First Grade · Science · week 29

Day sky vs night sky

Compare and draw the day sky and night sky, noting which objects are visible in each.

The sky looks very different during the day compared to at night. During the day, you can see the Sun and sometimes clouds, but the sky is too bright to see stars, even though they are still there. At night, the sky turns dark, and you can see the Moon and stars instead.

Comparing the day sky and night sky is a great way to notice a pattern: certain things are only visible at certain times.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Do the day-sky drawing and the night-sky drawing on the same day for the freshest comparison.
  • Ask "are the stars really gone, or just hard to see?" -- a great early lesson in observation versus reality.
  • Keep supervision in mind for the nighttime look; a porch or window view is plenty.
  • Compare the two finished drawings side by side and talk through every difference together.
Talk about it:
  • What is different between your day-sky drawing and your night-sky drawing?
  • Are the stars actually gone during the day?
  • What is your favorite thing to look for in the night sky?

Mastery looks like: They produce a day-sky and night-sky drawing or description and correctly explain that stars are present but not visible during the day.

Common stumbles: Believing stars only exist at night; leaving out the Moon, which is sometimes visible during the day too.

Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Science for this learner.
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