The Sun and Us

Introduction/Rationale

This unit is written for teachers of third-grade students and aligns with the latest (as of 2021) Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for 3^rd grade Earth Science topics about weather and climate. 

In the summer of 2021, I worked with Dr. Sarbani Basu, Yale professor of Astronomy, in a seminar titled "The Sun, the Solar System, and Us." Although we covered various topics under that title, I chose to focus on 3^rd grade-level content.  There are three Earth Science standards under the NGSS framework for 3^rd grade, and they all focus on weather and climate. In summary, they are:

1) Use tables and graphical displays to represent typical weather conditions expected during a particular season. 

2) Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world. 

3) Evaluate the merit of a design solution that reduces the impact of weather-related hazards.¹  

There are additional science and engineering practices that span the K-12 framework that are also applicable.  You will find an annotated list of these standards in more detail in the appendix of this unit.

This unit will guide you and your students to learn about why we have seasons and a diverse range of climate zones here on Earth.  It will cover background information about the Sun, how the Earth's surface and atmosphere reacts to incoming solar radiation, the greenhouse effect, and the Koppen climate classification system, including tropical, dry, temperate, continental, and polar climate zones.  Students will explore a mysterious, heavy hailstorm in Guadalajara, Mexico, that occurred in 2019.  They will apply what they have learned about the Earth's climate zones and why climate zones exist as they unravel and explain the mystery.