Understanding our Sky - Do You Know Why the Moon has Phases?
My students need a real model of our solar system in order to understand the phases of the Moon and the relationships between the Earth, Sun, Moon, and other planets.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Fitz's classroom raised $551
This project is fully funded
My Students
"The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir usâ"there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, or falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries."
â" Carl Sagan
My students come to our school excited to be there and eager to learn.
Some of them ride public transportation for over an hour each way through some very tough neighborhoods to come to school every day. They deserve the resources they need in order to be successful in high school.
My Project
My students were fascinated by astronomy last year. While I had a lot of videos to show them and we went to the park to make a 2,000 ft scale model of the solar system, it was difficult to explain ideas like retrograde motion, phases of the Moon and Venus, and eclipses without a real 3D model. Being able to see the objects in orbit in real time from different angles is a much better learning experience than trying to understand a diagram in a textbook.
This model is an excellent teaching piece in that the objects actually rotate and spin around each other. It is hand driven and through a series of cogs and gears, the Earth and Venus orbit the Sun and the Moon orbits the Earth, all at the same time!
My students need this model in order to fully understand the mechanics of our fascinating solar system.
Astronomy is a very intriguing topic for my students with their natural curiosity, and I this model will help me explore our solar system with them.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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