Julie K. Lundgren - Sun: Energy for Our Solar System

Use glossary words in a sentence. atmosphere
gravity
orbits
satellites
solar system
sunspots Before reading a book, it is important to set the stage for your child or student by using pre-reading strategies. This will help them develop their vocabulary, increase their reading comprehension, and make connections across the curriculum.

	Read the title and look at the cover.
	Take a picture walk by talking about the pictures/photographs in the book.
	Take a picture walk by talking about the pictures/photographs in the book. Implant the vocabulary as you take the picture walk. Be sure to talk about the text features such as headings, Table of Contents, glossary, bolded words, captions, charts/diagrams, or Index.
	Have students read the first page of text with you then have students read the remaining text.
	Strategy Talk use to assist students while reading. - Get your mouth ready - Look at the picture - Thinkdoes it make sense - Thinkdoes it look right - Thinkdoes it sound right - Chunk it by looking for a part you know
	Read it again.

After reading the book, work on the following questions with your child or students in order to check their level of reading comprehension and content mastery.

	Explain how sunspots are formed. (Summarize)
	What are some ways you use the Sun? (Text to self connection)
	What does the turning of the Earth cause? (Summarize)
	What is the Sun? (Asking questions)

The Suns rays are powerful but necessary for life on Earth. (Summarize)

	What are some ways you use the Sun? (Text to self connection)
	What does the turning of the Earth cause? (Summarize)
	What is the Sun? (Asking questions)

The Suns rays are powerful but necessary for life on Earth.

To see just how powerful they are, first find a sheet of very bright or very dark colored construction paper such as blue, purple, brown, or red. Next find objects of different sizes to place on the paper. These can be a clock, a shoe, an action figure, a doll, or a toy car. Now place the paper with the objects on it in direct sunlight for the day. What do you think will happen to the paper at the end of the day? When the Sun is down remove the objects from the paper. What do you notice? What changes have occurred?

At night, thousands of stars shine.

By day, you can see just one. Earth and the other planets circle the Sun, the star in the center of our solar system. The Sun looks much bigger than other stars because it is so much closer. Just 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) separate Earth from the Sun. SunMercuryVenusEarthMarsEarth is the third planet from the Sun.JupiterIt takes about eight minutes for the Suns light to reach Earth. The light from the next closest star takes over four years to reach Earth. The Sun, like other stars, is a huge ball of burning gases.

The Sun contains mostly hydrogen gas and some helium. The Suns surface temperature is about 10,000 Fahrenheit (5,700 Celsius). The Sun has a thin atmosphere called the corona. The coronas temperature is nearly 200 times hotter than the Suns surface. The Sun could fit about 1 million Earths inside of it.During a solar eclipse, the Moon hides part or most of the Sun and we can see the corona more easily. The Suns great weight causes it to have strong gravity. The Suns gravity holds its gases in a ball.

The Suns gravity also holds planets in their orbits. Eight planets revolve around our Sun.

The Suns burning gases make heat and light, causing Earths weather and climate. The Sun bathes Earth in the right amount of heat and light to support life. Earth has liquid water, needed for life. Plants use sunlight to make their own food. Animals and people eat plants and other animals for energy. The Sun formed over 4 billion years ago.

It has enough energy to burn for another 5 billion years.When you take a bite, you are eating energy that started at the Sun.

Just as Earth turns, so does the Sun. Our solar system also orbits the center of a group of stars and planets called the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky WayThe Milky Way is a giant swirling spiral of millions of stars. New stars form from the space dust and gas it contains. Our solar system lies in one arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The Suns gases move, swirl, and spurt. Cooler areas form dark sunspots.

Solar flares shoot hot streams of burning gas into space. sunspotsThe Suns surface changes constantly.When solar flares are active, we see glowing red and green lights called the aurora borealis in the winter night sky. The Suns movement does not cause sunrise and sunset. Instead, they happen because of the turning of the Earth. Long ago, people believed the Sun moved around the Earth.