Eclipse Lesson Plan: Earth’s Place in the Universe

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Eclipse Lesson Plan.

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Eclipse, and supports the standard of analyzing the Earth-Sun-Moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of Sun and Moon eclipses. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Display an image of a solar eclipse, such as the one shown below:

Ask students:

What do you observe about the image?
Do you know what it is called when the Moon blocks the Sun? Explain.

Step 2: BUILD BACKGROUND

Read the description on the Eclipse topic page.
Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
Have students read one of the three Related Reading articles. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: ENGAGE

Students express what they learned about eclipses while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs

Make-a-Movie: Create a video journal from the perspective of an astrologist viewing a lunar or solar eclipse. Describe your observations and what you can infer about the Earth-Sun-Moon positions. (Essential Literacy Skill: Cite evidence to support analysis of what is explicitly said as well as inferences drawn)
Make-a-Map: Make a cycle map identifying and explaining the Earth-Sun-Moon positions leading up to and following a solar and moon eclipse. (Essential Literacy Skill: Determine central ideas and summarize key details)
Creative Coding: Code a newscast about an upcoming solar eclipse. Share details about how to safely view the event. (Essential Literacy Skill: Determine central ideas and summarize key details)
Primary Source Activity: Examine and analyze an image of a solar eclipse. (Essential Literacy Skill: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media)

Step 4: APPLY & ASSESS

Apply: Students take the Eclipse Challenge, applying essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Assess: Wrap up the lesson with the Eclipse Quiz.

Step 5: EXTEND LEARNING

Space Unit: Continue to build understanding around Earth’s place in the universe by exploring more BrainPOP space topics.

Additional Support Resources:

Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how BrainPOP Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas.
Modifications for BrainPOP Tools and Features: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
BrainPOP Tools and Features Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Grade: 03

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1

Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Grade: 03

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2

Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

Grade: 03

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.

Grade: 03

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.7

Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

Grade: 04

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1

Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

Grade: 04

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.2

Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

Grade: 04

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.4

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

Grade: 05

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.1

Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

Grade: 05

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.2

Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.

Grade: 05

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.4

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.

Grade: 05

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.7

Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.

Grade: 06

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.1

Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Grade: 06

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.2

Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

Grade: 06

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.7

Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

Grade: 07

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.1

Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Grade: 07

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.2

Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

Grade: 07

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.7

Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each medium’s portrayal of the subject (e.g., how the delivery of a speech affects the impact of the words).

Grade: 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.1

Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Grade: 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.2

Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.

Grade: 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.7

Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text, video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea.

Grade: 06

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.6

Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

Grade: 07

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.6

Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.

Grade: 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.6

Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.

Grade: 06, 07, 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.

Grade: 06, 07, 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.2

Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

Grade: 06, 07, 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.4

Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6–8 texts and topics.

Grade: 06, 07, 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.7

Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).