• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Stars: when we see them and what they are). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. What are stars? (small lights hanging from the sky / holes in the sky / huge, very hot balls of glowing gas, very far away / pieces of the Moon) → huge, very hot balls of glowing gas, very far awayPrompt: The Sun is one of them.
2. Stars: which statement is true? (Stars disappear in the morning and are made again at night. / Stars give out their own light. / The Moon is a star. / Stars are small and close to Earth.) → Stars give out their own light.Prompt: Remember the Sun is our nearest star.
3. True or false? All stars are the same size and brightness. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: What hides stars, and how far away are they?

• Ask why we see the Moon change shape over a month.
• Share the objective: Why we see different stars in different seasons. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Why can we see different constellations in winter and summer?
• Step 1: Earth's orbit changes which stars are in the night sky through the year.
• Step 2: So the answer is: As Earth orbits the Sun, our night side faces different parts of space.
• Answer: As Earth orbits the Sun, our night side faces different parts of space.
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. In the Northern Hemisphere one star seems to stay still while others circle around it. Which star is it? (the Sun / the Moon / Polaris, the North Star / Mars) → Polaris, the North StarPrompt: It sits almost straight above Earth's North Pole.
2. True or false? The constellations you see at night change through the year. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Earth spins (daily) and orbits (yearly). Which explains what?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. What causes this pattern: stars appear to circle around Polaris during the night? (the Moon orbiting Earth / Earth spinning on its axis once a day / Earth orbiting the Sun once a year) → Earth spinning on its axis once a dayPrompt: Daily patterns come from spinning; yearly patterns from orbiting.
2. Orion is easy to see on winter evenings in Europe, but not on summer evenings. Has Orion moved? (No, in summer Orion is in the sky during the day, hidden by sunlight. / Yes, it shrinks in summer. / Yes, it flies south for the summer. / No, it is destroyed every summer.) → No, in summer Orion is in the sky during the day, hidden by sunlight.Prompt: Stars do not go away; where is the Sun?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-5.