Question Exploration: What Are the Solar Activity Sunspot Cycles?

What are the solar activity sunspot cycles? Sunspots increase and decrease through an average cycle of 11 years.  This Question Exploration helps Ss explain how the spotless Sun turns dark, releasing solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

Question Exploration Routine is an instructional methods that teachers can use to help a diverse student population understand a body of content information by carefully answering a critical question to arrive at a main idea answer. The Concept Comparison Routine is used help compare and contrast key concepts. Specifically, students use like and unlike characteristics and categories shared and not shared by two or more concepts to better understand the overall concept. Students taught using the Content Enhancement routines earned higher total test scores than did students taught using the lecture-discussion method.

Personally, I use the Concept Comparison Frame Routine, and Question Exploration Routine to figure out what I want to say and how I want to say it. It keeps my "Sage on the Stage" time limited to what fits onto 2-3 pages (about 45 minutes of directed class discussion). This product includes the completed question exploration guide, and the student guide blanked except for vocabulary, scaffolding questions, and graphics already filled in.

This Question Exploration Routines are classroom tested to help students with the following Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards in Science.

Students Will Be Able To (SWBAT)

• SC.8.E.5.6 Create models of solar properties including: rotation, structure of the Sun, convection, sunspots, solar flares, and prominences.
• SC.912.E.5.4 Explain the physical properties of the Sun and its dynamic nature and connect them to conditions and events on Earth.
• SC.912.E.7.5 Predict future weather conditions based on present observations and conceptual models and recognize limitations and uncertainties of such predictions.
• SC.912.E.7.7 Identify, analyze, and relate the internal (Earth system) and external (astronomical) conditions that contribute to global climate change.

Related Resources

• Concept Compare Frame: Solar Structure (Interior, Surface, and Atmosphere)
• StayGiant Graphing Lab Activity: Plotting Sunspots vs. Global Warming Bundle
• Graphing Lab Activity:Plotting Sunspots vs. Global Warming (WORD DOCX version)
• Graphing Lab Activity: Plotting Sunspots vs. Global Warming (GOOGLE DOC version)
• Graphing Lab Activity: Plotting Sunspots vs. Global Warming (GOOGLE SHEETS ver)

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