NC Essential Standards

• EEn.1.1 Explain the Earth’s role as a body in space.
  • EEn.1.1.1 Explain the Earth’s motion through space, including precession, nutation, the barycenter, and its path about the galaxy.
  • EEn.1.1.2 Explain how the Earth’s rotation and revolution about the Sun affect its shape and is related to seasons and tides.
  • EEn.1.1.3 Explain how the sun produces energy which is transferred to the Earth by radiation.
  • EEn.1.1.4 Explain how incoming solar energy makes life possible on Earth.

Astronomy Essential Questions

1. How is the shape of Earth affected by rotation?
2. How does the interaction of the Earth, the moon and the Sun affect tides?
3. How does the revolution about the Sun affect amount of radiant energy received?
4. What phenomena result from Earth’s rotation, Earth’s revolution and the gravitational attraction of the Sun and the moon?
5. By what process does the Sun produce radiant energy?