Open Wide, Look Inside

G. Brian Karas’ book On Earth is dedicated to explaining the Earth’s daily and yearly cycles, as well as the Earth’s orbit, rotation, and tilt that contribute to these cycles.  Karas also sheds light on how and why we have the given seasons and what makes the day time light, and night time dark. Though the concepts are complex in nature, the book aims to describe them in a simple, poetic way in order to help children form a general understanding.  This gentle, child-friendly method is exemplified often throughout the book.  Take for example, Karas’ explanation of night where he states that “at night we turn away from the sun and see a universe of stars and planets while we dream of what we can do tomorrow.”  The information is not presented in a typical fashion, whereby all parts are connected.  Instead, to assist in child comprehension, Karas utilizes a step-by-step approach so as to focus on elements loosely and individually.  The author’s main goal appears clear: Have young readers think big concepts that are old in time.

Curriculum Connections
On Earth is an exceptional tool for use in early elementary classrooms.  The text is simple and pleasing, while the illustrations are vibrant, detailed, and helpful.  As previously stated, children are forced to begin thinking about complex concepts and procedures.  Chances are, these topics will be confusing and overwhelming to begin, but in the way Karas presents the information, the book is a great place to start.  The distinctively colorful, sometimes sideways pictures are intriguing and draw readers in, while the diagrams and text work to explain the brilliant images with simple words and phrases.  The book does a great job introducing elements that contribute to the understanding of the relationship between Earth and sun, changing of the seasons, how day turns to night, etc…(Virginia Standards of Learning 3.8 a).  Young children can also relate to the occurrences in the book.  For example readers see other children going to school as the seasons change…just as they do, celebrate birthdays as years progress…just as they do, and stand by small trees in their growth stages…just as they do.  The more a child can relate, the more easily he/she can understand the difficult concepts.

Additional Resources

• This link provides teachers with a helpful, fun lesson explaining how Earth’s rotations contribute to day and night.  Children will love this experiment and it can work with all age groups!
• This interactive extended dictionary for kids helps children to actually see the solar system and click on various elements for an in-depth explanation.  It provides facts, pictures, and definitions.  In addition to highlighting Earth and the sun, it can also be helpful for lessons on outer space as it extends well beyond the two basic elements.
• This site provides a fun activity for children to utilize online to better understand Earth’s rotation, its position, time between rotations, etc…It is interactive and presents the correct answer automatically after children give the questions a try first!

Book: On Earth
Author/Illustrator: G. Brian Karas
Publisher: Puffin Books, A Division of The Penguin Group
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 32 pages
Grade Range: Recommended K-3
ISBN: 978-0-399-24025-6

The Sun: Our Nearest Star, written by Franklyn M. Branley and illustrated by Edward Miller does a wonderful job of explaining our daytime star, the sun.  The book includes a beautifully illustrated analogy of the size of the sun compared to the size of the earth as a beach ball compared to a pea.  The book explains how far away the sun is by how long it would take a space ship to travel to the sun compared to the moon and how long it takes light to reach the earth from the sun compared to the light from the other stars.

We learn from the book, that “without the sun,  earth would be cold and dark.  No Plants would grow, no animals, no bugs, birds or flowers.  Nothing could live here.  The sun keeps us alive.”  There is an introduction to solar energy and then we are left with the fact that the sun has warmed our planet for millions of years and will continue to for many more millions of years.

The book is filled with vibrant illustrations that help to the relay the scientific concepts presented by Branley and includes two activities to help students find out more about the sun.

Curriculum Connections
The Sun: Our Nearest Star would be great to use as an introduction to the solar system.  It could be used in the early grades to teach about the relationships between the sun and the earth and the role of the sun in providing energy and light to warm the land, air and water.  (Va SOL 1.6a) With older students this book could be used to introduce the sun as an important source of solar energy and renewable energy.  (VA SOL 3.11a,b)

Additional Resources

• Lesson Plan: The Sun: Our Local Star includes a reading comprehension passage and questions.
• The Sun  is an interactive website that includes links to vocabulary, a song about the sun and a question from the information provided.
• Star Stuff First Grade  is a collection of lesson plans related to the Virginia SOLs.
• Tour the Planets card game.

Book: The Sun: Our Nearest Star
Author: Franklyn Branley
Illustrator: Edward Miller
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: 2002
Pages:  25
Grade Range: K – 3
ISBN: 9780060285340

Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights is a story written by Debbie S. Miller and illustrated by Jon Van Zyle.  Miller, a resident of Fairbanks, chronicles the seasonal changes that occur throughout the Alaskan wilderness.  The book starts and begins on June 21st, the summer solstice, and provides descriptions of how the animals that live in Alaska survive in the quickly changing environment.  With each page the author provides how many hours of daylight Fairbanks receives and the sunrise and sunset times for the 21st of each month.  Some of the animals that are included in the book are the bear, wolf, moose, rabbit and sandhill crane.  The important role the sun plays in the ecosystem of Alaska is highlighted throughout the book.  The aurora borealis are mentioned but there is also another phenomenon that is discussed that may not be as popular as the northern lights. That phenomenon is known as sun dogs, sun dogs are refracted light halos that form in ice crystals of cirrus clouds and are easily seen during the day.  This book is easy to read yet provides a wealth of information about the Land of the Midnight Sun.

Curriculum Connections
Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights is appropriate for instruction in a number of different lessons and activities. It can be used in the instruction of weather observations.(K.9a) The sun as a source of energy and warm, seasonal changes and how they affect animals.(1.6a)  Weather phenomena and the motions of the Earth and sun.(2.7a)  Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights is an excellent book to explain that the length of a day or night is closely related to your location on our planet.

Additional Resources

• Fog in a Jar this activity is easy and related to weather and can be used to teach students about the atmopshere.
• Cloudscapes this lesson plan is about the four types of clouds and allows students to make clouds using cotton balls.
• Digital model of Earth rotating around the sun, this can be used to explain why the days in Alaska are so much longer in the summer and why the nights are long in the winter.

Book: Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights
Author: Debbie S. Miller
Illustrator: Jon Van Zyle
Publisher: Walker Publishing Company
Publication Date: 2003
Pages: 28
Grade Range: 1-4
ISBN: 0-8027-9636-2