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See [http://astro.unl.edu/naap/motion3/motion3_i.html] to assist educator in supporting the lesson with other resources.
The NAAP Motions of the Sun Lab uses an animated simulator, along with student guide and background information, to enable students to manipulate variables--including time of day, day of year, and observer's latitude--to understand the apparent motion of the sun in the sky.
Comments from expert scientist: Applications are cool, allow for some nice visualization of how an observer's view of the sun path changes and the differences between sidereal and solar time. Without a primer on the celestial coordinate system I fear a student could be a little lost.
Several similar NAAP labs (Basic Coordinates and Seasons Lab and The Rotating Sky Lab) precede this activity, but with sufficient student background knowledge, it can be used as a stand-alone.
Instructor's page for this activity is at [http://astro.unl.edu/naap/motion3/motion3_i.html], along with pre- and post- questionnaires.
Very well designed and user-friendly.
Simulator is interesting and draws the player in to figure out how to manipulate the variables. Easy to work with - needs a bit of content support.
Requires Adobe Flash Player.
