The Sun and You is a cross curricular teaching and learning resource for years 3 to 6. It consists of
an interactive Power-Point style presentation for whiteboard use, with accompanying Teachers’
Notes and worksheets.
The sun gives us life, but too much sun can also be dangerous. Through supporting key curriculum
objectives The Sun and You presentation teaches upper primary children about the importance of
the sun – to the Earth and its plants and people – but also about its dangers. It raises awareness
and promotes responsible sun enjoyment.
The presentation has a total of 13 slides. Slide one is a video introduction, followed by a
presentation menu slide which allows you to select one of three curriculum led units; slides three to
seven support Science, eight to ten English and eleven to thirteen Maths.
Feedback
Please let us know how you get on with the resource by using the contact link to email feedback. At
Tenovus we are keen to build relationships with schools and investment in materials like this is an
important use of our carefully managed budgets – so please tell us what you think!
Curriculum Links
The Sun supports the following programmes of study in the Key Stage 2 Welsh Curriculum:
Science
 Children should study the relative positions and key features of the sun and planets in the solar
system
 Children should explore the environmental factors that affect what grows and lives in different
environments
English
 Children should be given the opportunity to write in response to a wide range of stimuli
 Children should develop their oral skills through presenting, talking and performing for a variety
of audiences
Maths
 Children should be given opportunities to read information from charts, diagrams, graphs and
text
 Children should investigate and generalise patterns and relationships
In addition, The KS2 PSE Health and Emotional Wellbeing theme states that ‘learners should be
given opportunities to take increasing responsibility for keeping the mind and body safe and
healthy’. This theme underpins all learning in The Sun resource.
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Teaching Preparation
Each set of slides is designed to form the basis of a 45 minute lesson, but please take longer if you
like or pick and mix as you see fit to best support your teaching.
Each slide has an outline commentary, please see the Presentation Notes on page x. You will need
a computer, audio system and interactive whiteboard to gain full value from this resource.
Worksheets
Six worksheets are also included. The Presentation Notes prompt where you might wa nt to use a
worksheet to explore the information on screen further.
Worksheets are available for download from the Teachers’ Centre. Please print out the worksheets
in advance if you wish to use them as part of the presentation, or use them as follow-on activities
in later lessons.
Glossary
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is
retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by
absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat
retention and reducing temperature extremes between day and night.
Most of the planets in our Solar System, and even some of the moons have
atmospheres.
Chlorophyll
The green pigment of plant materials which is responsible for the trapping of
light energy for photosynthesis.
Equator
An imaginary great circle around the earth's surface, equal distance from the
poles and at right angles to the earth's axis of rotation. It divides the earth
into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.
Malignant
Melanoma
The most dangerous form of skin cancer that will grow and spread to other
organs.
Ozone layer
A layer of gas high up in the atmosphere that absorbs dangerous UV light
and protects the Earth from its affects. The layer begins between 6 and 10
miles above the Earth's surface and extends up to about 30 miles.
Photosynthesis
Skin cancer
The process by which plants use energy from sunlight to make food.
Cancer that forms in tissues of the skin.
Solar System
A solar system consists of a star and all the objects orbiting it. Our Solar
System includes the Sun together with the eight planets and their moons as
well as all other celestial bodies that orbit the sun.
SPF
Sun Protection Factor - a laboratory measure of the effectiveness of sun
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cream. The higher the number, the greater the level of protection.
Sun burn
Redness, soreness or blistering of the skin caused by over exposure to direct
sunlight.
UV light
A form of light that can be dangerous to the skin and can’t be seen by human
eyes.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. The body makes vitamin D when the skin is
exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D is required by the body to absorb and use
calcium, which keeps bones and teeth strong.
Fundraising
Our work at Tenovus is vital in helping to prevent, treat and find a cure for cancer. We’d appreciate
it if you and your class are able to build some fundraising activities into the work you are doing.
Some simple sun-related ideas are suggested below:
Fashion parade
Design and create a range of sun fashion items from sun hats to sunglasses. Charge admission to
your fashion show on behalf of Tenovus, and run a competition for the best designs.
Our Sun-day Picnic Tea
Use simple maths, science and art and design to plan a Sun-day picnic. Work out the budget, plan
the guest list, design a healthy-eating picnic menu and create posters to advertise your event.
Charge admission or have a cake sale and raffle to raise funds. Don’t forget to find a shady spot for
the picnic area! You might like to tie in a Sun-day Tea with your school Sports Day.
Non-uniform day
Invite your school to come dressed in their best beach wear for the day. Ask everyone to make a
small donation for the privilege.
For other ideas on fundraising for Tenovus in your school or community please contact our
fundraising team at [email protected]
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The presentation is controlled by your mouse. Next and back buttons allow you to navigate easily.
Introductory Section
Slide 1: Introduction
This 4 minute video features Dr Ian Lewis, a Tenovus scientist
explaining what the sun is and why we need it. He also outlines its risks,
explaining what sunburn is and why it is important to stay safe in the
sun.
After watching the video encourage your class to talk about what they
know about the sun and its dangers – have they ever been sunburnt
before? Do they wear sun hats and sun cream?
Slide 2: Presentation Menu
This is the gateway to the main units.
Units can be selected in any order.
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Unit 1: Science and the Sun
Slide 3: Earth and the Sun
This slide begins by exploring what the sun is in a little more details, and
what it does for us. It introduces the Earth and sun’s relative positions
and movement.
Using the graphic, explain that the sun is a star that gives out heat and
light. The sun gives us life.
The Earth travels around the sun. The Earth takes 365.24 days to orbit
the sun. When the Earth's axis points towards the sun, it is summer for
that hemisphere. When the Earth's axis points away, it is winter.
Day and night are caused by the Earth spinning on its axis. It is day on
the part of the Earth that is facing the sun. It is night on the part of the
Earth that is facing away from the sun.
Without the sun, we wouldn’t have seasons or day and night.
Slide 4: The Solar System
The Earth is just one of eight planets that travel around the sun. Some
planets are too far from the sun to support human life (e.g. too cold),
and some are too close (e.g. too hot).
Use Worksheet 1 to explore the relative positions of the planets.
The Earth is in just the right position. It is also protected by the
atmosphere, a thin layer of gas which surrounds the Earth. The ozone
layer, high up in the atmosphere, protects the Earth from the sun's
dangerous UV rays, making it possible for life to thrive. Please see the
glossary for simple definitions of the highlighted terms.
Slide 5: The Atmosphere Experiment
At this point, you might like to try a simple practical experiment with
your class to help them understand the role of the atmosphere in
filtering the sun’s UV rays.
Use a tennis ball (or similar) to represent the Earth. Place an upturned
opaque bowl, a clear glass bowl and a colander or sieve over the tennis
ball in turn. Shine a torch above each bowl to represent the sun. Which
item best represents the atmosphere?
Answer: The sieve because it best represents the atmosphere’s ability to
filter the sun’s rays.
The class can use Worksheet 2 to note the light screening effects of
each material.
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Slides 10-12 also explore the atmosphere in more detail through simple
maths.
Slide 6: Plants and the Sun
The Earth’s atmosphere doesn’t block all the sun’s rays – plants and
people need light from the sun to survive.
Without the sun, plants wouldn’t be able to make food. Healthy plant
leaves (like the one on screen) use light from the sun, along with carbon
dioxide from the air, and water to make food for the plant. Explain that
this process is called photosynthesis.
Ask your class to look at the images on screen. Do the plants shown
look healthy? Explain that all plants need sunlight, along with air,
warmth, water and nutrients to be healthy, but that some plants like
more of these than others.
Discuss how the environmental factors of the different habitats shown
on screen affect what grows and lives there.
Worksheet 3 looks at plants which like sunny habitats and plants
which like shady habitats, and asks the children to explain why. They
should think particularly about the size of the leaves and roots.
Slide 7: People and the Sun
People also need the sun to be healthy.
We need vitamin D to help our bodies absorb calcium from the food we
eat. This is vital for strong teeth and bones.
The best source of vitamin D is sunlight. Almost all (about 90 per cent)
of our vitamin D comes from sunlight, which is why Vitamin D is
sometimes called ‘the sunshine vitamin’.
Even on cloudy days the sun’s rays can produce vitamin D. Our bodies
cleverly store the vitamin from the summer months, for use in the
winter.
Even though some sun is good for us, because the atmosphere doesn’t
block the full power of the sun’s UV rays (refer back to the practical
experiment) it is very important we protect ourselves in the summer
sun.
Too much UV light from the sun’s rays can cause our skin to burn, which
can lead to skin cancer.
Your class can look after their skin in the sun by:


wearing a hat
using a protective high-factor sun cream, a minimum of 15 SPF
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
covering up at the hottest time of the day – usually between 11am
and 3pm (the maths slides help explain why)
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Unit 2: English and the Sun
Slide 8: Poetry and the Sun
The sun can be an inspiring topic for a piece of creative writing.
Gillian Clarke, one of Wales' most influential and widely read
contemporary writers, and the current National Poet of Wales, has
created this poem about the sun. She subtly explores the positive and
negative effects of the Sun.
The poem is reproduced for the class to study on Worksheet 4.
You might want to ask your class to:



Use the information in the poem (and the Science section of the
presentation if already studied) to describe why the Earth needs the
sun
Look at how personification is used in the poem
Pick out where rhyme is used
Slide 9: My Sun Poem
Ask your class to use the word bank on screen to make up their own
short poem about the sun.
They should choose at least two words from each side of the word bank,
so that their creative writing reflects both the good and bad effects of
the sun.
You might want to add the word bank as a class before the children
begin their individual pieces.
Worksheet 5 is a creative writing template.
Your class may want to have a go at using personification and/or rhyme
in their writing, like Gillian Clarke.
Slide 10: My Sun Poem Performance
This slide is a performance backdrop.
Ask children, individually or in small groups, to stand in front of the
screen to read aloud their work and discuss with the rest of the class.
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Unit 3: Maths and the Sun
Slide 11: The Midday Sun
This section introduces or reinforces simple maths work with angles and
distances, whilst helping children understand the importance of thinking
about how long they should sensibly stay in the sun.
Talk your class through the graphic on screen. It shows the Earth,
surrounded by its protective atmosphere - a layer of gas which screens
and filters the sun’s dangerous UV rays, ensuring they aren’t quite as
powerful when they hit the Earth.
The graphic illustrates the
directly overhead. It shows
and hitting the Earth at a
Earth’s surface at A and the
sun’s position at midday on the equator,
a sun ray passing through the atmosphere
90 degree angle - the angle between the
sunray at B.
The next slide asks the class to measure sunray angles and relative
distances at early morning and mid-afternoon, and work out what their
measurements mean.
Slide 12: Angles, Distances and Sun Safety
This slide shows two more sun positions, representing early morning
and mid-afternoon. It shows how the sun’s rays have to pass through
more atmosphere to reach point A.
Hand out Worksheet 6. It is based on the graphic with the 3 sun
positions marked. Ask the children to draw in a base line through A then
measure:
the angles to each sun position
the relative distance each sun ray has to travel before hitting point A
The children will learn that in the morning and mid-afternoon the sun’s
rays are at a more acute angle to the Earth, and pass through a greater
distance of atmosphere.
Travelling through more atmosphere weakens the sun rays, so they are
less strong when they hit us on Earth.
Slide 13: Time in the Sun
This slide asks children to review their findings and discuss their
implications.
Help your class answer the questions on screen.
They should establish the Maths rule that the more acute the angle
between the sun, point A and the baseline, the longer the distance the
sun’s rays have to pass through the atmosphere.
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The conclusion is that at midday the sun’s rays have the shortest
distance to pass through the atmosphere to reach the Earth, so during
the middle portion of the day, i.e. from 11am to 3pm, the sun’s rays are
at their strongest. This is the time to be most careful about safe sun
exposure.
Extension activity:
Continuing this thinking, you may like to take your class outside on a
sunny day and ask them to measure the length of their shadow at early
morning, midday and mid-afternoon.
What does the length of their shadow tell them about how high in the
sky the sun is, and therefore how careful they need to be?
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