Essential Skills and Information to Master
The student will investigate and understand the characteristics of Earth and the solar system. Key concepts include
a) position of Earth in the solar system;
b) sun-Earth-moon relationships (seasons, tides, and eclipses);
c) characteristics of the sun, planet earth and its moon.
d) the history and contributions of space exploration.
- Earth revolves around the sun tilted on its axis. The axial tilt is responsible for the incidence and duration of sunlight striking a given hemisphere that varies during the Earth’s revolution around the Sun, thus causing seasons. Equinoxes and solstices represent four distinct quarterly points signaling the cyclic change of seasons.
- The moon revolves around Earth creating the moon phases and eclipses. Solar eclipses occur when the moon blocks sunlight from Earth’s surface, while lunar eclipses occur when Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the moon’s surface.
- The tides are the periodic rise and fall of water level caused by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon.
- The sun consists largely of hydrogen gas. Its energy comes from nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium.
- analyze the role of 1) the position of Earth in the Solar System; 2) the size of Earth and sun; and 3) Earth’s axial tilt in affecting the evolution of the planet and life on the planet.
- analyze historical explanations for the origin of the moon.
- create a model showing the position of Earth, the moon, and the resulting moon phases.
- explain why there is not a solar and lunar eclipse each month.
- create a model showing the position of Earth, moon, and sun during a solar and lunar eclipse.
- analyze the role of 1) the position of Earth in the Solar System; 2) the size of Earth and sun; and 3) Earth’s axial tilt in affecting the evolution of the planet and life on the planet.
- predict what conditions we would need to have in place for another celestial object to support life.