Science

Go to the library and check out what is in the children's nonfiction and reference section. OUr libraray has a good size weather section. Also go to the teacher's store in town they may have some workbook/u/nit books that will give you some ideas.

Hi J.,

Start with the suggestions below to get ideas about the sun's features. You might also consider a trip to a planetarium, too (such as the one at Griffith Park), or the California Science Center (museum).

You don't mention your daughter's age, so her ability to understand the materials you help her gather must be taken into consideration. Remember it is HER project, not yours. Start with asking her to pose her own questions about the sun. If she can't come up with any, prod her a little with simple questions of your own, such as "How big is the sun? What is the sun made of? What makes it shine?" etc. No question is a stupid question. Every question will lead to an answer and greater knowledge -- that is the basis of science.

Things she will likely learn about are what gases compose the sun (mostly helium and hydrogen), the sun's gravity, heat, what sunspots are and solar flares. She can learn about how these things effect life on earth and our technology.

If she's in middle school, she might want to learn about solar wind, radiation emitted by the sun, why certain types of the sun's radiation are harmful to life on earth (not just humans!), what types are essential, how we can protect ourselves, etc. If she has an eye to the speculative, she might want to learn about other suns in the universe, the possibility that Jupiter might be reclassified as a sun, and if other solar systems might have planets that support life in some way.

As for the project itself, encourage her to be creative. The sun isn't flat, and, if the teacher allows it, her model shouldn't be, either. It's easy to create a sun from a large styrofoam ball, for example, and stick different elements onto it to illustrate the features. A trip to a craft store should generate lots of ideas of things to use, but just looking around the house for odds and ends is likely to allow her to create something just as inventive. Labels can be made from tooth picks and construction paper. Again, remember that this is HER project. You're there to help, not direct, and definitely not to create it. If it ends up looking like something an 8 year old did (and your daughter is about this age), well, that's totally appropriate! No need for you to beautify it. If your daughter creates something that is sloppy for her age and ability, you can suggest that she improve on it, but it is up to her to face the consequences at school.

Have fun with this -- it can be a great project!

Here's a terrific website that gives all kinds of daily information about the sun: http://spaceweather.com/

Another good site is http://www.sciencenews.org/. Enter "sun" in the search box to find quite a list of articles. There should be an inspiring idea in there somewhere!

I'm not sure of your daughters age but it sounds like she could just make a model of the sun and label the various features of the sun. Probably just a large display board/poster board with a picture of the sun and information about flares, sunspots, the different parts of the sun (core, corona, etc.)

Good luck,
K.

I know this may be difficult since we moms love to rescue our kids (believe me, I know), but the assignment is hers and should be her responsibility. You can direct her to the resources but putting together the presentation is her job. Good luck!

Just google it! It's your daughter's project, so she should take the lead. not sure how old she is, but my second grader had a science project recently. I just kept asking questions and she found the answers. Then we wrote down what she said for an answer. She typed the whole thing up and did a little demonstration.

You could ask questions like:
- What does the sun look like to us?
- What does it look like up close?
- How do we know what it looks like up close?
- Can we tell from earth when something different happens on the sun? How?
- Is our sun the same as other stars?

Then let hew answer the questions and write it up in an appropriate manner. She can create some visuals by painting some styrofoam balls or something. Have fun. I love stuff like this, so it is really hard for me not to get too involved. After all, it is HER PROJECT!

Solar Energy is wonderful for electricity in a home or for heating a swimming pool. It's natural (sun), doesn't cost anything and God given.