Year 7 Earth and Space Sciences Resources

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Solar Astrolabe

Use this solar astrolabe to indirectly measure the altitude of the Sun. It is intended for use by students to conduct observations throughout the year of the Sun’s changing altitude in the day sky in the Southern hemisphere. Download the Adobe Acrobat file: Solar_Astrolabe_photocopy_master_V1

Students should use the below azimuthal grid recording chart to plot their results on.

Azimuthal grid recording chart

This chart is for students to use to plot the apparent path of the Sun or other celestial objects across the day or night sky. For instance, it could be used in conjunction with the above Solar astrolabe to record how the apparent path of the Sun across the day sky changes throughout the year.

Download the Adobe Acrobat file: Azimuthal_grid_recording_chart_V1

If you are a year 7 teacher and only have a couple of lessons to cover the seasons, I strongly suggest you take your class to your local planetarium. Ask the planetarium presenter to project the path of the Sun across the sky on each of the solstices and equinoxes and have your students record its path on the chart. They will be surprised at the differences throughout the year.

Interactive Sun Motion Demonstrator

This fantastic on-line resource can be used to show how the Sun’s location and movement changes depending on where you are on Earth.

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