Year 4 Spotlight

Spinning in Space!

Here are some of our reflections from Inquiry this term:

This term we learned about planets and the Milky Way. To be more precise, the size and position of the planets. Also, one of the tasks we had to do was making a poster of what Rotate and Revolve means, and what they cause. E.g. When the earth rotates, it causes day and night and it take 24 hours. When the Earth revolves it causes seasons and takes 365 days. Rotate means spin and Revolve means to go around. 

 We also had a Space Incursion. We had to put the planets in order. We also did an experiment by dropping rocks into flour to create a crater on the moon. Every group had to make a rover for different terrains. Ours was rocky and we had to make it stable to go over the bumps. 

~ By Dash I and Zach R, 4B

In Inquiry this term we learned that the sun is further away from the earth than the moon, but to the naked eye they appear to be the same size as each other. In the scaled down version the sun is the size of a basketball and the moon is the size of a peppercorn.

We also learned that the length and direction of a shadow changes with the time of the day and that the time of the day depends on the position of the earth. The earth spins on its axis while orbiting the sun. The axis is an invisible line through the earth. One full rotation is one day. When we are on the side facing the Sun, it’s day and when we’re not it’s night. A full orbit of the sun is called a revolution, or a year. 

~ By Maisie L, Nell R and Grace M, 4C

In May we had an incursion about planets. We discussed the size and history of each planet and did some fun activities. It was really fun and we learned a heap about the Solar System! 

We also did a poster about earth, moon and sun and we did lots of research on a planet of our choice.

We also made a poster about Rotate and Revolve. Rotate means the earth spins around and it causes day and night. Revolve means the earth moves around the sun, it causes seasons.

We learned about shadows and how they are different lengths at different times of the day. We made shadow puppets and a background for them.

~ By Xavier M and Leila T, 4A

Year 4 Teachers & Students