Unit Plan 28 (Grade 5 Science): Stars & Brightness Patterns
Grade 5 unit where students argue that the Sun looks brighter than other stars mainly because it’s much closer to Earth, using models and evidence.
Focus: Support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the Sun and other stars are due mainly to their relative distances from Earth.
Grade Level: 5
Subject Area: Science (Earth & Space Science — Space Systems)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students explore why the Sun looks so bright compared to other stars, even though the Sun is an average star. Through night-sky images, star charts, and brightness/distance models, they learn to distinguish between a star’s actual brightness and its apparent brightness from Earth. Students gather and organize evidence to argue that the Sun appears brightest mainly because it is much closer to us than other stars, not because it is uniquely powerful.
Essential Questions
- Why does the Sun look so much brighter than other stars in the sky?
- How does a star’s distance from Earth affect how bright it appears to us?
- What is the difference between how bright a star really is and how bright it looks from Earth?
- How can we use models, observations, and data to support an argument about star brightness?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Describe that the Sun is a star and that all stars are far away objects in space.
- Use images, diagrams, and distance models to compare the apparent brightness of the Sun and other stars.
- Explain, using models, how a light source looks brighter when closer and dimmer when farther away, even if the source itself does not change.
- Collect and organize evidence (observations, diagrams, simple data) about star brightness and distance.
- Write or present a scientific argument (claim + evidence + reasoning) that differences in the apparent brightness of the Sun and other stars are mainly due to their relative distances from Earth.
Standards Alignment — 5th Grade (NGSS-Aligned)
- 5-ESS1-1 — Support an argument that the apparent brightness of the Sun and stars is due to their relative distances from Earth.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can explain that the Sun is a star and that all stars are far away in space.
- I can use models or examples to show that when a light is closer, it looks brighter, and when it is farther, it looks dimmer.
- I can describe how the Sun looks bright in our sky even though some other stars may be larger or more powerful.
- I can use observations, diagrams, and simple data as evidence in my explanation.
- I can write or share a clear argument that differences in how bright stars look are mainly because of distance from Earth.