The Day-Night Cycle
I was recently reading the November/December 2020 issue of \u201cScience & Children\u201d a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.\xa0\xa0In this issue, I read the \u201cFormative Assessment Probes\u201c column written by Page Keeley.\xa0 Her article was entitled \u201cThe Day-Night Cycle: Adding Models to Probe Explanations.\u201d
As you select formative assessment probes to use with your lessons, consider ways to have students use a model to support their explanation.\xa0 In this example, students use the Earth\u2019s motion and position in relation to the Sun to explain the day-night cycle and why it seems to us from an Earth perspective, that the Sun appears to rise, move across the sky, and set.\xa0 Models, such as a globe and a flashlight representing the Sun are used to explain the pattern of day and night.