1

PBL 1st

Title: You are my sunshine! Est. Start Date: Duration: 2 weeks
Teacher: Grade Level: 1st
Content Focus: ESS1 Space Systems: Patterns and
Cycles
Other subject areas to be included:
Math, ELA
Project Idea:
Summary of the
issue, challenge,
investigation,
scenario, or
problem
Students will investigate the Earths orbit around the sun, and how this affects
seasonal patterns. They will understand that darkness illuminates celestial bodies.

Essential
Question:
How does the position of the Earth in
relation to sun affect the seasonal
changes?
Driving
Question
Why does your shadow change
throughout the day?

Content and
Skills
Standards to be
addressed:
(CCCSS, NGSS,
Calif.)

Math CCSS
Reason abstractly and quantitatively (MP.2)

Model with mathematics (MP.4)

Use appropriate tools strategically (MP.5)

Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of
adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in
all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations to represent the problem
(1.OA.A.1)

Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer
questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how
many more or less are in one category than in another (1.MD.C.4)

Compare two two-digit numbers based on meanings of the tens and ones digits, recording
the results of comparisons with the symbols <, >, and =. (1.NBT.NO.3)


ELA/Literacy CCSS
Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of how-to
books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions (W1.7)

With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather
information from provided sources to answer a question (W1.8)

Next Generation Science Standards
1-PS4-2. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects in
darkness can be seen only when illuminated.
1-ESS1-1. Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be
predicted

T+A E T+A E

21
st
Century
Skills and MPS

Solve Problems


x

x

Critical Thinking


x

2
to be explicitly taught
and assessed (T+A) or
that will be
encouraged (E) by
Project work but not
taught or assessed:

Collaboration

x

Presentation

x

Presentation Audience

Culminating
Products and
Performances







Group:





Using the individual journals of
students, the class will create a book
that will be displayed in the library. It
could also be online using
www.showme.com.

Here is an example of what a class book can look like
(though this is on the planets)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IChP6YlNwVU


Class

x
School

x
Community

Individual:
Students will create an observation
journal based on all their experiences
during the PBL.
Experts


Web

x
Other:
Project Overview

Entry event
to launch inquiry,
engage students:

Outline or
Conceptual
Flow
Include assessment
points:
(attached at the
bottom of PBL)



















Students will go outside at the beginning of the day and chalk their
shadow on the black top. Next, they will go two more times to see
the differences in placement of their shadows. Discuss their
observations and compare shadows at the different times.
Use activity one at this website
http://stardate.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/teachers/ShadowPlay.
pdf

Questions for Entry event:
What do you notice about the shadow?
Is it in the same place?
Is it the same size? Shorter? Longer?

Why do you think it happened?
What have you noticed about how our shadows change outdoors?
What new things could we do to explore how shadows change?


1. There are observations of the sun, moon and stars that can describe patterns and predictions (ESS1-
1)

A. The sun and moon appear to rise in one part of the sky, then move across the sky, and set.

B. Stars other than our sun are visible at night but not during the day.

C. Assessment of star patterns is limited to stars being seen at night and not during the day.
Assessment Points are attached on Lesson Plans


2. Observations can be made at different times of year, which can be related to the amount of daylight
to the time of year. (ESS1-2)

A. Emphasis on relative comparisons of the amount of daylight in the winter to the amount in the
spring or fall.
B. Assessment is limited to relative amounts of daylight, not quantifying the hours or time of
daylight.
3
Assessment Points are attached on Lesson Plans

Assessments
















Formative
Assessments
(During Project)
Quizzes/Tests X

Journaling/Learning Log X

Preliminary Plans/Outlines

Rough Drafts

Online Tests/Exams


Summative
Assessments
(End of Project)
Written Product(s), with rubric X Other Products

Oral Presentation, with rubric X Peer Evaluation

Multiple Choice/Short Answer
Test
Self-Evaluation

Essay Test Other



Resources
Needed
On-site people, facilities
Teacher, Librarian
Equipment
Document Camera, Projector, Computer, speakers
Materials
yardsticks, Chalk, pre-made journals to write and illustrate, crayons
Community resources
People knowledgeable about the weather (NWS)



Reflection
Methods


(Individual, Group,
and/or Whole Class)
Journal/Learning Log X Focus Group

Whole-class Discussion X Fishbowl Discussion

Survey Other

Project Teaching and Learning Guide

Knowledge and Skills Needed by Students
(to successfully complete culminating projects and to do well on summative assessments)

Student needs to be able to:
Recognize the sun in the sky
Classify the sun as a star
Identify Earth as a planet and our home





Student needs to be able to:
Explain that the sun, moon and stars are
located in outer space
Explain that the sun is a source of energy,
light, and heat
Explain that Earth orbits the sun
Explain why the days are longer in the
summer and shorter in the winter
Student needs to be able to:
Describe how stars can be seen at night but not during the day
Describe the seasonal changes
Describe any unique seasonal differences that are
characteristic of their own locality (change of color and
dropping of leaves in the autumn; snow or ice in
winter; increased rain and/or flooding in spring)

Student needs to be able to:
Identify the following units of time and their
relationship to one another: day, week, month, year



4

PBL Assessment Piece (per Unit):

1. There are observations of the sun, moon and
stars that can describe patterns and predictions
(ESS1-1)

2. Observations can be made at different times of year,
which can be related to the amount of daylight to the time of
year. (ESS1-2)

Students will measure the differences between
their shadow markings and record their findings.
Then they will analyze the data and determine
what changes occurred using their math
computations.

Shadow Play Activities 2 and 3

ACTIVITY TWO
This activity demonstrates the daily motion of
Earth. We perceive
the Sun as rising, crossing the daytime sky, and
setting. It
is actually Earth that moves. To find the proper
direction, place your right hand over your heart
(the position for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance)
and rotate in the direction the fingers point. (As an
extension, walk around the lamp to model Earths
annual motion around the Sun. Dont try to spin
and walk at the same time; it takes 365.25 spins to
make a year!)

ANALYSIS:
What has changed?
Using the link below, teacher will demonstrate to
students the rotation of the earth and the connection
between the earths orbit around the sun and the
seasonal changes. After viewing the link below and the
teachers explanation, students will model (using the
globe and a flashlight) the earths orbit around the sun.

http://mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/mathematics/c
ognitive_levels.html

EL Strategies: Pair share, small groupings, realia,
pictures, posters, vocabulary

Interventions: Strategic grouping, small group work
with teacher or paraprofessional

Formative Assessment: Observational journals;
informal assessments using activity outcomes; math
worksheets
Questions to be Provided by the Project Teacher
(to successfully complete culminating products and to do well on summative assessments)

Teacher asks questions to recall facts, make observations, or
demonstrate understanding:

What did you observe about the patterns between the sun and
the moon?

What else can you tell me about the stars and the sun and how
they are visible at different times of the day or night?

What can you tell me about the different amounts of daylight
during the seasons?

Teacher asks questions to summarize, analyze, organize, or evaluate:

How are the stars and the sun similar/different?
What makes the seasonal changes occur?
How do you know the seasons are changing?




Teacher asks questions to apply or relate:

What observations relate to the changing seasons?
How would you illustrate the different seasons?
What does it mean to rotate?



Teacher asks questions to predict, design, or create:

How would you design a model showing the
relationship between the sun and the moon?

How could you teach/describe the change of the
seasons to someone else?

What would be different today if the Earth didnt
rotate?



5

ACTIVITY THREE
Move the Sun across the sky, from rising in the
east to setting in the west, through a curved path
over the paper.

ANALYSIS:
What changes?

http://stardate.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/teacher
s/ShadowPlay.pdf

EL Strategies: Pair share, small groupings,
realia, pictures, posters, vocabulary

Interventions: Strategic grouping, small group
work with teacher or paraprofessional

Formative Assessment: Observational journal,
including data & results from shadow activity;
informal assessments using activity outcomes