Building Blocks of Science® 3D: Sky Watchers (©2019) 3-Use Unit Kit with Literacy Set

Grade 1. In 5 lessons spanning 14 class sessions, the Building Blocks of Science® 3D unit Sky Watchers provides multiple strategies for teaching earth and space science topics. Building Blocks of Science® 3D lessons are structured in 30-minute class sessions, making it easy to fit science into your day. The Sky Watchers 3-Use Unit Kit with Literacy Set includes a teacher's guide (item #514142), 18 on-grade student readers (item #514103), 6 below-grade student readers (item #514103BGR), a license for the teacher and students to access online digital resources, and enough supplies and apparatus to teach the unit 3 times to a class of up to 24 students.

Along with hands-on learning, this Building Blocks of Science® 3D unit also provides digital resources to enhance the classroom experience. These components offer an additional method of delivering content, particularly for classrooms with consistent access to computers or tablets. Digital components include digital teacher's guide, simulations, digital literacy reader, interactive whiteboard activities, interactive student investigation sheets, and assessment. All digital resources for Building Blocks of Science® 3D are accessible at CarolinaScienceOnline.com.

Unit Summary
Every day, we go through a daily routine: we get up, go to school or work, come home, and go to bed. Then we repeat it the next day. But do we ever stop to think about the patterns in the sky? Sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, stars, Moon phases—there's so much to observe! In the five lessons in Sky Watchers, students have multiple opportunities to make observations of patterns in the sky and connect to concepts in earth and space science. Students explore these concepts through investigation, discussion, and problem-solving. Students also practice making predictions, providing evidence and observations, and designing and testing plans.

Next Generation Science Standards*
The Building Blocks of Science® 3D unit Sky Watchers (©2019) integrates process skills as defined by the Next Generation Science Standards.

Performance Expectations

• 1-ESS1-1: Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.
• 1-ESS1-2: Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars
• ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System

Science and Engineering Practices

• Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
• Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Crosscutting Concepts

• Patterns
• Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Common Core State Standards
Language Arts

• L.1.1: Conventions of Standard English
• L.1.2: Conventions of Standard English
• L.1.2.B: Conventions of Standard English
• L.1.2.E: Conventions of Standard English
• L.1.4: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
• RF.1.1: Print Concepts
• RF.1.2: Phonological Awareness
• RF.1.3: Phonics and Word Recognition
• RF.1.4: Fluency
• SL.1.1: Comprehension and Collaboration
• SL.1.2: Comprehension and Collaboration
• SL.1.3: Comprehension and Collaboration
• SL.1.4: Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
• SL.1.5: Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
• SL.1.6: Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
• W.1.2: Text Type and Purposes
• W.1.5: Production and Distribution of Writing
• W.1.8: Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Mathematics

• 1.MD.A.1: Measure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units.
• 1.MD.B.3: Tell and write time.
• 1.MD.C.4: Represent and interpret data.
• 1.NBT.B.2: Understand place value.
• 1.G.A.3: Reason with shapes and their attributes.

Lesson Summaries
Lesson 1
Lesson 1 begins with a pre-unit assessment in which students share their ideas about objects in the sky. Students then observe shadows to look for patterns in the shadow's position, and they compare how the shadow looks with the position of the Sun throughout the day. A Take-Home Science Activity allows students to track the position of objects in the sky at night over the course of a week; students will bring their data to class and share their observations with their classmates. In the next lesson, students will investigate the relationship between the amount of daylight and the time of year.
Lesson 2
In Lesson 1, students were introduced to objects in the sky. They compared patterns in the daytime sky by looking at shadows and started discussing patterns in the nighttime sky. In this lesson, students will use models to investigate more about Earth's rotation and how it relates to the predictable patterns of daytime and nighttime. In the next lesson, students will compare the amount of daylight at different times of year to learn about seasonal patterns.
Lesson 3
In the previous lesson, students used models to investigate Earth's rotation and how it relates to the predictable pattern of daytime and nighttime. In this lesson, students model Earth's revolution around the Sun and discuss seasons. Students plan and carry out an investigation to compare the patterns in the amount of daylight at various times of year. In the next lesson, students will investigate the patterns of the Moon and the Moon’s phases.
Lesson 4
In the previous lesson, students investigated the patterns in the amount of daylight and the seasons. In this lesson, students investigate the patterns of the Moon, its phases, and how the Moon moves relative to Earth and the Sun. In the next lesson, students will apply what they have learned throughout the unit to create a model that describes the relationship between the Sun, the Moon, and Earth.
Lesson 5
In the previous lessons, students learned about objects they can observe in the daytime and nighttime skies, how shadows can be used to observe the Sun's apparent movement across the sky, how the Earth rotates and revolves, and patterns in the Moon's phases as it revolves around Earth. In this final lesson, students use what they have learned throughout the unit to create a model of one of the concepts they have learned and share their model with their classmates. As a post-unit assessment, students revisit their class charts and drawings from Lesson 1 to evaluate what they have learned throughout the unit. A summative assessment requires students to apply concepts from every lesson to answer a series of questions.

*Next Generation Science Standards® is a registered trademark of WestEd. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.