Vita
About
Research
Select Press
Publications
Professional Presentations
Astro Enrichment
Invited Public Lectures
Teaching
Contact
Home
|
I have developed and given talks about the Sun and why we have daily
(day/night) and yearly (fall, winter, summer, spring) cycles. You can
read a short description below. The scope and content of these talks
can be adjusted for elementary school (K-5), middle school, high school,
and adult audiences.
Contact me
if you are interested in this or other astronomy talks.
The Sun, night and day, and the reasons for the seasons
Elementary school (K-2):
In this talk the students will learn what it means to be an astronomer,
what we do, why we need telescopes, and why we build the telescopes on
remote mountaintops. They will learn which star is the closest to us, the
Sun, and where in the sky they see the Sun at different times in the day.
They will learn why the Sun moves across the sky during the day and why
we have day and night and sunrise and sunset. The will also learn about
the size of the Sun compared to the Earth, and how far away and hot the
Sun is.
Select slides from the talk:

Elementary school (grades 3-5):
The grade 3 through 5 students will learn everything the K-2 students did.
They will also learn about the tilt of the Earth's North-South axis and the
Earth's 1-year journey around the Sun. They will learn why this tilt and the
yearly motion of the Earth around the Sun causes seasons (spring, summer,
fall, and winter) - opposite in the Northern and Southern hemisphere. I will
also explain to the grade 3-5 students how and when the Sun and the planets
formed.
Select slides from the grades 3-5 talk:

|