Stellarium Lesson Planning

The science activity I will be doing is using Stellarium to have my 6th grade students view the phases of the moon. They will then chart them in the night sky. The lesson will be on the phases of the moon, the rotation of the Moon around the Earth, and the Earth's daily rotation. Students will be assessed on the completion of the Moon Phase Chart and on their journal entries predicting how the rotation of the moon and Earth effect this.

Content:
Standard 1
Students will understand that the appearance of the moon changes in a predictable cycle as it orbits Earth and as Earth rotates on its axis.

Objective 1
Explain patterns of changes in the appearance of the moon as it orbits Earth.
1. Describe changes in the appearance of the moon during a month.
2. Identify the pattern of change in the moon's appearance.
3. Use observable evidence to explain the movement of the moon around Earth in relationship to Earth turning on its axis and the position of the moon changing in the sky.
4. Design an investigation, construct a chart, and collect data depicting the phases of the moon.

Pedagogy:
-Observing: Students will work with Stellarium and to view the changing phases of the moon over a month. They should observe the moon at the same time each day.
-Acquiring and processing data: As they view the moon, they will observe it at the same time each day (can be done in one sitting with Stellarium), and record the shape of the moon and its position in the sky for a month.
-Analyzing data: Students will use the information they have gathered to write a journal entry explaining what they can infer and hypothesize about movement of the moon around Earth in relationship to Earth turning on its axis and the position of the moon changing in the sky.

This pedagogy is a good fit with the content because the children are involved in their learning and will learn more efficiently by discovering these things themselves than by the teacher showing them a chart on an overhead. The pedagogy requires active learning and discovery not passive listening.

Technology:
I will be using Stellarium as my technology tool to teach this 6th grade science lesson.

This is a good fit with the content because it is a tool that lets the children observe the night sky because school is not in session during the night so we can't look at it as a class any other way. It also works well with this content because it is tedious and hard to remember and dependent on weather to chart the moon outside each night for a month and this way it can be done accurately right in the class room.
This is a good fit with the pedagogy because they students will be able to work with the date and time clock to see how the sky changes and see the patterns. Not only will they be observing the moon and the phases, but they can see the rotation during the day to give clues for the final journal writing project and lesson on rotation.