Subject: In what direction and at what speed the Earth rotates

Target group

Student of the 6th grade of elementary school

Core curriculum

General requirements

I. Geographical knowledge.

1 . Mastering the basic geographical vocabulary in order to describe and explain phenomena and processes occurring in the geographical environment.

Specific requirements

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

Student:

3 ) explains the relationship between the rotational movement and the voyage of wandering and towers of the Sun, the existence of day and night, the daily rhythm of human life and nature, the occurrence of time zones.

Purpose of the lesson

The student explains the phenomenon and consequences of the Earth's rotation.

Success criteria

• you will explain what the rotation of the Earth is and give examples of its consequences;

• you will explain the concept: solar day and star time and give the reason for the difference between their duration;

• you will demonstrate the rotation of the Earth with the help of the globe;

• calculate the angle by which the Earth will rotate within a certain time.

Key competences

• communicating in the mother tongue;

• communicating in foreign languages;

• mathematical competence;

• IT competences;

• learning to learn.

Methods / forms of work

• problem methods: directed conversation, didactic discussion;

• exhibiting methods: presentation;

• programmed methods: using a computer, using an e‑manual;

• practical methods: exercices concerned;

• forms of work: individual, in pairs, in groups, collective.

Teaching measures

• computers with access to the Internet and Stellarium installed before the lesson (the program requires installation on disk);

• globes (at least 5‑6 per class);

• desk lamps or flashlights (one per globe);

• self‑adhesive tape;

• multimedia resources contained in the lesson „In what direction and at what speed does the Earth turn?” e‑manual;

• interactive whiteboard / blackboard, marker / chalk.

Lesson plan

Preliminary

1. During the course, the teacher determines the purpose of the lesson, informs students about its planned course, gives success criteria.

2. The teacher begins a conversation about the Earth's rotation. Asks students questions, wanting to know what they know about the Earth's rotation, eg How does the Earth move? How long does it take for a full turn? What is the difference between rotational and planetary motion? The teacher verifies the students' answers, paying attention to correct indications.

Implementation

1. The first stage of the implementation phase is to discuss the concept of the Earth's rotation. The teacher presents the students with a video recording attached to the abstract „In what direction and at what speed does the Earth turn?” and illustration 1. Then he explains the concept of solar day and star day.

2. The second stage is working in groups (this part of the lesson is best done with curtained windows). Each group should have a globe and a desk lamp or pocket torch.

• Students stick to the globe a small piece of adhesive tape or patch, which is marked anywhere on the surface of the Earth. Then they execute command 2 from the lesson „In what direction and at what speed does the Earth turn?” e‑book.

• One of the students illuminates the globe with a lamp and the other slowly rotates the model of the globe. The other students observe the marked location to see if it is permanently on the illuminated or unlit side, or if it changes its position relative to the light source.

• Students are looking for an answer to the question of what changes on the celestial sphere are observed in one complete rotation of the Earth by a person in a selected place.

• At the end of the work in groups, the volunteer or the person indicated by the teacher presents the consequences of the rotary movement. The other students take notes in the notebooks.

3. The third stage is the presentation of multimedia material about the possibility of simulating the apparent motion of celestial bodies using the Stellarium program.

4. The fourth stage is individual work or in pairs.

• Students run the Stellarium program. The teacher explains to them how they can simulate the apparent motion of celestial bodies at an accelerated pace using the buttons that control the rate of passage of time.

Summarized

1. After completing work with the Stellarium program, students perform interactive exercises whose purpose is to consolidate the acquired knowledge.

2. The teacher summarizes the classes.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

In what direction and at what speed does the Earth rotate?

Are you aware that, even now, you are moving with the Earth around the Earth's axis? Do you know at what speed? Much faster than the fastest Formula 1 cars! The inhabitants of Poland cover 1,000 kilometres within one hour together with the globe and people on the equator cover even 1,667 kilometres at the same time.

When living on the surface of Earth, it is difficult to directly observe the movements of our planet. However, we can notice the Sun’s apparent motion from east to west, which is a consequence of Earth's rotation around its own axis from west to east. A full rotation takes about 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds. This time is called the sidereal day. We may be a bit more familiar with the solar day that lasts a bit longer, almost exactly 24 hours. This is the time that passes between two consecutive moments of the solar noon. Therefore, a solar day is longer than a sidereal day. This is due to the fact that Earth simultaneously rotates around its own axis and circles around the Sun (see: Earth’s revolution). For the next solar noon to occur at a given point on the surface of our planet – for example, the place where we live – after the full rotation, Earth must rotate around its axis almost 1° more than 360°.

The rotation speed of Earth is obvious when we give it in angular measures. The angular velocity is the size of the angle defined by a given point lying on the surface of Earth while moving in a circle per unit of time.
In the case of Earth, the angular velocity has a constant value of 360°/24h.

It is harder to estimate the linear velocity, or the distance covered by a point lying on the surface of the Earth per unit of time. This depends on the latitude on which the point lies. The closer to the equator, the longer the parallels and the greater the linear velocity. This is why the inhabitants of Poland are traveling at a speed of about 1,000 km/h, or 667 km/h slower than the inhabitants of the equator, who in the same time unit have to overcome a much longer linear distance.

The rotational (earth) rotation of the Earth is based on the rotation of the Earth around its own axis. Points where the Earth's axis crosses the Earth's surface are poles. The pole closer to Europe is the North Pole and the opposite is the South Pole. At rocking you can not determine the main directions.

Earth's rotation is from west to east. The full rotation of the Earth around the axis takes 23 hours 56 minutes 4,091 seconds (starday), which time means the period between two consecutive times of the Ram's point. The basis for counting time is the average solar day lasting exactly 24 hours. The point located at the equator moves in a rotary motion at the speed of almost 465 m / s, and as it moves away from the equator, this speed drops to 0 m / s at the poles.