1st Grade Earth & Sun Animations

daynightFirst grade students in Mr. McFarling’s class at Davis Elementary have been learning about the Earth and sun and how the Earth’s rotation causes day and night (SOL1.6). So today I taught them how to make some simple animations explaining those concepts using Keynote. First I gave them a template that you can download by clicking here. I showed them how to make text boxes to label the day and night side of the Earth. Then we went to the inspector and added a “build,” or animation, to each label. On the next slide, the students used the Shapes tool to make a circle for the sun. I explained how to change the color to yellow and how to move the shape to the back so it went behind the other shapes. They placed the sun behind the hills in the east (or right side) and added an “action” to it by making it move from the horizon to the top of the slide, showing the sun rising in the east. Then they put the shadow in the correct spot. On the last slide they did the same thing but changed the animation and shadow to show the sun setting in the west. Finally they recorded a voiceover explaining the different animations. Take a look at a couple of student examples: John and Aden.