Discovering Night and Day with Deakin University

“How do we get night and day?” 

“How far away is the Sun?”

“Which one is bigger? The Sun, the Moon or the Earth?”

These are just some of the questions our Year 3/4 students are investigating this term, as part of our whole school science Concept Curriculum. Our focus is on learning about how night and day occur, with a particular emphasis on using scientific vocabulary.

However, the most exciting part this term is having secured the expertise of Deakin University students who provide specialised weekly science lessons about night and day. Our sessions run each Thursday afternoon for one and a half hours, with 2 Deakin students being paired with 12 Highvale students. Year 3/4 students are particularly enjoying the small groups as well as the hands-on experiences Deakin is providing.

So far, we have compared the shapes and sizes of the Sun, Earth and Moon. Some of our minds were blown when we realised that the Sun is larger than the Earth (and that’s how people on Earth keep warm)! Another concept we investigated is that a shadow forms in the absence of light and that is how we get night and day. We have started exploring orbits and cannot wait to have our next lesson to learn more about this!

Check out the pictures below to see our discoveries about night and day.