A Year Viewed From Space

Reflection

As I think back about this lesson I remember the difficulty I had teaching the concept prior to having a computer simulation.  I could get most students to regurgitate the fact that it was the tilt of the Earth rather than distance from the Sun that determined seasons, but they did not internalize it.  Now they do.  Most people have the misconception that it is distance between the Sun and Earth that causes seasons.  When the students get to change the tilt to see what happens if there is no tilt versus the effects of the tilt, they make the connection and change their misconception.  This is an even more important tool for the ELL students who I have.  They feel successful in using the program and collecting the data that it provides.  The data is recorded on a diagram that also reinforces the concept for them and allows them to form an understanding that they may not be able to express in the depth of the English speaking counterparts.  When interviewed, it is evident that they were able to learn and understand.  If the instruction had been a textbook-only approach, the ELL students would not have experienced any level of understanding due to their deficit in receptive language and inablility to read at the level an Earth Science text book is written in.

At the end of the unit I always show the students the DVD A Private Universe and pause when the questions are asked and allow them to answer and then show them the answers that HARVARD GRADUATES give, the smiles and laughter that occurs makes me feel like I have succeeded in giving them a leaning context that allows them to develop mastery of this very abstract concept.  One of the questions asked is “What causes seasons?”  One Harvard graduate states that it is “because the Earth moves closer to or farther away from the Sun.”  Quickly the hands shoot up and students jump out of their skin to say “No!!!! The distance doesn’t really change.  It’s because the Earth is tilted on its axis!  It doesn’t matter whether you are an adult or a middle school student, you perceive students at Harvard to be the best of the best.  When you are a middle school student in the second poorest city in the nation and you can answer a question that a Harvard graduate cannot, it helps you to know that you really can reach any goal that you want to reach. 

I am very pleased that this simulation is on the SEPUP web site because this site is a public access site.  Everyone is welcome to use this program and add this to their instructional tools to help their students understand this very abstract and misunderstood concept that is always a part of the New York State Intermediate Level Science Assessment.