In this unit, students explore various parts of our solar system and universe and discover how these parts work together to create patterns we observe and experience on Earth. The Crosscutting Concepts of Patterns, Systems and System Models, and Scale, Proportion, and Quantity are emphasized in this unit.

The unit starts with students exploring systems, including our solar system. They discover how gravity affects Earth and other objects in our solar system. Then, students explore how movements of the Earth, like rotation and revolution, cause patterns we observe in everyday life, like day and night, a year, the apparent position of the sun in the sky, and the daily changes in length and direction of shadows. Students create models, like sundials, to show these patterns. Next, students explore patterns in the night sky, including moon phases and the seasonal appearance of some stars. Students discover that the apparent brightness of stars, including the sun, is due to stars relative distances from Earth.  

Finally, students think about celebrating their birthday in another location on Earth. Students gather, represent and interpret data about sunrise and sunset times, temperature and time of day in order to write an opinion piece about where they would prefer to spend their birthday – in the St. Louis area or their chosen location. Students explain the patterns in the data based on what they know about Earth’s motion in the universe.