• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Day and night). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Why does the Sun seem to move across the sky? (It is falling / The Earth is rotating / The wind pushes it / The Sun orbits the Earth each day) → The Earth is rotatingPrompt: Think about watching trees from a moving train.
2. The Sun rises at 07:30 and sets at 19:45. How many hours of daylight are there? Give your answer in hours as a decimal (e.g. 12.5). → 12.25 hPrompt: Count the whole hours first, then the extra minutes.
3. Day and night: which statement is NOT true? (Shadows change length and direction during the day. / Day and night happen because the Earth orbits the Sun. / It is always daytime somewhere on Earth. / The Earth rotates once about every 24 hours.) → Day and night happen because the Earth orbits the Sun.Prompt: Rotation and orbit are different movements.

• Ask why we see the Moon change shape over a month.
• Share the objective: The Moon and its phases. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Among the phases of the Moon, starting from new moon, which comes straight after "waxing gibbous"?
• Step 1: new moon → waxing crescent → first quarter → waxing gibbous → full moon → waning gibbous → last quarter → waning crescent
• Step 2: So the answer is: full moon
• Answer: full moon
• 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. Among the phases of the Moon, starting from new moon, which comes straight after "first quarter"? (new moon / waning gibbous / waxing gibbous / full moon) → waxing gibbousPrompt: "Waxing" means the lit part is growing.
2. Why do we always see the same side of the Moon? (Earth blocks the other side / The other side is always dark / It does not spin at all / It spins once in the same time it takes to orbit Earth) → It spins once in the same time it takes to orbit EarthPrompt: The far side is not always dark.

• 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 8 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. Why do we always see the same side of the Moon? (It spins once in the same time it takes to orbit Earth / The other side is always dark / Earth blocks the other side / It does not spin at all) → It spins once in the same time it takes to orbit EarthPrompt: The far side is not always dark.
2. Among the phases of the Moon, starting from new moon, which comes straight after "new moon"? (waning gibbous / last quarter / waning crescent / waxing crescent) → waxing crescentPrompt: "Waxing" means the lit part is growing.

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