You have been offered a job with NASA as an astronomy assistant. Your first task is to create a digital model and fact sheet about the Earth, moon and sun for future fourth graders at Sealston Elementary. Your audience is current third grade students, and you will be hired to share at a Universe Fair based upon your successful completion of the task.

When we look at the night sky, we see stars and the nearby planets of our own solar system. Many of those stars are actually distant galaxies and glowing clouds of dust and gases called nebulae. The universe is an immense space with distances measured in light years. The more we learn about the universe beyond our solar system, the more we realize we do not know. Students are introduced to the basic known facts about the universe, and how engineers help us explore the many mysteries of space.

Students are introduced to our Sun as they explore its composition, what is happening inside it, its relationship to our planet (our energy source), and the ways engineers help us learn about it.

Students will observe the patterns of apparent motion of the sun using simple tools.

This article lists common misconceptions about light, heat, and the sun. It provides formative assessment probes and information about teaching for conceptual change.

Students learn how the total solar irradiance hitting a photovoltaic (PV) panel can be increased through the use of a concentrating device, such as a reflector or lens. This is the final lesson in the Photovoltaic Efficiency unit and is intended to accompany a fun design project (see the associated Concentrating on the Sun with PVs activity) to wrap up the unit. However, it can be completed independently of the other unit lessons and activities.

Students design, build and test reflectors to measure the effect of solar reflectance on the efficiency of solar PV panels. They use a small PV panel, a multimeter, cardboard and foil to build and test their reflectors in preparation for a class competition. Then they graph and discuss their results with the class. Complete this activity as part of the Photovoltaic Efficiency unit and in conjunction with the Concentrated Solar Power lesson.

Students learn about using renewable energy from the Sun for heating and cooking as they build and compare the performance of four solar cooker designs. They explore the concepts of insulation, reflection, absorption, conduction and convection.

This 8-minute video lesson examines the scale of distance from the solar system to the closest stars. [Cosmology and Astronomy playlist: Lesson 3 of 85]

This 10-minute video lesson looks at the scale of the Earth and the Sun. [Cosmology and Astronomy playlist: Lesson 1 of 85]

Students explore the many different ways that engineers provide natural lighting to interior spaces. They analyze various methods of daylighting by constructing model houses from foam core board and simulating the sun with a desk lamp. Teams design a daylighting system for their model houses based on their observations and calculations of the optimal use of available sunlight to their structure.

In this activity, students will test whether the color of a material affects how much heat it absorbs.

This article features science lesson plans to teach elementary students about the sun's energy, the relationship between light and heat, albedo, and the absorption of different surfaces. National standards and literacy integrations are provided for each lesson.

Students explore heat transfer and energy efficiency using the context of energy efficient houses. They gain a solid understanding of the three types of heat transfer: radiation, convection and conduction, which are explained in detail and related to the real world. They learn about the many ways solar energy is used as a renewable energy source to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses and operating costs. Students also explore ways in which a device can capitalize on the methods of heat transfer to produce a beneficial result. They are given the tools to calculate the heat transferred between a system and its surroundings.

Students examine how the power output of a photovoltaic (PV) solar panel is affected by temperature changes. Using a 100-watt lamp and a small PV panel connected to a digital multimeter, teams vary the temperature of the panel and record the resulting voltage output. They plot the panel's power output and calculate the panel's temperature coefficient.

This activity is a kindergarten field and classroom investigation where students make observations, collect data and share conclusions that shows they understand that the sun is a source of light.

This is a classroom activity in which students will observe, question, and investigate the relationship between the sun and the earth and how that relationship causes day and night.

In this activity, students learn how to prevent exposure to the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. Students will systematically test various sunscreens to determine the relationship between spf (sun protection factor) value and sun exposure. At the end of the activity, students are asked to consider how this investigation could be used to help them design a new sunscreen.

This activity shows how our experience of the Sun changes with time and location. The sun dagger at Chaco Canyon is thought by many to be a sort of ancient timekeeping device. By creating a place where the movement of the Sun could be tracked day after day, Chacoans could mark the passage of time and gain an idea of when seasons were changing. If the Chacoans could use a particular location and the Sun to tell them about time, can we use time and the Sun to tell us about our location? In this easy experiment, you'll see how the position of the Sun in the sky is related to where we are on the earth.

This article highlights lessons and activities for elementary students about heat, insulation, and how animals and people stay warm in cold environments.