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5th grade · Science · Unit 11 of 12

Sun, Stars & Shadows

Why the sun looks bright, and patterns in the sky.

What your child practices

Practices why the sun looks brighter than other stars (it is much closer), and the daily and seasonal patterns of shadows, day length and the stars we see, using New York's long summer days and short winter days.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 5-ESS1-1; 5-ESS1-2 · the sun's brightness and distance, and patterns of shadows, day and night, and stars in the sky

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Day and night happen because Earth spins on its axis.
  2. Stars seem to move across the night sky because Earth spins.
  3. Shadows point away from the sun. The noon sun is higher in summer, so noon shadows are shorter.
  4. Days in New York are longest in June and shortest in December.

Example: At noon your shadow points north. Where is the sun? Shadows point away from the sun. The opposite of north is south. Answer: in the south

Sun, Stars & Shadows in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 11 of 12 in 5th grade Science, after Food Webs & Ecosystems and before Earth's Systems & Water.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    A car's headlights far away look dim, but up close they look bright. This is like…

    • seasons
    • day and night
    • the moon's phases
    • the sun versus other stars

  2. Question 2

    Some stars are much bigger than the sun but look tiny because…

    • they are cold
    • they are small
    • they are very far away
    • they are planets

  3. Question 3

    Stars seem to move across the night sky because…

    • clouds move them
    • stars are falling
    • the moon pushes them
    • Earth spins

  4. Question 4

    In the morning, the sun is in the east, so your shadow points…

    • east
    • west
    • nowhere
    • up

  5. Question 5

    Which is closest to Earth?

    • Sirius
    • The sun
    • The North Star
    • Betelgeuse

  6. Question 6

    The Big Dipper is part of a…

    • planet
    • moon
    • constellation
    • comet

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