Lesson plan- Session 3: The construction of sundials and investigating how they work
Name of the school: St. Dominics Primary School Year Level: 3/4
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a- Learning outcomes:
Students will be able to identify and explore the features of a sundial. Students will be assessed throughout this lesson formatively by the
Students will be able to describe using measurement and critical and teacher on their contribution and engagement during class discussion
creative thinking how sundials and Mayan buildings can operate in and in the group rotation activities. The teacher will provide constant
relation to time and the position of the sun. feedback and guidance on the exploration and understanding of each
Students will be able to explore and analyse multicultural and timekeeping device and method through questioning techniques that
Indigenous understanding of sundials and using the Sun as a relate directly to the learning outcomes. Students will be assessed on
measurement of time. how they use this feedback to guide their learning of the features,
b- Teaching approach chosen: operation and understanding of the relevance of the sun to measuring
The teaching approach that will be influencing this lesson is Indigenous time with a sundial. The teacher will be listening to the quality of critical
and Multicultural perspective. Students will be exploring and analysing discussion of Indigenous Australian, Mayan and Egyptian measures of
multicultural perspectives of Indigenous Australians, Egyptians and time to identify the level of quality that students are able to draw
Mayans to compose spoken, written or visual texts describing how each comparisons and similarities between the three devices. They will then be
culture has used the Sun as a measure of time. They will use this formatively assessed on how they can distinguish between the three
knowledge to construct and then describe the features of a sundial, how objects by identifying the features of each through group and class
it operates and why it is used. discussion. Students will also be assessed on the knowledge they gain
from this lesson by contributing key learning area knowledge to our class
night and day wall. Assessment in this lesson will inform the teaching of
the final lesson as the teacher can use discussion as a method of
accessing students prior knowledge and areas of the lesson that require
clarity or revision.
d - Specific and detailed activities (600 words)
Introduction:
This introduction of this lesson will involve students recapping vocabulary and key facts from last week's lesson on the rotation of Earth on its axis and the
timescales between it and the Sun and Moon. The topic of Sundials and other measurements of time using the sun will be introduced as students watch
the video titled Following the Sun: Crash Course Kids #8.2 on the board which will provide students with the history of using the sun and shadows as a
measure of time first used by ancient Egyptians. This tuning in activity will appeal to visual and auditory learners and particularly EALD learners.
Development:
At the completion of the video, students will be asked if there was anything they could contribute to the Night and Day word wall after being exposed to new
key learning area vocabulary.Students will also be reminded that throughout the rotations they are invited to contribute any new vocabulary and key topics
to the wall. Students will then be placed in three groups before beginning a rotation activity in which they will visit three different stations. The first station
will allow students to explore Indigenous Australian stories of navigation and timekeeping through their knowledge of the Sun, Moon, and star
constellations. There will be objects such as message sticks in which kinaesthetic learners can explore Indigenous Australian timekeeping devices whilst
reading Dreamtime stories and relating this knowledge to the objects within the station. The second station will allow students to explore and analyse the
ancient Egyptian timekeeping device which is the Sundial. There will be several images, representations and audio regarding the invention of the Sundial
and how it has influenced modern technology. The third and final station will allow students to explore the Mayans use of the sun to align buildings that
were representative of key times of the day. They will be provided with a light source and will also need to create a Mayan inspired building that
represented a particular time of day and describe how and why they have achieved been able to achieve this.
Conclusion:
Upon the completion of the rotation, students will be called to the floor and asked to discuss and identify the features and purposes of each timekeeping
method and/or device and evaluate its efficiency and effectiveness in different situations. Would the light of the sun still line up with a Mayan building
during a different season or period of the year? Students will use the information from the class discussion to inform their Venn Diagram based on two of
the work stations. In this Venn Diagram students will be asked to draw on differences and similarities between either Indigenous Australian, Mayan and
Egyptian use of the Sun and sky as a method of measuring time.
Extension Activity:
The extension activity for this lesson will require students to draw on their completed Venn Diagrams of similarities and differences between each
measurement of time to improve its functionality, effectiveness in different weather conditions or to create an entirely new device that is able to tell the
approximate time using the Sun. Students will be asked to include a list of materials needed to create their device as well as a brief description of how the
device will function and how the time displayed on the device is in direct relation to the position if the Sun at the same time.
Attachments: https://youtu.be/Q9UJeEFzx0E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SN1BOpLZAs
