Here in New England we call it Mud Season or Sugaring Season, depending on how hard the sun is shining or the snow or rain is falling in mid-March. The other day, at the end of what looked like a long afternoon in one third grade class being led by a substitute (or what we call (“guest”) teacher, I stopped in to see if I could lend a hand.

The subject was science; the topic: “How Does the Sun Affect Earth?” The night before, third graders’ families had sprung ahead into daylight savings time. Their little engines were racing to keep up, to what they weren’t quite sure.

I asked them, “What does the sun have to do with day and night?”

“The sun makes it day and the moon makes it night.”

“The sun makes it light and dark.”

“The sun shines on the earth and it shines on the moon.”

“The earth goes round the sun and around the moon.”

“Where is the sun right now do you think,” I asked, “Let’s go outside and find out, but remember we can’t look at the sun because it can hurt your eyes so we just have to glance at it for a second. What does glance mean?”

Going outside was the best strategy for this class at the end of this day. We walked out the back of the school and determined the sun was “behind” the school. Then we learned this was in the southwestern sky. We walked around the building and kept trying to find North, South, East and West, discovering that the directions seemed to move as we moved around the building, or did they? It was so confusing and so much fun!

When we came inside and opened our science books, the words made a little more sense to everybody. “During the day, the sun seems to move across the sky. However, the sun does not really move at all. Instead, Earth is moving. Earth is rotating on its axis, which only makes it seem as if the sun is moving.”

During the day third graders can appear to move all over the place at the same time. However, each one is actually moving to their own particular rhythm and need. It takes the skillful eye of the teacher to notice the unique orbit of each beautiful little planet in her solar system.