Young Astronomers

Traditionally, I have my 3rd grade students draw pictures of the moon for an entire month.  We usually do this project after learning about the phases of the moon.  This year I had a thought. 
If students completed this project before we talk about the phases of the moon, or at least start the project first, then their inquiry would guide the learning.

While this project gets the students thinking, it seemed to be missing something.  How about a tool?  Let's say the Galileo Telescope?  What if we were to build individual telescopes to view the moon with.  Would my students become more interested in this project?  I had a feeling that they would and I wasn't disappointed. 


North Carolina has adopted the Essential Standards for Science and we will be implementing the next year.  With that change, this unit of study will move from 3rd grade to 4th grade.  I guess my classes will be a step ahead on this topic.  In consideration of this, I am posting the documents that we used on my website.  You can take a look at them here.  Feel free to use them with your own students. 


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