Lesson video

Hello, everybody.

I'm so pleased to see you all again.

My name's Mrs. Hart and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today.

We're going to have a great time.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit Seasonal Changes: Autumn and Winter.

Today's lesson is called Day Length in Winter.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to observe what happens to day length in winter.

Some of the learning might be new today and we're going to work really hard together, but don't worry, I'm here to help you and we're going to have lots of fun.

Let's get going.

Let's start today's lesson with our keywords.

First of all, I will say the keyword.

It'll be my turn and then you can say it back to me.

So today's first keyword is, my turn, light.

Your turn.

Very good.

It is light during daytime.

Our next keyword is, my turn, season.

Your turn.

Great work.

Seasons are periods of similar weather.

In the UK there are four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Our next keyword, my turn, is winter.

Your turn.

Winter is the coldest season of the year.

It is between autumn and spring.

My turn, day length.

Your turn.

Day length is how long it is light for during a day.

This happens between sunrise and sunset.

And our last keyword today is, my turn, time.

Your turn.

Time tells you how long something takes to happen.

We're going to see these words in our learning today, so don't worry if you're not sure what they mean because I'll explain them to you as we go through the lesson.

Today's lesson is in two parts.

The first part is day length in winter and we're going to start that now.

Lucas and Sofia are talking about light and dark and at the bottom of our slide I can see a warning, and this warning says, do not look at the sun.

This is a really important warning because looking at the sun can damage our sight.

So we should never look at the sun even if it's behind some clouds.

Lucas says, "In the daytime, I can see the sun in the sky.

I know it's daytime because the sun gives us light." Sofia says, "At night it is dark, and I cannot see the sun in the sky.

Does that mean that the sun goes away at night?" What do you think? Pause the video now and have a chat with your partner and come back when you think you have an answer.

What did you decide? Where does the sun go at night? Does it disappear? Does it switch off? Perhaps you said something different.

Should we find out some more? When it is light outside, it means that the part of the Earth where we live is being lit by the sun, even if the sun is hidden behind clouds.

And here we can see two photographs of when our part of the earth is being lit by the sun.

And one day where people are cycling looks very sunny and the picture of the park looks like a cloudy day.

The light helps us to see everything around us.

Have a look around you now.

Is it daytime? Can you see everything easily around you? When it is dark outside, the Sun is still shining just on another part of Earth, not the part where we live.

And we call this nighttime.

And here we can see a picture of a forest in darkness, so it must be nighttime in this forest.

This means there is no light or less light for us to see things.

Have you noticed that at nighttime when it's darker, it can be harder for us to see things around us.

When it is dark outside, we often switch on lights inside buildings, in our cars, or even use a torch to help us to see.

And here we can see some street lights and house lights.

And this child is using a torch so that he can read at nighttime.

Perhaps when you go home after school, do you switch the lights on to help you see when you get in? It is the season of winter and Lucas is going home from school.

And we can see Lucas' journey home from school looks pretty dark already.

I can see a car with some lights on.

Lucas says, "In the summer, I go home from school and play outside because it is light.

In the winter, I stay inside and read a book after school because it is already dark." Have you ever noticed this? What do you like to do after school in summer? Perhaps it's something outdoors like going to the park or going for a walk.

What about in winter? If it's dark, do you go straight home? Perhaps you like to go home and watch the television or read a book like Lucas.

What do you like to do after school when it's dark? The amount of light that we see each day changes in different seasons throughout the year.

Do you remember those four seasons we talked about earlier? We have autumn, winter, spring, and summer.

And here we can see a light summer evening and the children are outside playing football.

And we can also see a dark winter evening, the sky looks very dark.

We can see street lights and house lights and even the lights from a car.

It looks very different even though it's the same time of day.

And now we have a check for understanding and it's a true or false check.

True or false? The amount of light that we see during the day stays the same all year.

Pause the video now and come back when you have an answer.

But what did you think? The amount of light we see during the day stays the same all year.

True or false? This is false, but how do we know this? Is it I think this because the amount of light we see during the day changes in different seasons? Or is it because it is always light in daytime and dark at night? Again, pause the video and have a chat with your friend, and come back when you've decided.

So what did you decide? I think this because the amount of light we see during the day changes in different seasons.

We're going to find out some more about that now.

Lucas says, "I have observed that it is darker for longer in the season of winter." Do you remember when winter is? That's right, it's the months of December, January, and February.

Sofia says, "This means the days are shorter in winter." Great work, children.

In winter there is less daylight and so the day length is shorter.

This is why it is darker when Lucas comes home from school.

And here we can see a child at home after school in winter and it's dark so she's staying inside and playing on her tablet.

And after school in summer it's the same time but look, it's still light.

So perhaps rather than playing on a tablet, you might go and play at the park.

And now we have our next check for understanding.

We need to finish this sentence.

In the season of winter, the day length is longer, shorter, or sunnier? Pause the video now and come back with your answer.

So what did you decide in the season of winter? The day length is shorter.

Well done if that's what you said.

This is what we talked about earlier that when we go home from school in winter it's often already dark so we can't stay outside and play.

And now we have another check.

What happens in winter? Is it that it is darker for more hours every day? It is darker for less hours every day? Or it is always dark? Hmm, have a think.

Is it winter now? What do you notice? Is it darker for more hours every day, less hours every day, or it's always dark? Pause the video now and have a chat with a partner, and come back when you think you've worked out the answer.

Well, how did you get on? Okay, let's see if we can answer this question.

What happens in winter? It is darker for more hours every day and that's why we have more hours of darkness and less opportunity to play outside.

Well done if that's what you said.

And here's our first task, Task A.

Tell a partner which activities would be difficult to do after school in winter when it is dark.

We can see six activities here.

We've got playing at the park, watching television, doing a jigsaw puzzle, having a picnic, going for a walk, or playing indoors.

So you need to look at each of these activities and tell your partner which you think it would be difficult to do after school in winter when it is dark.

Why would it be difficult to do these activities? Why would they be better suited to perhaps summer? Have a chat with your friend and then come back when you've chatted about each of these activities.

Off you go.

Well, how did you get on? Which of the activities would be difficult to do after school in winter when it is dark? Lucas says, "I would easily do the indoor activities, the jigsaw puzzle, playing indoors, or watching television when it is dark after school in the winter." Good choices, Lucas.

Sofia says, "It will be difficult to do the outdoor activities like having a picnic, going for a walk, and playing outside when it is dark after school in winter." I think you're right, Sofia.

I'm not sure I'd like to go for a picnic outdoors in the dark.

Did you say the same or did you say something different? What reasons did you have? Did you think the same as Lucas and Sofia? Thus it would be easier to do the indoor activities after school in the winter because then you could switch on a light, couldn't you, and see what you're doing.

Well, well done.

Let's move on to the next part of our lesson.

The second part of our lesson is called observing day length.

Sam goes to bed at the same time each evening.

She observes, do you remember? Observe means looking at something very closely.

She observes if it is light or dark and this is what she says.

"In the season of summer, I observe that it is still light when I go to bed.

Even when I close my curtains, it is still light in my bedroom.

I can hear birds chirping outside and older children still playing outside." And we can see a photograph of a child going to bed in summer and it's still light.

Have you ever experienced this? It can be very difficult to get to sleep when it's still light and there's lots of noise outside.

Sam says, "I go to bed in the season of winter at the same time.

I observe that it is dark outside.

I think that this means that the day length is getting shorter." And here we have a photograph of a child going to bed at the same time in the winter and it's already dark outside.

Here's our check for understanding.

Which skills help us to investigate day length? Which skills was Sam using just then? Was it her observing skills, her grouping skills, or her naming skills? Pause the video now to have a chat with your partner and come back when you have an answer.

So which skills would help us and help Sam to investigate day length? It's our observing skills and observing is when we look really closely at something.

Sometimes we use other senses too.

Well done if that's what you said.

Sam wants to find out more about day length in different seasons.

How could Sam investigate this? We've got a picture of the same time of day but one is in the winter and you can see the car lights and how dark it is, and then the other picture is the same time but in the summer when it's still light and the sun is still shining on our part of the Earth.

How could Sam investigate this? Which skills did we just say might help her? That's right, she could use her observation or her observing skills.

Sam will use her observing skills to investigate day length.

And do you remember that the day length is how long the sun is shining on our part of the Earth and how long it's light for? Sam says, "I will record the time when it gets dark each day.

I think it will get dark earlier when it is winter." What do you think? Do you agree with Sam? Let's find out some more.

What should Sam use to tell the time? Do you have something that you use to tell the time? Perhaps you wear something or perhaps you can see something in the room where you are now.

Have a little look.

What could you use to tell the time? Sam needs a clock.

Is that what you said? Sam needs a clock so that she knows what time it is when it gets dark each day.

You could use a wall clock.

There might be a clock on your adult's phone.

Or perhaps you're wearing a watch, it might be a digital watch and these will all tell us what time it is.

And we can use that to help us observe what time it gets dark each day.

Can you tell the time using a clock? Let's have a little look, shall we? What can we use to measure how long a day is in different seasons? Is it a thermometer, a clock, or a ruler? Pause the video now and have a chat with your partner.

Which one was it which will help us to measure time? Well done if you said the clock.

Great work.

Sam's sister helps Sam to tell the time using a clock.

Sam's sister says, "This clock shows four o'clock." Let's have a good look at this clock together, shall we? The shorthand, which is the shorter arrow, is pointing at the four and the long hand or the longer arrow is pointing at the 12, which means it's four o'clock.

The time changes and Sam's sister helps her again.

She says, "This clock shows half past four." Let's have another look, shall we? The long hand is now pointing at the six, the half past.

Can you see that longer arrow pointing down at the six? This is a half past time.

The shorthand or the shorter arrow has gone past the four but it hasn't reached the five yet, so it's half past four.

Thanks for your help, Sam's sister.

That's really useful.

Sam and her sister record the time when it gets dark in different months during winter and they've completed a table together.

At the top it says time it gets dark in winter and for December they've written four o'clock, for January they've written nearly five o'clock, and for February they've written after half past five.

Sam says, "It is darker earlier in December.

This means that day length in December is shortest." Great work, Sam.

Sam says, "I wonder if there is a day in winter when it gets dark at the earliest time?" And her sister replies, "Yes! December the 21st is usually the shortest day of the year in the UK." December the 21st is the shortest day when we have the least amount of daylight.

Aisha says, "On the 21st of December I observed it is already dark when school ends." Have you ever noticed that when you leave school and it's getting dark or it is dark already? Alex says, "On December the 21st I observed it is really dark when we're eating our evening meal." And we can see a photograph here of a dark evening in the wintertime.

When is the shortest day in the UK? Is it the 21st of March, 21st of June, or 21st of December? Pause the video now and come back when you have your answer.

How did you get on? Hopefully you remembered from our earlier slides or perhaps you remembered that the shortest day of the year is in winter and I know that December is in winter.

So well done If you said that the 21st of December is the shortest day when we get the least amount of sunlight in the UK.

Great work.

And here's our next task, Task B.

Part one.

How do you know when it is winter? Aisha says, "What can we observe that tells us if we are in the season of winter? What kind of things do you like to do in winter?" Sam says, "What kind of weather do we usually get in winter? What happens to the length of the days?" What have you observed in the season of winter? Pause the video now and come back when you've got your answers.

So how do you know when it is winter? Well, Aisha says, "I can see deciduous trees with only a few leaves." Do you remember what deciduous trees are? That's right.

Those are the trees that lose their leaves every year.

So she can see some deciduous trees that only have a few leaves left and some have no leaves left at all.

Aisha says, "I like staying inside in winter.

I like to read and play with my toys.

It's my birthday in winter, so I always have a party." Is it your birthday in winter? Sam says, "The weather is often cold and frosty in winter.

Sometimes it is icy or snowy.

It is dark on my way home from school, so I think the days are getting shorter." What have you observed in the season of winter? Perhaps you said something similar to Aisha and Sam.

Perhaps you observed or noticed something different.

Well, well done everybody.

That's the first part of our task completed.

The second part of our task is to record your observations of when it gets dark each month in winter.

And here we have a table to complete.

And it says, is it dark at? And then down the side we've got different activities that we do each day.

Home time, the time we go home from school.

Is it dark at dinner time when we have our dinner? Is it dark at bedtime? And at the bottom it says record time here.

That's where you can write what time you observed it got dark.

At the top we also have each month, so we need to answer those questions for each month in winter, for December, for January, and for February.

So this task will have to be done over a period of three months.

It's going to take a little bit of time and hopefully over that time you'll notice the changes and if the days are getting longer or shorter.

So pause the video now and you can start to get this activity ready, but it won't be finished until you've made your observations across three months.

Well, how did you get on? Did you observe over all three months? I can't believe it's been so long.

It's nice to see you again.

Well, let's have a look.

This was my observations.

I noticed in December it was dark at home time.

That's why I've ticked it.

It was dark at dinner time and it was dark at bedtime.

I observed that it was nearly four o'clock when it got dark in December.

Was yours similar to mine or perhaps it was different? In January it wasn't dark at home time at the end of school but it was dark at dinner time and bedtime.

And I noticed that it was getting dark at about half past four in January.

And in February, it wasn't dark at home time or at dinner time but it was dark at bedtime and I noticed that it was getting dark each evening after five o'clock.

Did you notice something similar to me? I noticed that the days were getting slightly longer.

It was shortest in December and then getting longer in January and longer again in February as we got towards the end of winter.

Perhaps you noticed the same as I did.

Well, well done.

That was a lot of work over three months, wasn't it? Well done if you completed that.

Great work, everybody.

So, here's what we've learnt in our lesson today all about day length in winter.

The amount of light that we see each day changes throughout the year.

Day length is shorter in the season of winter.

This means it's darker for longer.

A clock can be used to help record what time it becomes dark each evening.

I hope that you enjoyed today's lesson and I hope that you observe those things too.

Perhaps you thought about different activities that you like to do in winter when it's cold and dark.

But it was great to see you and I'll see you again soon.

Well done, everybody.

Bye.