JASON Mission Center : Mission 1 - Lesson 3: How Energy Gets From the Sun to the Earth

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From: Monster Storms Mission 1: The Usual Suspects

Mission 1 - Lesson 3: How Energy Gets From the Sun to the Earth

Understand how energy gets from the sun to the Earth.

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Prepare

Preparation

Time Required: 60 minutes

Prepare a color transparency of the electromagnetic spectrum from the Mission 1 resources at the JASON Mission Center.
Make sure classroom Internet connections are working.
Obtain a projector to show pictures from the JASON Mission Center.
Collect enough drafting compasses to give one to each student.
Have drawing paper for each student.
Obtain enough colored pencils for the entire class to use.

Mission 1 Transparencies

Supporting Material


View	Transparencies to support Mission 1.

Motivate

Have students share the paragraphs they wrote abut the Dust Bowl event from the preceding lesson.
Ask them what factors caused this historic event.
Ask what kinds of energy were involved. (Wind energy, solar energy)
Show students the before and after pictures of hurricane and tornado damage from the Hurricane and Tornado Damage Gallery described on page 9 of the teacher’s edition.
Allow students to comment of the destruction that is evident from the photos.
Ask students to make inferences about where the source of the energy that caused the destruction originated.
List student responses on the board.

Hurricane Damage

Gallery


View	This gallery shows the damage that can be caused by hurricanes.

Teach

Place students into groups of four and have two students read Energy from the Sun on page 12 of the student edition, while the other students read Striking the Earth on page 13. Ask them to jot down the key points as they read. Then, have the groups take turns sharing what they learned.
Use the discussion prompts on pages 12 and 13 of the teacher’s edition to guide students after they have read and shared the articles in their groups.
Pause after reading the first three paragraphs and write electromagnetic spectrum and wavelength on the board. Explain that light comes in many different frequencies and wavelengths. Demonstrate this by describing waves in a pond. Large waves are taller but are further apart. Small waves are shorter but come closer together.
Display the transparency of the electromagnetic spectrum and ask students to comment on their knowledge of the various frequencies.
Explain that visible light only makes up a small portion of the sun’s energy.
Relate other frequencies such as microwaves to a microwave oven and radio waves to the waves that carry AM and FM radio transmissions.
Discuss the diagram on page 12 of the student edition.
Distribute compasses and drawing paper to each student. Have them make a pie chart of the percentage of energy that is absorbed by each factor. Having students estimate the amount of each percentage on the pie chart is acceptable.
Have students create a key and color code for each fraction of the chart.

Energy from the Sun

Mission Briefing Article


View	This article discusses phase changes of water and explains the various ways water can change between solid, liquid, and gaseous states.

Striking the Earth

Mission Briefing Article


View	What happens to sunlight when it arrives at Earth's atmosphere? About half of it is absorbed and reflected, and the other half makes it through to the surface of Earth. Find out how this light affects the atmosphere and produces our weather.

Reflect And Assess

Assessment


	Have students relate what factors in the earth’s atmosphere absorb the most and least energy by using their pie charts. Ask students to compare and contrast the energy that the earth receives during various times of the day and on sunny or cloudy days.

Follow-up


	Students should complete the JASON Journal activity described on page 12 of the teacher’s edition. The optional activity that suggests having students draw the electromagnetic spectrum is an excellent homework suggestion.