GIZMOs - Student Exploration: Seasons: Earth, Moon, and Sun (Questions and Answers) 100% CORRECT 100% COMPLETE SOLUTIONS DOWNLOAD TO SCORE OUTSTANDING GRADE A

Student Exploration: Seasons: Earth, Moon, and Sun-scored

A+-2022-2023

Vocabulary: altitude, axis, azimuth, equinox, horizon, latitude, revolution, rotation, solstice

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. Suppose you were stranded on a desert island without a calendar or clock. How would you

know when a day, a month, or a year had passed? You can find out what is the time and

date of a year without using a clock or calendar by looking at the sun and moon. You can tell

by looking at the sun, if its in the center of the sky that means its noon time! If the sun is

located on the eastern side of the sky, then its morning and if its in the west that means the

sun is setting and it is night time!

2. How could you tell what time of year it was? You can tell the time of year or month by

looking at the moon, it changes its shape, or amount of light. The moon doesn’t shine by

itself, it reflects the sun light shining on it. That’s how we get light in the dark.

Gizmo Warm-up

Thousands of years ago, people told time by looking at the

sky. You may not think about it, but you probably do this as

well. For example, you know a day has passed when the

Sun rises, it grows light outside, and then Sun sets again.

In the Seasons: Earth, Moon, and Sun Gizmo™, you will

learn how you can relate the passage of time to different

astronomical events.

1. Drag the speed slider all the way to the left. Click Play (

) and observe the SIMULATION pane.

A. What happens? The earth is spinning fast and the

moon is making circles around it, but the sun is

in the center moving slowly. The more it turns,

the more of the moon you see, but when it is

new moon, the less you see.

B. Click on the 2D VIEW tab. What do you see? The sun rises in the east and it becomes

daylight, and it sets in the west which means it is night and this pattern repeats over

and over again.

C. Click on the DAY GRAPH tab. What do you see? As it reaches 7 or 8 the intensity level

rise to about 50 then it drops quickly. That stands for day time, maybe the

temperature it gets when the sun heats up the earth during day time.

D. Click on the SHADOWS tab. What do you see? It turns clockwise; it rises in the east and

sets in the west. That’s a way to tell time without using an actual clock.

Question: What astronomical events coincide with the passage of a day, month, or year?

1. Observe: Click Play. Observe how the position of the red dot in the SIMULATION pane

relates to the cycle of night and day on the 2D VIEW tab.

What astronomical event causes day and night? When the red dot is pointing towards the

sun that means its daytime at place and when its facing away from the sun, it means the

opposite.

Every time Earth finishes one rotation on its axis, a complete cycle of day and night occurs. In the

SIMULATION pane, Earth’s axis is represented by the red line that goes through the center of the

planet.

2. Describe: Months are another unit of time based on an astronomical event. Click Reset, and move

the speed slider to the right a quarter of the way. Click Play, and observe the movements of Earth

and the Moon for one month. (Note: You can use the calendar in the upper right corner of the 2D

VIEW tab to determine when a month has passed.)

A. Describe the movements of Earth and the Moon over the course of a month.

The earth moves faster than the moon and the moon revolves around the earth about 28 times, each

day past the moon revolves around the earth once.

B. What astronomical event corresponds to the passage of one month?

The time the month started the moon was facing towards the sun and away from earth, so

there was no moon at night but as the days went on the moon phases started to change and the

more of the moon showed up.

It takes approximately 28 days for the Moon to revolve around Earth. Revolution is the elliptical

motion of a body traveling around another body in space.

3. Diagram: Click Reset. Move the speed slider all the way to the right. Click Play, and

observe the movement of Earth over the course of one year. In the diagram below, draw

how the position of Earth changes.

A. What astronomical event corresponds to the

passage of 1 year? It takes the earth exactly

one year to revolve around the sun

B. How long does it take Earth to

revolve around the Sun? It takes

the earth 365 days to revolve

Get the Gizmo ready:

Click Reset ( ).

Click on the 2D VIEW tab.

Activity A:

Days, months,

and years

around the sun. But in leap year

it takes 366 every 4 years

n

?

Question: What causes the Sun to appear to move in a path across the sky?

1. Observe: Select the 2D VIEW tab. Click

Play, and watch the apparent motion of

the Sun across the sky. In the diagram at

right, draw an arrow to show the Sun’s

direction and path.

Mark the highest altitude the Sun reaches

with an X. Altitude is the distance an

object appears to be above the horizon.

The horizon is the line along which the sky

and the Earth appear to meet.

2. Make a rule: On the 2D VIEW tab, E stands for east and W stands for west. Knowing this,

you can conclude that the Sun rises in the and sets in the .

3. Analyze: The Sun’s azimuth is the direction of the Sun i

the sky. Azimuth is measured in degrees. Look at the

diagram.

A. What is the Sun’s approximate azimuth when it rises

B. What is the Sun’s approximate azimuth when it sets?

4. Summarize: Select the SHADOWS tab. Click Play, and observe the Azimuth. How does

the Sun’s azimuth change over the course of the day?

5. Describe: Click Reset. Select the 2D VIEW tab. On the SIMULATION pane, the red dot

on Earth represents where the observer who is seeing the scene on the 2D VIEW tab is

standing. Describe the position of the red dot in the SIMULATION pane at midnight.

Get the Gizmo ready:

Click Reset.

Move the speed slider all the way to the left.

Activity B:

Sun’s path

(Activity B continued on next page)