Observing Morning, Noon, and (almost) Night

What follows is a lesson that contains both the nature of science and science content.

Students will go outside to make observations.  Before we head outside, we will brainstorm about what we expect to observe outside. If students don't get there on their own, I will lead them to certain key points of observation that will be relevant later on... such as what animals do you see/hear?  What is the weather like?  Is it light, bright, or cloudy outside?  Etc. 

We will make observations at different times across a few days.  First thing in the morning, noon, and late afternoon before students head home.  We will also talk about our observations in a large or small group formats after each observation period. At this time we can ask questions, revisit ideas and discuss our findings.

The observation and discussion experience opens the opportunity to teach students a lot about the nature of science. Students will be collecting evidence and making observations.  They will probably experience repetition in nature and repetition in our discussions and observations.  We are not using "the scientific method"... they are participating in science in many other methods. Through discussion students learn that our ideas are open to revision because we discuss them before and after our observations.  Students will also experience science as a social and collaborative activity as we discuss and share our observations. 

After all of our observation periods are over, we will read  Morning, Noon, and Night  by Jean Craighead George.


This is a book about what kind of animals appear during different times of day.  The text and artwork paint a realistic picture of what the sky might look like during different times of day and what animals are doing.  This book would be a great way to teach about habitats, animals, or even the earth's rotation.  While this book delivers great content, it also reinforces ideas of the nature of science.  Since this is a non-fiction book, I could ask students how they think the information was collected.  This would hopefully lead them to connect that someone (a scientist!)  has to make observations to find out this information found in the book.