![]() Gravity is not a physical cord of course it is a force, similar to magnetic force.Our model has several difference and similarities to nature – how many can you find? This is another way to help children realize the difference between a scientific model or theory and nature itself. Explore how the cord in our model is similar to gravity – and different from it.With the model in place in the playground, ask the students what the cord between the model Earth and model Moon represents? The cord represents the force of gravity that holds the Moon in orbit of course, but the students may need to be guided to this idea. Is it always exactly the same? Can we see the Moon tip or wobble at all? We will deal with these, and other questions, as we move through this book! Models can help show us where to look for new ideas, and help us form good questions to ask as we continue exploring! Once we see the same side of the Moon always faces us, we begin to ask other questions.Always seeing the same side of the Moon is like that – we’ve all looked at the Moon in the sky hundreds of times, but few people wonder why do we always see the same side? Playing with models can help us understand what is happening, and help us plan new experiments! Sometimes we see something, but we don’t understand how it works. Models can help explain what we see in Nature.The famous scientists James Watson and Frances Crick used models to discover the shape of the DNA molecule – and won a Nobel Prize for their efforts.! Playing with models and exploring what they can tell you about the world around you is powerful science! Working with models is very powerful.What will your students learn about science? The Moon for instance, revolves around the Earth once per month. Revolution occurs when one object orbits around another. Virtually all objects in space spin around their own internal axis for the Earth, this creates the night and day cycle. In general, if the students can stand 5-10 meters (15-30 ft.) away from the model, it will be easier to see what is happening.Īs you can see in the illustration below, rotation occurs when a body such as the Earth spins around an internal axis. ![]() The white half will represent the near side of the Moon, and the darker half represents the Moon’s far side. Hang the moon model from the string (it should look like you are hanging it from the North Pole.) Draw a line where the equator should be and color the southern hemisphere dark grey, and the northern hemisphere white. It may help your students visualize what is going on if you color your moon model before you work with it. You can use either the larger or smaller size model, but this activity generally works better outside using the larger size model We are going to use the Earth and Moon model we built in Activity #3. In keeping with the philosophy of many exposures to achieve mastery, we will return to these ideas again as you work through this book. These early exposures to the ideas of rotation and revolution will be critical for your student’s later success in science. Studies show that we must be exposed to novel concepts several times before we begin to internalize them even more exposure and practice is needed to master a concept. It is not that the concepts are inherently difficult, but I suspect that because we fail to introduce children to them at all, this sets them up to struggle later in life. The concepts of rotation and revolution are often difficult, not just children, but adults often struggle with them.
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