Today, Year 5 embarked on an exciting hands-on activity to deepen their understanding of Earth's rotation and how it causes day, night, and time zones. The children created their own model, using a ball of clay to represent Earth, a dowel to demonstrate its axis tilt and rotation, and a torch to symbolise the Sun.
Through this interactive experiment, the children were able to visually explore how Earth rotates on its tilted axis, causing different parts of the planet to experience sunlight or darkness at various times. The children also discussed the significance of time zones and how Earth's rotation impacts the way we measure time across the globe.
As the torch illuminated one side of the clay Earth, the children observed how light represents daytime, while the shadowed side represents night. This hands-on approach helped them connect scientific concepts to real-life and why we have day and night.
