Sun, Moon, and stars
CONCEPTUALUse observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe predictable patterns such as the sun rising and setting, the moon changing shape, and stars appearing at night
Mastery Evidence
- Describe the daily pattern of sunrise and sunset
- Describe the pattern of the moon's shape changing over about a month
- Explain that stars are visible at night and describe any seasonal patterns observed
Assessment Prompt
“Can [child] describe patterns they've noticed in the sky — like the sun rising in the east, the moon changing shape over weeks, and stars coming out at night?”
Curriculum Standards1 alignment
1-ESS1-1Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) K-5codes onlyPrerequisites2
- Naming the PlanetshardAges 5—8
- Why seasons changehardAges 5—7
Show full prerequisite tree
- Naming the Planets hard
Describing predictable patterns of sun, moon, and stars requires planet, star, moon, orbit vocabulary
- Why seasons change hard
Must observe sun/moon/star patterns before relating daylight to time of year
- Naming the Planets soft
Relating daylight length to time of year draws on orbit and solar system vocabulary
- Days, Weeks, Months & Years soft
Observing and describing seasonal changes requires basic date and time vocabulary (months, seasons, year)
- Ordering Events in Time hard
Understanding days/months/years builds on sequencing events chronologically
Unlocks1
- The solar systemhardAges 9—10