We started our week by drawing a comic strip to teach others what we learned about black holes. They are hilarious! Then we moved into exploring why the sun rises and sets. I asked them how they could figure out for themselves which one is moving, the sun or the Earth. In videos of the sun rising and setting, the sun looks as if it is moving, which is what people used to believe. Should we assume something is true just because other people say it is? Nope! So, we explored the two ideas of the sun moving around the Earth and the Sun sitting still while the Earth spins on its axis. How could we know which idea is correct? If we understood physics and trigonometry, like Copernicus and Galileo, we could calculate the correct answers. We watched a cool video featuring "Lego Man Joe" that demonstrated how we get sunrises and sunsets. When Joe stood on the globe and the sun shined on him while someone spun the globe, we could see the sun appear to arc across the sky. This would be fun to try and replicate at home!
Next, we explored the Earth's rotation and how it creates the seasons throughout a year. We made a "universe in a box" that demonstrates which constellations are visible in the Northern Hemisphere during each season. Then we went outside to draw three constellations from each season using chalk and rocks as the stars.
