Author:
Utah Lesson Plans
Subject:
Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Level:
Upper Elementary
Tags:
  • EMedia
  • Gale
  • UOL
  • UOL3-5
  • Uollesson
  • Uolscience
  • World Book Encyclopedia
  • worldbook
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Text/HTML

    Our Marvelous Sun

    Our Marvelous Sun

    Overview

    This resource is a Science student activity that utilizes Utah's Online Library resources - specifically, Gale's Kids InfoBits, World Book Encyclopedia, and eMedia - to help students learn about the sun.

    About Utah's Online Library

    Utah's Online Library provides Utah educators and students free access to high-quality reference collections such as EBSCO, Gale Reference Collection, World Book, eMedia, and LearningExpress Library.

    This activity was designed to help educators utilize this amazing resource in their classrooms.

    Note: Utah educators and students visiting Utah's Online Library from a school computer should be automatically authenticated. When at home, students must use the home access login that their teacher or school media specialist can provide. Utah educators can use either their my.uen login or the home access login.

    Activity

    Essential Question: How does the sun affect the Earth?

    The sun is the source of heat and light for living things on planet Earth. The sun is what makes it possible for living things on Earth to live, grow, and survive.

    There are many resources about the sun for your students in Utah's Online Library that are at an elementary reading level.

    Gale's Kids InfoBits has 91 book and encyclopedic articles, over 400 magazine articles, and 15 images---all about the sun. Specifically, find the article called "The Sun: It's a Superstar!" from the magazine, Ranger Rick. This article covers some of the key elements of 3rd-grade science core about the sun, and it's at a level that your students can read. And most of the articles in Kids InfoBits have a read-aloud feature. Students can click on the word "Listen" above each article to hear the text read.

    World Book Encyclopedia has an article, images, and videos about the sun. After choosing World Book from the main Utah's Online Library page, have 3rd graders choose World Book KIDS rather than World Book Student. The interface of World Book Kids is simpler, and the information is written at a lower lexile.

    For teachers, eMedia has several short videos about the sun. From the menu on the left, choose Search By Utah Core in order to be able to limit your video choices to a 3rd-grade level.

    Curriculum Connections:

    SEEd - 3rd Grade