ACARA v9 CONTENT DESCRIPTION “recognise Earth is a planet in the solar system and identify patterns in the changing position of the sun, moon, planets and stars in the sky”
Builds on what children already notice: the sun comes up and goes down, the moon looks different on different nights, and stars sparkle in the dark. Here we put those everyday sights together and start to see the patterns in them.
Looking up at the sky
When we look at the sky we see the sun by day and the moon and stars by night. None of these things stays still. The sun moves across the sky, the moon changes shape, and the stars come out and drift slowly. The best part is that they do these things in patterns we can watch and learn.
The sun travels across the sky
Each day the sun comes up in the east, makes an arc across the sky and goes down in the west. Step through one day and watch where it is.
The sun is not really moving around us; the Earth is turning. But from the ground it looks like the sun rises in the east, climbs up high at midday, and sets in the west. This happens the same way every single day.
The moon from night to night
If you look at the moon on different nights, it seems to change shape. Sometimes it is a thin curve, sometimes a half, and sometimes a bright round circle. The moon is not really changing; we just see different amounts of its bright side as the month goes on.
The moon changes shape
If you look at the moon night after night, its shape seems to change. Tap forward to watch it grow round and then shrink again.
The moon does not really change its size or shape. We just see different amounts of its bright side from night to night. The shapes grow and shrink in the same pattern about once every month, so we can guess what the moon will look like next week.
Stars in the night sky
Stars are always in the sky, even in the daytime. The sun is so bright that we cannot see them until night comes. Once it is dark the stars appear, and over the night the whole group slides slowly across the sky while staying in the same pattern.
Stars come out at night
We cannot see stars when the sky is bright. At night they appear, and the whole group slowly slides across the sky while keeping the same pattern.
Stars are always there, even in the daytime. The sun just makes the sky too bright to see them. At night the stars come out, and as the hours pass the whole group seems to move slowly across the sky together, always in the same shape.
Earth among the planets
The Earth we stand on is a planet. Our sun is a star, and a family of planets travels around it. This family is called the solar system, and Earth is one of its planets. From Earth we look out and see the sun, the moon and even some of the other planets in the sky.
Earth is one of the planets
The sun sits in the middle and the planets go around it. Earth is one of them. Tap a planet to find out its name.
Our sun is a star, and a family of planets travels around it. This family is called the solar system. Earth is one of these planets. That is why we can stand on it and look out at the sun, the moon and the other planets in the sky.
Patterns we can count on
Day always turns into night, and night always turns back into day. The moon grows and shrinks in the same way each month. Because the sky changes in patterns that repeat, we can guess what will happen next. That is the start of how people made calendars and clocks.
The sky pattern repeats
Day and night do not happen by chance. They take turns in a steady pattern. Reveal the next part of the pattern and predict what comes next.
After day comes night, and after night comes day, again and again. Because the pattern always repeats, we can be sure the sun will come up tomorrow. Many sky things work like this: they change in patterns we can learn and predict.
Why this matters
Once we see that the sky changes in patterns, the sky stops being a mystery. We know the sun will rise, we can guess the shape of the moon, and we can find the same stars night after night. Watching these patterns is the very first step of learning about space.
Quick self-check
1. Where does the sun come up in the morning?
2. What happens to the shape of the moon over about a month?
3. Why can we usually not see stars in the daytime?
4. What is the Earth?
5. Why are we sure the sun will come up again tomorrow?