© K. Wright 2012
Assembly Suggestions:
1. See the photo on page 3 for proper assembly.
2. It is recommended that the spinner and background page be printed in color on
cardstock weight paper. If a color printer is not available, it is recommended that you
highlight the sun yellow and points A, B and C in a bright color such as pink or green.
3. Attach a fastener in the center of the Earth and the center of the day and night circle.
The lines on the Earth should come very close, if not exactly line up with the dots
around the edge of the day and night circle. Some imperfection will occur due to printers
and copy machines. When giving directions to students, emphasize that they should
read the spinner from the closest dot!
Remind students that this activity simulates Earth’s rotation causing day and night. Explain
that it does not necessarily show the correct time for the locations, as the spinner does not
account for the Earth’s tilt and the changes in the amount of daylight and darkness as Earth
orbits the sun.
© K. Wright 2012
Copy the background
on cardstock paper.
Highlight if color ink
is not available.
Copy the Earth
spinner, cut and
mount with a
pivoting fastener.
Copy the student
questions and post
near each spinner.
Example of how to read the spinner:
Point A is just past midnight at approximately 1 am. Point C is at 4 am. Point B is at approximately noon. I
have this in Active Inspire flipchart format as well. It allows to you spin the Earth on the board to model the
process. If you are a Promethean user, send me a message on TpT and I will email you the flipchart!
© K. Wright 2012
Earth’s Rotation Lesson Plan
Essential Question: How does Earth’s rotation cause day/night, time zones, sunrise and
sunset?
Materials:
Spinners made from Earth printable, day and night printable and a fastener (12-15 per class)
Student question sheets (12-15 per class)
Globe (1)
Flashlight (1)
Internet access for sharing satellite image website
Build Background:
Model the process of day and night using a flashlight and a globe. Turn all of the classroom lights off and model
how light from the flashlight (sun) can only reach ½ of the globe at any given time. Put a large sticker on your
school’s town on the globe and spin the globe slowly modeling sunrise, day, noon, sunset, and night. Emphasize
the following main ideas:
 Rotation: To move in a circle around a central point or axis
 Earth rotates from West to East. This is why we see the sun set in the West and rise in
the East. The further East a location, the sooner they experience the next day!
 At all times, 1/2 of Earth is lit by the sun; the other 1/2 is in darkness.
 The Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5 degrees from vertical. The day and night line does not
line up with the tilt, causing some regions of Earth to have very long periods of daylight
or darkness at some points throughout the year.
 Make sure you share this amazing website that has a real time updated image of the day
and night line! http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth/action?opt=-p
 The Brainpop website also has a pretty decent video on time zones that addresses the
main idea of this activity. If your school is not a subscriber, you can sign up for a free
two-week trial!
Spinner Activity:
Once students have a handle on the main concepts listed above, organize students into small groups of 2-3 to
work on using the spinners to simulate the Earth’s rotation, day and night and time zones. Explain and model
how the spinner works and remind them to make sure they spin it counter-clockwise! Allow time for students to
answer the questions while you circulate to support any struggling students.
Once all students have completed the task, go over the answers and questions as a class to ensure understanding.
(See the provided answer key.)
© K. Wright 2012
Day and Night Spinner Questions
Please write your answers to each question on loose-leaf paper with
your name and date.
1. How many degrees does the Earth rotate per hour?
2. How many major time zones are there on Earth?
3. How much of the Earth is in daylight at any given time?
4. How long does it take for the Earth to make one complete rotation?
5. From a birds-eye view, which direction does the Earth rotate?
From
to
.
6. Line up location C with the midnight line. Approximately what time
is it at point B?
___________________________________________________
7. Point C is near New York City, and Point A is near Los Angeles
California. If the sun is rising in New York, what time is it in
California?
8. Imagine your friend is traveling to point B for the summer, while you
are staying at point C. You would like to call her to say hello, but you
want to make sure you don’t call in the middle of the night! What is
the time difference between point B and point C?
9. When it is NOON at point A, what time is it at point B?
10. A person at point C sits on their back porch watching a beautiful
sunset at dusk. What direction are they looking?
© K. Wright 2012
Day and Night Spinner Questions
TEACHER KEY
Please write your answers to each question on loose-leaf paper with
your name and date.
1. How many degrees does the Earth rotate per hour? 15 degrees
2. How many major time zones are there on Earth? 24
3. How much of the Earth is in daylight at any given time? 50% or 1/2
4. How long does it take for the Earth to make one complete rotation?
24 hours
5. From a birds-eye view, which direction does the Earth rotate?
From
WEST
to
EAST , or
Counterclockwise
6. Line up location C with the midnight line. Approximately what time
is it at point B? 8 am
7. Point C is near New York City, and Point A is near Los Angeles
California. If the sun is rising in New York, what time is it in
California? 3 am
8. Imagine your friend is traveling to point B for the summer, while you
are staying at point C. You would like to call her to say hello, but you
want to make sure you don’t call in the middle of the night! What is
the time difference between point B and point C? 8 hours
9. When it is NOON at point A, what time is it at point B? 11 pm
10. A person at point C sits on their back porch watching a beautiful
sunset at dusk. What direction are they looking? West
Note: For questions 6,7 and 9 it is fair to accept answers within ½ hour of the answer given on the key.
© K. Wright 2012
© 2012 K. Wright -All rights reserved. Purchase of
this teaching resources entitles the
purchaser the right to reproduce the pages in
limited quantities for classroom use only.
Duplication for an entire school, or commercial
purposes is strictly forbidden without written
permission from the author: Kate Wright at
[email protected]
Copying any part of this product and placing it on
the Internet in any form is strictly forbidden and is
a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Thank you for downloading this product for use in your classroom! Please email
me at [email protected] if you have a question or concern. I’m
always looking to improve the work I do for my students, so your emails are
welcomed!
There are some freebies on my blog that you might also find useful in your classroom. Please check it out at:
http://katesclassroomcafe.blogspot.com/