Day and Night Guided Notes

Year 5 ScienceEarth and Space3 pages

About this worksheet

Guided notes for a Year 5 science lesson on day and night, filled in as the lesson goes. Four numbered sections hold fourteen gaps. They cover the spherical shape of the Sun, Earth and Moon, rotation on an axis in 24 hours, why one half of the Earth has night, and the Sun rising in the east and setting in the west. Two written notes ask why the UK has night while Australia has day, and why a stick's shadow changes during the day. The answer key gives each gap and model notes. It follows three England National Curriculum objectives on Earth and space.

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Day and Night Guided Notes: Earth and Space - page 1

Day and Night Guided Notes: Earth and Space - page 2

Curriculum objectives covered

Earth and space

“Describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as approximately spherical bodies”

Section 1 has two gaps on the spherical shape and a diagram of all three bodies.

Earth and space

“Describe the movement of the Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun in the solar system”

Partly met. Section 1 says the Earth orbits the Sun, but other planets do not appear.

Earth and space

“Use the idea of the Earth's rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky.”

Sections 2, 3 and 4 build this step by step, and both written notes ask pupils to use it.

What's inside this worksheet

1. The Shape of the Sun, Earth, and Moon

Three gaps on the Earth being roughly spherical and the Sun at the centre of the solar system, with a diagram of all three bodies.

2. Earth's Rotation on Its Axis

Four gaps for axis, rotation, 24 hours and one day, beside a diagram of the Earth spinning west to east.

3. Why We Have Day and Night

Three gaps, then a written answer on night in the UK and day in Australia.

4. The Sun's Apparent Movement Across the Sky

Four gaps on sunrise in the east, sunset in the west and why the movement only seems real, then a note on a stick's shadow.

How teachers use it

Torch and globe

Shine a torch on a globe while pupils fill Section 3. Put a sticker on the UK and turn the globe slowly.

Shadow stick

Put a stick in the playground and mark its shadow at 9am, noon and 2pm before pupils write the summary note.

Revision notes

Once complete, the sheet is a set of notes pupils can revise from at the end of the Earth and space unit.

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