Unit Goals
1. Students will appreciate our position in the solar system.
2. Students will understand the relationships necessary to establish a solar system.
3. Students will understand the relationships with local objects within the planetary system.
2. Students will understand the relationships necessary to establish a solar system.
3. Students will understand the relationships with local objects within the planetary system.
Key Concepts |
- Moon Phases (Investigation 2 and 3)
- Positions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon and the effects these have on one another (Investigation 1 and 2)
- Lunar and Solar eclipses (Investigation 3)
- Common Objects in Solar Systems (Benchmark 2)
- Geo and Helio-centric models (Investigation 2)
- Kepler's laws (Investigation 4)
- Astronomers through time (throughout the lesson)
- Technology in Space Through time (During the Lowell Field trip and via the project)
Unit Content Standards
Standards: Strand 6: Earth and Space Science
Concept 3: Earth in the Solar System
PO 1. Explain the phases of the Moon in terms of the relative positions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon.
PO 2. Construct a model for the relative positions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon as they relate to corresponding eclipses.
PO 6. Explain the relationship among common objects in the solar system, galaxy, and the universe.
Strand 2: History and Nature of Science
Concept 1: History of Science as a Human Endeavor
PO 2. Describe how a major milestone in science or technology has revolutionized the thinking of the time (e.g., global positioning system, telescopes, seismographs, photography).
PO 4. Analyze the use of technology in science-related careers.
Concept 2: Nature of Scientific Knowledge
PO 1. Describe how science is an ongoing process that changes in response to new information and discoveries.
PO 2. Describe how scientific knowledge is subject to change as new information and/or technology challenges prevailing theories.
NGSS:
Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.
https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/ms-ess1-1-earths-place-universe
Concept 3: Earth in the Solar System
PO 1. Explain the phases of the Moon in terms of the relative positions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon.
PO 2. Construct a model for the relative positions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon as they relate to corresponding eclipses.
PO 6. Explain the relationship among common objects in the solar system, galaxy, and the universe.
Strand 2: History and Nature of Science
Concept 1: History of Science as a Human Endeavor
PO 2. Describe how a major milestone in science or technology has revolutionized the thinking of the time (e.g., global positioning system, telescopes, seismographs, photography).
PO 4. Analyze the use of technology in science-related careers.
Concept 2: Nature of Scientific Knowledge
PO 1. Describe how science is an ongoing process that changes in response to new information and discoveries.
PO 2. Describe how scientific knowledge is subject to change as new information and/or technology challenges prevailing theories.
NGSS:
Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.
https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/ms-ess1-1-earths-place-universe
Unit Process Standards
Developing and using models
- Students are to create a planet with accurate features based on its location in the star system
- As a class, a model of a solar system will be created
- Students are to defend the accuracy of their planet to a local astronomer with the use of evidence
- Students have to use evidence to support the class model of the solar system.
Misconceptions
- Earth shadow causes the phases of the moon
- This misconception will be addressed during the lunar phases portion of the unit. Students will learn that the 'shadow' on the moon is just our perception of the partially lit face. This will be taught the third day of the unit.
- The Moon goes around the Earth in a single day.
- The above misconception will be amended during the lunar phases section of our lesson. Students will investigate how the phases of the moon occur. During this investigation, students will discover that it takes the moon about 28 days to revolve around the Earth. Students will learn that out perception of the moon rising and setting is due to the rotation of Earth on its axis.
- The Sun is not a star
- During the first benchmark lesson, it is established that there are more stars in the universe than we could ever count and the sun is one of those stars.
- Refrences
- Common Moon Misconceptions. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2017, from https://moon.nasa.gov/moonmisconceptions.cfm
Planets and the Solar System Misconceptions and Educational Research. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2017, from- https://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/pre_service_edu/planetsMisconceptions.shtml