As the World Turns-Who Turned Out the Lights?

[20 Minutes]

Now that we’ve had Daylight Savings Time and spring has sprung, are you enjoying your longer days? Are you able to play outside with friends now that the cold winter weather is coming to an end? Just how does night turn into day and day turn into night anyway?

You'll need:

• a table or a friend • a flashlight (the sun) • a very dark shirt to wear (the earth) • a small mirror (the moon

What to do:

1. If possible, print out these directions. Read them through with your child before you begin.
2. With your child, gather everything you need.
3. Tell your child that he is going to be the earth, and you are going to be the sun (if he wants to do this alone, he can simply place the flashlight on a table, about chest high).
4. Help your child put on a dark shirt.
5. Turn the flashlight on, and let your child turn out the lights.
6. Invite your child to stand about one foot away from the flashlight, and aim it just above waist level.
7. Ask your child to turn slowly to the left and away from the flashlight, holding the small mirror in his outstretched hand.
8. Help your child angle the mirror so the light reflects on the back of his shirt.
9. Let your child continue turning, looking at the front of his shirt as he turns.
10. Ask him how he thinks this might represent the earth and the sun and day turning into night.

Let's Talk: Ideas to Explore Together.

• When it is noon in China, where might it be night time?
• Why is it daylight for so long in Alaska in the summer and dark outside so much of the day in the winter?

Useful information:

When your child turned his body slowly away from the sun, he was imitating the earth rotating on its axis. As he turned to the right (east), the sun moved across the continents, exposing that portion of the “earth” to daylight. The “sunlight” reflected by the moon (the small mirror), helped to brighten the side of the earth that was not directly facing the sun. When the earth was the darkest, the moon could not reflect any light to that segment of the earth (night time).