Students will encounter puzzling light and shadow patterns using a lamp-and-globe setup, generate and refine investigable questions about Earth’s rotation, revolution, axial tilt, gravity, and energy distribution, and produce a focused research question with a testable hypothesis recorded in their Celestial Investigation Research Notebook.

Students will design a systematic, peer-reviewed methodology to investigate how Earth’s axial tilt, rotation, revolution, gravity, and alignment to the North Star affect light distribution and seasonal patterns using their lamp-and-model setup. By the end of the phase, each team will produce a detailed investigation plan that clearly connects their research question to specific variables, procedures, and quality control measures.

Students will systematically collect light-angle and illumination data using their Earth-Sun lamp models, documenting conditions, axial alignment to Polaris, and any anomalies in their Celestial Investigation Research Notebooks to build a reliable evidence base for later analysis.

Students will interpret their seasonal light-angle and model data to identify patterns, trends, and anomalies; create visualizations that reveal unequal heating and axial tilt effects; and connect their evidence back to their original research question and hypothesis before moving to formal conclusions.

Students will draw evidence-based conclusions from their Earth–Sun model investigations, explicitly acknowledge limitations, generate new investigable questions, and present their full investigation—from question to methodology to analysis to conclusions—to an authentic audience during the Celestial Showcase.