#SOL18 Day 20: What We See and Don’t See

“How many of you have seen the moon in the past week?” I ask my students. This is our third week of moon observations, so by now many more students are raising their hands and sharing with precise detail about what they saw.

After giving students time to share, I move onto the next question: “How many of you have seen the sun in the past week?” As expected, every hand shoots straight up. “Great! Now please turn and describe in detail what you observed.” Silence.

If I hadn’t already known the plan for today, I could have very easily been just like my students. I can describe the outfit my daughter put on today, I remember that my husband was still in what passes for pajamas, and I know that my oldest son wore the pants that have a small hole in the left knee. I have no idea what color shirts either of my boys had on, though.

Back to the classroom. “Well, then let’s go outside and observe the sun now. While we’re at it, let’s also observe our shadows.”  We talk about the details students think might be important to take note of. They come up with direction, altitude, length, angle, and brightness. After a few minutes of intentional, focused observations, everyone comes in with lots of information to share and record.