Thematic Units - Fun In & With the Sun
Fun In & With the Sun
Find various Sun Web Sites & Activities mixed within each other.
You will also find a collection of general Sun resources a
little further down the page.
At the bottom of the page, you will find Books that you can order directly from Amazon.com!
Web Sites
Sunny & Friends
A site sponsored by the California Energy Network. Fina a video series and hands-on projects for kids to learn about renewable energy, including solar, wind, water and biomass!
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Lesson Plans & Activities
Basic Aspects of Summer Grades Primary
This lesson is planned as a beginning of the school year activity. It will help the students ease into school by letting them relate what they did in the summer to learning facts about summer weather, summer activities, and the sun.
Circles of Light: The Mathematics of Rainbows Grades HS or Teacher Resource
How are rainbows formed? Why do they only occur when the sun is behind the observer? If the sun is low on the horizon, at what angle in the sky should we expect to see a rainbow? This lab helps to answer these and other questions by examining a mathematical model of light passing through a water droplet.
Colors of the Sky Grades Intermediate
As a group, students will examine different pictures of the sky and make conjectures about how the sky's color is being produced in each picture. In small groups, students will recreate the colors of the sky with provided materials, recording observations and results. Considering results and observations, students will be asked to determine why the sky is blue and why sunsets are red. Students will explore concepts of traveling light including how light scatters, travels in waves, and produces different colors based on wavelength and size. Students will be asked to relate learned concepts to real world phenomena.
The Inside Garden Grades K-2
Students will observe the life cycle of plant life as well as the importance of sunlight, water, etc. Students will write their observations in a journal.
Measuring the Diameter of the Sun Grades 9-12
The earth is approximately 150,000,000 km from the sun. This distance varies somewhat with the seasons because of Earth's elliptical orbit. Yet, a simple instrument can be constructed which will provide measurement data that permits a relatively accurate measurement of the sun's diameter.
Solar Energy Experiment Grades 3-8
The purpose of the following experiment is to demonstrate that energy from the sun can be collected and stored in many ways.
Solar Hot Box Grades Intermediate
This lesson is designed to explore different aspects of solar energy. The students have already been exposed to various forms of alternate energy sources and the reasons for their use. The students will build a solar hot box in order to test various colors and materials to find the maximum temperature that can be reached.
SunSmart Grades K-1
In this lesson, students learn how to protect themselves from the dangers of the sun. Although aimed at students living in Australia, this activity can be adapted by teachers worldwide.
Teach Your Students to Be “Sun Savvy” Grades Various
The summer sun offers teachers an important opportunity to talk about sun safety. Many Internet sites carry strong sun safety messages or offer teachers valuable lesson plans for teaching about the science of the sun.
Temperature: Is it Hot or Cold? Grades Primary
This lesson will demonstrate to students how to read thermometers, determining their rise or fall, recording temperatures for a two week period to understand sequence, and taking temperatures of various items for comprehension.
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Books
Coming Soon!
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