The Massive Movement Project

Essential Questions

·    How do the Earth’s motions affect us each day?

·    How do the Sun, Moon and Earth interact?

·    How do the Sun, Moon and Earth function as a system?

·    How are the movements of the Sun, Moon and Earth apparent on Earth?

Project Overview

Creating Swipe Movies about the movement of the sun, earth and moon

Earth Science Content Standards:

-       Most objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motion.

-       These motions explain such phenomena as the day, the year, seasons, phases of the moon, eclipses, and tides.

-       Gravity influences the motions of celestial objects. The force of gravity between two objects in the universe depends on their masses and the distance between them.

-       Earth rotates on an imaginary axis at a rate of 15 degrees per hour. To people on Earth, this turning of the planet makes it seem as though the Sun, the moon, and the stars are moving around Earth once a day. Rotation provides a basis for our system of local time; meridians of longitude are the basis for time zones.

-       The Foucault pendulum and the Coriolis effect provide evidence of Earth’s rotation.

-       Earth’ changing position with regard to the Sun and the moon has noticeable effects.

-       Earth revolves around the Sun with its rotational axis tilted at 23.5 degrees to a line perpendicular to the plane of its orbit, with the North Pole aligned with Polaris.

-       During Earth’ one-year period of revolution, the tilt of its axis results in changes in the angle of incidence of the Sun’s rays at a given latitude; these changes cause variation in the heating of the surface. This produces seasonal variation in weather.

-       Seasonal changes in the apparent positions of constellations provide evidence of Earth’s revolution.

-       The Sun’s apparent path through the sky varies with latitude and season.