The pharaoh represented him in life.
Q How accurate is your sundial?
______________________________________________
Name ________________________

Worksheet
This Assyrian king needs a nodal sundial. What

things would he use it for?
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Brain Strain
In Western Australia in February, daylight

lasts 131/2 standard hours.
Will Ancient Egyptian solar hours be longer or

shorter than our standard hours?
Egyptian solar hours will be ___________________________
because _________________________________________.
Name ________________________

Worksheet
Why do you think that modern people need a more accurate

measure of time than the solar hour?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Name four things in your home which tell the time
1. ____________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________
T Bar Sundial – Teacher’s Notes
Solar hours are estimated by dividing daylight by twelve.
Paintings of T bar sundials were

found on tomb walls in the
pyramids. They were made of
wood, would have been
inexpensive to make and light
enough to carry about on
worksites. They were used by
Egyptian work overseers to
measure out the working hours
of slaves and peasants. Hours
were marked by holes drilled on
the position of the shadow on the long arm. Only six marks were necessary
as at midday when the sun was overhead, there was no shadow. The sundial
was reversed at midday to measure the shadow as it moved over to the
other side. These measured twelve solar hours which are of different
lengths at different times of the year.
A copy can be made of cardboard or thick paper. A ruler makes a good

pattern for the long arm.
Materials
• A ruler and pencil
• Cardboard (old boxes are great)
• Scissors
• Masking tape or sticky tape
• Pencil or chalk
• A magnetic compass, mobile phone compass app or a school map to
estimate an east to west direction.
Page 117
Method
1. Use your ruler to outline a strip of card about 20cm long and cut it
out.
2. Cut out a 5cm square of cardboard and stick it onto the end of the
strip so that it covers the last 5cm of the strip.
3. Then fold it at right angles to a T shape so it looks like the
photograph above.
4. Set it with the T running east to west.
5. Using a standard clock mark the hourly divisions along the long arm
What is a solar hour? One twelfth of daylight on that day

What does your sundial measure? The movement of a shadow along the bar
What are the advantages of this over the stone or clay nodal sundial? It is
easier and cheaper to make and is easier to carry around
What is the smallest fraction of one hour that you can measure accurately
using this? Early in the day and late at night you can measure quarter hours
but near noon only half hours because the hour marks are so close
together.
Extra for experts

On sailing ships fresh water was kept in wooden casks and often drinking it
could be a health hazard. In Royal Navy ships captains had casks of rum for
drinking. The officers drank tots neat and the sailors had watered rum.
The addition of alcohol made the water safer to drink.
Using what we have just learned, why would sea captains wait until the sun
was over the topmost yardarm to break out the rum ration and let the
sailors stand easy on deck? The ship’s yardarm was used like the T bar to
tell the time. On the North Atlantic in summer the sun would “cross” over
this at about 11am when half the working day was already over. This way, if
the sailors became drunk and difficult to handle they would only have to be
Page 118
controlled until dark when everything quieted down. “Oh what shall we do
with the drunken sailor?”
Topmost
yardarm
Yardarms are
horizontal spars
from which sails
are set
Students may know the sea shanty “What shall we do with the drunken
sailor”. It was used to keep sailors pulling or walking ropes in unison.
Chorus: Hoorah! And up she rises [three times, appears before each verse]
Early in the morning.
What shall we do with a drunken sailor? [three times]
Put him in the long-boat and make him bail her.
What shall we do with a drunken soldier?
Put him in the guardroom till he gets sober.
Page 119
Name ________________________
T Bar Sundial – Student

Worksheet
Solar hours are estimated by dividing daylight by twelve.
Paintings of T bar sundials were

found on tomb walls in the
pyramids. They were made of
wood, would have been
inexpensive to make and light
enough to carry about.
Draw your T bar solar measuring

stick below to half scale when you have finished working with it.
What is a solar hour? _______________________________
What does your sundial measure? _______________________
________________________________________________
Name ________________________

Worksheet
What are the advantages of this over the stone or clay nodal
sundial?
________________________________________________
What is the smallest fraction of one hour that you can measure
accurately using this?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Extra for experts

On sailing ships fresh water was kept in wooden casks and often
drinking it could be a health hazard. In Royal Navy ships captains
had casks of rum for drinking. The officers drank tots neat and
the sailors had watered rum. The addition of alcohol made the
water safer to drink.
Using what we have just learned, why would sea captains wait
until the sun was over the topmost yardarm to break out the rum
ration and let the sailors stand easy on deck?
Name ________________________

Worksheet
Topmost
yardarm
Yardarms are
horizontal spars
from which sails
are set
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Gnomon Sundial – Teacher’s Notes
GNOMON
(shadow maker)
Angle of latitude in blue
Time read at point of

shadow
Arab philosophers of 9th and 10th centuries were amongst the first
advanced scientists and mathematicians in Europe. They discovered that
using a gnomon, a triangular shadow maker, would indicate hours of exactly
the same length of standard time, no matter what time of year it was. The
angle between its base and top has to be the same as the latitude of the
location in which it is used. This is because when it points south it lies
parallel to the Earth’s axis of rotation.
These became very popular in Renaissance times in Europe and the concept
of a single standard hour made scientific measurements more reliable.
Some sundials were placed on walls.
Sundials were often ornate and had mottos such as:

• Tempus fugit (Time flies – Latin)
• Tak tint o time ere time be tent (Pay attention to time or time will
be lost - Scots)
• Let others tell of storms and showers. I only tell of sunny hours
(Anon)
Page 123
Materials
• Worksheet for sundial base
• Spare paper for gnomon
• Protractor
• Glue or sticky tape
• Scissors
• Atlas or Internet access to find your
latitude
E.g. Broome 20.3oS
Perth 32oS
Kalgoorlie 30.7oS Sundial base
o
Albany 35 S
• Prepared gnomon (Shadow triangle for your school’s latitude)
To prepare your gnomon
Fold a sheet of paper in half. The fold

will be the top of the gnomon and will
be used to reinforce it.
With the protractor, measure your
school’s latitude (in this case 32oS)
away from the fold then draw that line
about 9cm long.
Draw another line about 1cm below this
to make the flaps that will stick onto
the base in the worksheet.
Leaving the paper folded cut round the outside of the gnomon.
Fold out the flaps to attach to the prepared base in the student
worksheet.
The gnomon should be attached with the fold running down to the north or
origin of the rays on the base
Page 124
Method
1. Before class prepare photocopies of the correct gnomon for your
school.
2. Ask students to cut out the gnomon, fold back the flaps and stick it
onto the base with the fold pointing downwards towards the origin of
the rays in the base.
3. Take the sundial outside and align it so that the gnomon points down
towards the west
4. Read the time
Observations
What time did your sundial read? Dependent on time
What time is it according to your watch, clock or mobile? There will usually
be a difference.
Why is there a difference? The dial tells solar time. Our watches etc. give
standard time according to standard agreed time zones.
Both Perth and Kalgoorlie are in the same time zone but their sundials read
noon at different times. Why would a Kalgoorlie sundial read noon much
earlier than the Perth one? Kalgoorlie lies east of Perth. It faces the Sun
much earlier then Perth. The overhead Sun at noon will happen earlier
there.
Does the moving Sun rise and set? No, The Earth rotates so that
particular places approach the Sun and then roll away from the Sun .
What fractions of a sundial hour can you accurately read? Quarters of a
sundial hour.
One thousand years ago, what would our ancestors have used a sundial for?
To organise people to come together for church services, meals, meetings,
trading times.
To estimate distances when travelling on land or sea.
To organise people to come together at the same time for working parties
Page 125
Extension
Write a short letter to a friend organising a meeting using information
from a sundial
Dear ________________
We must meet at _________________ o’clock to______________
because ______________________________________________
Look on the sundial. Set out when the shadow fall looks like this below.
Student draws a coloured line at the time agreed.

This would be for 5.15pm.
(The shadow moves anticlockwise).
Your good friend ____________
Page 126
Cottesloe Sundial - An advanced gnomon sundial
The Cottesloe sundial was built in 1993. It is based on 18th century sundials
popular in Jaipur in India. The parallel triangular gnomons throw shadows
onto engraved plates which curve on either side of them permitting
accurate time to be read throughout the year. Curved lines are engraved on
the plates permit adjustment to WA standard time.
An Earth Science excursion here permits students to not only visit the
sundial but also to look at ancient and recent fossils on the beach and in
the dunes.
Page 127
Name ________________________
Gnomon Sundials – Student

Worksheet
GNOMON
(shadow maker)
Angle of latitude in blue
Time read at point of

shadow
Arab philosophers of 9th and 10th centuries were amongst the

first advanced scientists and mathematicians in Europe. They
discovered that using a gnomon, a triangular shadow maker,
would indicate hours of exactly the same length of standard
time, no matter what time of year it was.
Sundials were often ornate and had mottos such as:

• Tempus fugit (Time flies – Latin)
• Let others tell of storms and showers. I only tell of sunny
hours (Anon)
To prepare your gnomon

Fold a sheet of paper in half. The fold
will be the top of the gnomon and will
be used to reinforce it.
With the protractor, measure your
Name ________________________

Worksheet
school’s latitude (in this case 32oS) away from the fold then
draw that line about 9cm long.
Draw another line about 1cm below this to make the flaps that
will stick onto the base in the worksheet.
Leaving the paper folded cut round the outside of the gnomon.
Fold out the flaps to attach to the prepared base below.
The gnomon should be attached with the fold running down to
the north or origin of the rays on the base.
The base of the sundial

Name ________________________

Worksheet
Observations
What time did your sundial read? __________________
What time is it according to your watch, clock or mobile?
_______________________________________________
Why is there a difference? __________________________
Both Perth and Kalgoorlie are in the same time zone but their
sundials read noon at different times. Why would a Kalgoorlie
sundial read noon much earlier than the Perth one?
________________________________________________
Does the moving Sun rise and set? _____________________
What fractions of a sundial hour can you accurately read on this

sundial?
________________________________________________
One thousand years ago, what would our ancestors have used a
sundial for?
________________________________________________
Name ________________________

Worksheet
Extension
Write a short letter to a friend organising a meeting using

information from a sundial.
Dear ____________________________________________
We must meet at _________________ o’clock
to______________________________________________
because _________________________________________.
Look on the sundial. Set out when the shadow fall looks like this.
Your good friend ___________________________________

Name ________________________

Worksheet
The Cottesloe Sundial
The Cottesloe sundial was built in 1993. It is based on 18th

century sundials popular in Jaipur in India. The parallel
triangular gnomons throw shadows onto engraved plates which
curve on either side of them permitting accurate time to be
read through the year. Curved lines are engraved on the plates
to permit adjustment to WA standard time.
Name ________________________
Digital and Analogue Time - PPP
In class we have experimented and found that light energy comes from the
Sun and that the Earth spins round on its axis once
every 24 hours so different parts of the globe face
the sun at different times. We made sundials and
found that solar time differs from standard time
because of artificial time zones. We use WST
(Western Standard Time).
Because our modern lifestyle is complex, we have many things that measure
time so that we can boil a 3 minute egg, meet a friend for play at 4 o’clock
and get to school on time.
Please help your student to find four things that tell the time in your home,
what kind of power they need and what they are usually used for.
Analog clock Digital clock
Time Analog or digital Power Use

Name ________________________
Digital and Analogue Time - PPP
What is the time on each clock?
____________ and _______________ and _____________
Can you tell if the clock reading is am or pm?
Important school times
START LUNCH CLOSE
What time does your school start?

What time do you eat lunch?
What time does your school close?
Put these times on the clock faces above.
What is your favourite time at home?

Why?
________________________________________________________
Getting the Right Perspective – Teacher’s Notes
Our sun is the star that lies at the center of our solar system.
The Earth is one of eight planets that orbit the Sun.
The moon is one of many natural satellites that orbit the planets.
Some Cultural Background

Our ancestors used the sun to estimate time during daylight and the phases
of the moon to note the passing of months. Sun and moon were worshipped
as powerful deities. In Western Australia Aboriginal people believed that
the moon was Kidili, who was castrated for attempting to rape the first
women on Earth. The women fled into the sky to become the Pleiades
constellation (Seven sisters). The Celts thought the moon was the goddess
Arianrhod (Silver wheel).
Our solar system formed out of a cloud of nebular dust from an exploded
large star about 4.6 billion years ago. Static electricity first bound these
dust particles into clumps. Gravity then pulled most of them together
towards the center of the swirling disc to form a large ball. The remainder
became the solar disc from which planets, moons, meteorites and asteroids
formed. The rocky planets and asteroid belt circle that sun and further out
lies the gassy planets. They all rotate on their axes and orbit the sun.
The Sun like all stars creates its own energy (heat, light, radioactivity and
other forms of radiation). It is a rotating ball of gas and plasma and it
contains 99.8% of all the mass in the solar system. Its diameter is roughly
109 times that of the Earth and you could fit almost one million Earths
inside it. Because it is gas and plasma, when it rotates the equator spins
faster than the poles and different parts spin at different rates.
The stars we see in the sky lie outside our solar system and some have
their own solar systems of planets rotating round them.
Page 135
The Earth is a rocky planet that orbits round the Sun. It depends on the
Sun for heat and light. It rotates once every 24 hours and orbits the sun
every year. One orbit takes approximately 365.25 rotations. Leap year
adjustments (February 29th) every fourth year, try to make up for the
difference but every so often an extra minute is added or lost to the year
and all clocks are adjusted. Even such small differences build up over time.
We now all use the Gregorian calendar. To keep things in synch, Pope
Gregory ordered that 10 days be dropped from the then Julian calendar.
Peasants revolted because they thought that meant they had lost 10 days
of their lives!
The moon is a natural satellite of the Earth. It was formed about 4.5
billion years ago when a large body possibly the size of Mars crashed into
the Earth re-melting its surface and throwing some material into space to
create the moon. We have evidence of this from differing oxygen isotope
ratios. The moon makes one rotation every month as it makes one orbit of
the Earth. This means that the same side of the moon is always facing
Earth. With the Earth, it also orbits the Sun. Like the Earth it does not
make its own energy but depends on the Sun for heat and light.
Student misconception 1
The Sun and Moon are the same size because they look the same size in the
sky.
The Sun’s diameter is about 400 times greater than the moon’s. It is also
400 times farther away. They only seem the same because of perspective.
As things move away they appear to become smaller. Artists, to give the
impression of depth in two dimensional paintings and drawings, have used
this “trick of the eye”. They call it perspective.
Page 136
This picture was drawn to show a straight road “disappearing” into the
distance.
Does the road really get narrower? No

Do things actually shrink when they move away? No. Distance makes things
appear smaller.
This artist’s trick of making things seem far away by drawing them smaller
is called PERSPECTIVE.
Materials
• Pairs of students.
• A ruler for each pair
• An open space such as the school oval or long corridor
Method
1. Students form two lines with pairs facing each other
2. One student remains on the line and holds a ruler vertically at arms
length. They will measure the apparent height of their partner
Page 137
against the ruler.

3. The other students start walking forwards counting each step.
4. When the walking student appears to be the same height as the ruler
the standing students shouts for them to stop.
5. Exchange roles and re-test.
Take a ruler and a partner out onto the oval. Find out how far away your
partner has to walk until they seem as tall as the ruler.
How many steps did it take? X steps
Exchange roles and re-test. How many steps did your partner take? X steps
Did students appear to grow smaller when they moved away? Yes
Compare your results with those of the class. Did everyone take the same
number of steps? No
Why would this be? You will find that results vary, as students will be of
different heights and have different strides.
The size a person appears is due to their original size and to the distance
from the viewer.
Perspective grid
Use the grid to draw a stick figure getting proportionally smaller to
demonstrate perspective.
(Advertisements for beds and furniture often use small actors to make the
goods seem large and space lavish. Show homes have smaller scale furniture
to make the rooms look big.)
Page 138
Name ________________________
Getting the Right Perspective –

Student Worksheet
An artist drew this to show a straight road “disappearing” into

the distance.
Does the road really get narrower? ___________________
Do things actually shrink when they move away? ____________
Take a ruler and a partner out onto the oval. Find out how far
away your partner has to walk until they seem as tall as the
ruler.
How many steps did it take? __________________________
Exchange roles and re-test. How many steps did your partner
take? ___________________________________________
Did students appear to grow smaller when they moved away?
_______________________________________________
Name ________________________
Getting the Right Perspective –

Student Worksheet
Compare your results with those of the class. Did everyone take
the same number of steps? Explain your answer.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
This apparent decrease in size with distance is known as

perspective. This grid helps keep drawings in correct proportion.
Use the grid to make a person appear to move into the distance.
Start by drawing a stick figure in the largest rectangle and
repeat three times into three inner rectangles.
Modelling to Scale – Teacher’s Notes
A scale model is a copy that keeps the proportions but not the size of the
original. The scale is the number of times the copy has to be magnified or
reduced to be equal to the original.
Original Scale 1:2 Scale 1:3 Scale 1:?

What is the scale of the drawing on the right? 1/4
It is difficult to make an accurately scaled model of Earth, Sun and moon

because the sun is very, very large in comparison to the Earth and moon.
The diameter of the sun is almost 109 times bigger than the diameter of
the Earth. Draw the Earth on the same (1;1) scale as the sun. The blue line
is the diameter of the sun. Students could make a very, very tiny dot with a
very sharp pencil on the right side of the table on the next page.
Page 141
Modelling to Scale – Teacher’s Notes
Sun Earth
If you drew the Earth as a circle with a diameter of 1cm, what size would
the diameter of the sun be? 109cm.
Guess how many sheets of A4 paper you would need to stick together to
draw the Sun at this scale? 20. You would need to stick together a block of
4 sheets by 5 sheets.
There is an excellent Prezi presentation, which will convince your students

of the scaling problems at:
Prezi.com/hmx8hma62m2z/scale-model-of-earthsunmoon/
Some data
Diameter of Sun 1.392 million km (You could fit almost 109
Earths inside it)
Distance of Sun to Earth 150 million km (107 Earth diameters)
Diameter of Earth 12,742 km
Diameter of Moon 3,476 km
Distance of Earth to Moon 384,400 km (30 Earth diameters)
Space shuttle orbit 350km (it can’t fly to the moon but is
already in space)
Page 142
Name ________________________
Modelling to Scale – Student

Worksheet
A scale model is a copy that keeps the proportions but not the
size of the original. What is the scale of the drawing in the right
column?
Original 1:1 Scale 1:2 Scale 1:3 Scale 1:___
It is difficult to make an accurately scaled model of Earth, Sun

and Moon because the Sun is very, very large in comparison to
the Earth and Moon. The diameter of the Sun (the blue line
across the sun) is almost 109 times bigger than the diameter of
the Earth. Draw the Earth to the same scale on the right.
Sun Earth
Name ________________________
Modelling to Scale – Student

Worksheet
If you drew the Earth as a circle with a diameter of 1cm, what

size would the diameter of the sun have to be? _____________
Guess how many sheets of A4 paper you would need to stick

together to draw the Sun at this scale?
_______________________________________________
Why can’t we make this model to scale? __________________
________________________________________________
This model will however display how the moon moves round the
Earth and the Earth and Moon move round the Sun.
Rotation and Orbit Models – Teacher’s Notes
Student Misconception 2 - Rotation and revolution are the same

It is often easier to use rotation for turning or spinning about an axis and
orbiting for taking a path around a sun or planet. Roughly the Earth rotates
on its axis once every day and orbits the sun once every year. The moon
rotates once every 28 days and orbits the Earth every 28 days. In each
case the smaller object orbits round the nearest larger object.
Rotation and Orbit Model (Not to scale)

Student Activity or Teacher Demonstration
Materials per group

• Three sheets of coloured paper or card. Alternatively paint the
paper after it has been cut.
• Pen
• Scissors
• Three split pins
• A nail or pin to pierce paper
Method
Page 145
1. One student traces and then cuts out the largest circle possible
from one sheet of paper or card. I found a side plate (from the
staffroom) made a good-sized circle for A4 paper. This circle
represents our Sun. They then cut a long thin strip from what
remains.
2. The second student cuts out a much smaller circle (using a cup) from
another coloured sheet to represent the Earth, our planet.
3. The third student cuts a very small circle of another colour to
represent the Moon. They also cut a strip that will permit the moon
to circle the Earth and not touch the sun.
Why can’t we make this model to scale? If we tried to make this to scale
we would require a great deal of cardboard and it would need to cover a
very large area.
This model will however display the relative movements of the sun, Earth
and Moon.
Earth and Moon

4. Start by making holes at the center of your Earth and Moon and join
the short strip to the centers of the Earth and Moon with split pins.
5. Rotate the Earth, once for every day and orbit the moon round it so
that one orbit takes 28 days.
6. As the Moon orbits, rotate it on its axis. Its rotation takes just as
long as it takes to orbit round the Earth. That is the reason that the
same side of the moon is always facing Earth.
Earth, Sun and Moon

7. Now join the Earth to the Sun with the longer strip and split pins
8. The Earth orbits round the Sun every 365 days.
The Sun is so big it could not travel between the Earth and the moon.
Page 146
Our solar system is whirling round the center of the Milky Way galaxy
which itself is travelling round a galactic central point. Nothing is
stationary.
Orbit and Rotation Using Students as Models
This activity is only recommended for students who follow directions in an

orderly manner or a single group of three chosen students can be used to
demonstrate first to minimise disruption. I have never managed more than
four “months” without students collapsing in fits of giggles or being “spun
out”. If it is performed at the beginning of the session, recovery time
needs to be factored in.
Group students into threes in an open space. One represents the Sun,
another the Earth and the third the Moon. You may have to count the days
loudly to keep all students acting together.
1. Moon rotates once as it orbits round the Earth in 28 days

(1 lunar month on Earth)
The Earth has to evenly rotate 28 times as the Moon makes one complete
rotation. The moon must slowly turn to complete one rotation as it makes
one orbit of the Earth. Students should be able to see that the Moon
always keeps its face towards the Earth.
2. Earth rotates 365 times as it orbits round the Sun. The Sun
rotates on its axis while that happens
One student is nominated as the sun. They rotate on the spot. (Of course
different parts of the sun move round at different speeds however even
the wobbliest or flexible student would soon get in a twist if they tried
that). I have once used a student with a hula-hoop to represent the
differences in movement of the sun’s surface as it rotates.
Page 147
If the student who represents the Earth takes one step sideways during
each revolution, that can represent 1 day’s orbital movement round the sun.
3. Getting all the moving parts/people working together.

Start the Earth rotating, then the Moon orbits the Earth making one
rotation per lunar month. Finally start the Earth and Moon on their trip
round the Sun with the Moon orbiting the Earth and the Earth orbiting the
Sun. All three rotate on their axes.
This pattern of wheels within wheels is the reason that Newton
and other early scientists referred to the Judeo-Christian God
as “The divine watchmaker” because interlocking rotating cogs
worked inside old watches. Some tried to make machines that
copied this movement but very accurate observations were needed to make
the machines accurate.
Interestingly, the colour of the Sun is actually

white. Most people draw or paint it as yellow,
perhaps because it is less painful to glimpse at dawn
and dusk when the greater thickness of atmosphere
it’s light travels through gives it a yellowish red
tinge.
Page 148
Worship the Sun – Teacher’s Notes
In ancient times (our ancestors worshipped the

Sun and the Moon. The Egyptian pharaohs’ were
said to be the Sun made flesh on Earth and they
wore a solar disc in their headdress to signify
this. Their Sun god was called Ra and was said to
have brought the Earth to life by speaking the
names of all living things. Ancient Egyptians
noticed that as the position of the sun changed
so did the seasons and the behaviors of animals
and the life cycles of plants.
The early Celts worshipped the Moon because
they noticed that as the moon changes the behaviors of animals changed.
She was called Arianrhod meaning silver wheel. From Crete to Ireland she
was known as the mother goddess.
For Western Australian Aboriginal people the moon was called Kidili. He was
castrated for trying to rape the first women who escaped into the sky to
become the Pleiadese constellation also known as the seven sisters. Perhaps
Year 3 is a bit early for that story?
Students are asked to make a poster, which will persuade ancient people to
worship either the Sun or the Moon.
(HINT: Use few words and few colours)
Marking key
Title is clear and bold 1 mark
Major image/picture is eye catching 2 marks
Reasons for worship (At least 2) 2 marks
On time and named 2 marks
Students may be asked to mark each other’s efforts but overseen by their
teacher.
Page 149
Name ________________________
Worship the Sun – Student

Worksheet
Worship the sun or it will be

forever night!
In ancient times (our ancestors

worshipped the Sun and the
Moon. The Egyptian pharaohs’ were said to be the
Sun made flesh on Earth and they wore a solar disc in
their headdress to signify this. Their Sun god was
called Ra and was said to have brought the Earth to
life by speaking the names of all living things. Ancient
Egyptians noticed that as the position of the Sun changed so did
the seasons and the behaviors of animals and the life cycles of
plants.
You are asked to make a poster, which would have persuaded

ancient people to worship either the Sun or the Moon.
(HINT Use few words and few colours)
Marking key
Title is clear and bold 1 mark
Major image/picture is eye catching 2 marks
Reasons for worship (At least 2) 2 marks
On time and named 2 marks

Year 3 Earth'S Rotation: Australian Curriculum Earth Science Activities With Links To Other Subjects

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Year 3 Earth'S Rotation: Australian Curriculum Earth Science Activities With Links To Other Subjects

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

YEAR 3

Australian Curriculum Earth Science activities

with links to other subjects.

The Primary Australian Literacy Mathematics & Science (PALMS) Program

Earth’s rotation on its axis causes regular changes,

Topic Topic Activities Student Subjects Page

Topic Topic Activities Student Subjects Page

Topic Topic Activities Student Subjects Page

Topic Topic Activities Student Subjects Page

Rotation and Science + HASS 145

Earth & Space Science

Pose questions using past sources

It is important that students know never to stare into the

Standing at your desk or at the front while holding

Q Did the light cause a change? YES

Apart from light produced by chemosynthetic organisms found near black

A negative of parsley seeds, a key and a pair of scissors

A pleasant introduction to sunlight as energy can be done by using light

What do you think they were? Write down your guesses.

What had caused the change? Being in light (exposed to light).

Why do most plants need sunlight? To make food (photosynthesise)

Why are indoor plants usually placed in front of

See they are in sunlight (during the day).

PREDICT What do you think would happen if the

The plants would die.

Answers will vary. May include things fading etc.

Light Print Paper – Student Worksheet

Light is energy. We know this because it can change things.

What do you think they were? Write down your guesses.

What had changed? ________________________________

Light Print Paper – Student Worksheet

What had caused the change? _______________________

Why do most plants need sunlight? ______________________

Why are indoor plants usually placed in

PREDICT What do you think would happen if the plants were

Science tries to explain the causes of change. It relies on a structured

Materials per student or group

Method (See picture for more information)

2. Write “CONTROL” at the top on one side and on the other

Was this a fair test? YES!

Sun Changed Paper – Student Worksheet

Sunlight can change some paper

C Change one thing CMS

Sun Changed Paper – Student Worksheet

Are all pieces of paper the Same Size? _______________

Sun Changed Paper – Student Worksheet

What was the ONE thing we MEASURED? _______________

Did everything else Stay the Same? ___________________

Was this a fair test? ___________________________

Would it have been easy to measure a change without comparing

Why is it a good idea to hang out your clothes overnight if you

What have we learned by this experiment? ________________

This investigation could be done as part of PALMS parent

Evidence from home that sunlight changes things (including people)

• Glare from sunlight removed by sunglasses. Area of skin around eyes

Think Ink - PPP

Think Ink - Palms Parent Power!

Think Ink - PPP

coloured ink being tested by half being exposed to the sun.

This is also a great time to consider if you have any other

The sun emits a broad range of energies we call the electromagnetic

Fireworks glasses or refraction glasses can be cheaply bought from OZ 3D

R O Y__

G B I__