Topic: Seasons

Supplementary material for use in lessons in the group of natural sciences (nature, biology, chemistry, geography, physics), additional classes, science clubs. It can serve as a resource for expanding knowledge, preparing students for science competitions.

Target group:

6th‑grade students of elementary school (Geography).

Core curriculum

Grade VI – geography

V. Earth Movements: Earth in the Solar System; rotational and reciprocating motion; consequences of Earth movements.

Pupil:

6) shows the relationship between the planet's circulation and its lighting zones, and the zonal diversity of the climate and landscapes on Earth.

General aim of education

Students demonstrate the relationship between the planet's circulation and the changes of the seasons.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• discuss differences in the earth’s climate at the beginning of particular seasons;

• explain the relationship between the tilt of the earth's axis and the variability of the seasons.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• items needed to illustrate the position of the Earth with respect to the Sun in each of the four seasons: Styrofoam plates, plasticine, toothpicks, solar graphics, glue, marking marks (one set per pair of students)..

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

• The instructor, referring to previous classes, asks pupils to do interactive exercises No. 2‑4 by themselves..

Realization

• The teacher instructs the pupils to familiarize themselves with the content of the abstract, and then they answer the question, which affects the cyclical repetition of the seasons. The selected person answers..

• Participants familiarize themselves with the content presented in the interactive illustration. Then the teacher discusses the issues with the students.

• Students draw pairs and draw the hemisphere - southern or northern..

• The teacher of each pair of students gives out the necessary materials for the next task. Students form plasticine models of the Earth and fix them on toothpicks, and then they prepare themselves for depiction using the models of the Earth's position relative to the Sun in each of the four seasons. They also list the features of the season prevailing on the previously drawn hemisphere..

• Students present the results of their work on the class forum. The lesson attaches to the correctness of the task (proper tilting of the toothpick relative to the Sun and proper description of the season).

Summary

• The teacher asks students to carry out the recommended interactive exercise themselves.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Seasons

Poles, when asked about the number seasons, will say four: spring, summer, autumn, winter. In other places in the world, only two seasons exist. There are also areas where the same weather prevails throughout the year, so the seasons do not stand out! What is the reason for this?

The annual movement of the Earth around the Sun is also on a constant tilt on its own axis which causes the lighting of various parts of the Earth to change in a repetitive manner. Changes in lighting, in turn, cause seasonal changes. The spring equinox in the northern hemisphere means the beginning of spring in Poland. At the same time autumn begins in the southern hemisphere. With autumn equinox, autumn begins, and in the southern hemisphere – spring. Similarly, at the summer solstice, summer begins for us, while in the southern hemisphere it is the beginning of winter.

• Earth's orbit around the Sun takes 365 days 5 hours and 49 minutes.

• The tilt in the axis of it's rotation in combination with the orbit creates the seasons on Earth.

• The southern hemisphere has the same seasons as the northern hemisphere, but the dates of their beginning and end are different.