​So fifth graders have made sense of gravity's role in orbiting bodies.  Gravity pulls us back to the center of the Earth when we jump and it also keeps celestial bodies in orbit around the Sun.

And now we are starting to notice things about the Sun.  

Fifth graders have made sense of how gravity plays a pivotal role in keeping the planets in orbit around the sun.  In fact, the gravitational pull of the Sun keeps the planets in a circular orbit despite the planets wanting to go in a straight path.

But what else does gravity "do?"  Knowing that if we were to jump up on the Earth anywhere, we'd always land "down."  But is "down" the same for everyone?  How can we explain how gravity plays a role on what happens to us when we jump?  And is there a better way to explain this phenomenon?

Check out our continued work on modeling!

One of the most common questions fifth graders generated regarding the Sun's relationship with all the other planets was the reasoning behind why the planets orbit the Sun in the first place.  Using Newton's First Law of Motion (which states that things will stay in motion unless something stops/accelerates them or changes their direction), students were wondering why the planets don't just fly in a straight path, like his law states.  Using a ball/string model, students began seeing the connection between how the planets 

After fifth graders made sense of the planets' locations in relationship to the sun, students begin interacting with the Driving Question Board.  The DQB grounds our thinking, and has us coherently build upon one idea to the next. As we try to understand the many patterns that occur on the earth, we're also trying to develop understanding as to why those patterns occur in the first place.

 Fifth graders have started their next unit focused on everyday patterns on the Earth.  They'll be making sense of the causes of these patterns by developing models and constructing explanations...just like real scientists do!