Space
Strand two: Earth and space
ELEMENT: Building blocks
Students should be able to:
1. describe the relationships between various celestial objects including moons, asteroids, comets, planets, stars, solar systems, galaxies and space
Planets: http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets
Space Place: http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov
Solar System Simulator: http://space.jpl.nasa.gov
Astronomy Picture of the Day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Windows to the Universe Homepage: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/windows2.html
3. interpret data to compare the Earth with other planets and moons in the solar system, with respect to properties including mass, gravity, size, and composition.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mBfFg0Q9I8FPUYGZmTAZg05EqzwEPAFnJIR0tprM97M
Hubble Space Telescope: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/hst/index.html
Deep Space Network Homepage: http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn_educ.html
YouTUBE Comment on the video
4. develop and use a model of Earth-Sun-Moon system to describe predictable phenomena observable on Earth, including seasons, lunar phases, and eclipses of the Sun and the Moon
Seasons,
Give / find definitions for the seasons
Solistice - the shortest / longest day of the year (21st December / June (opposite length days in Australia))
Equinox -
Mercury's rotation is bizarre but it could be worse for the little guy. Mercury could have ended up tidally locked spinning once for every orbit - in fact until the 50's scientists believed this was the case - which means one side would fry in the endless sunlight and the other freeze under eternal night. Luckily Mercury has caught itself in a 3:2 resonance, it spins 3 times for every 2 times it goes round the Sun. This causes some weird effects, Mercury's true day - it's rotation period - is a little over 58 and a half Earth days. The problem comes in that while it's spinning so slowly, it's also moving rather quickly around the Sun, Mercury's year is ~88 days, this means that the effect of moving round the Sun is fighting against the planet's spin, keeping the sun in the sky for far longer than the duration of the rotation of the planet ~176 days or 2 Mercurian years from one sunrise to one sunset! Interestingly enough this same effect works in reverse on the reverse planet Venus. Venus spins in the opposite direction of all the other planets rotating clockwise as seen from it's north pole - vs counter clockwise for every other planet. Venus's true or rotational day is 243 Earth days long while it's year is a bit under 225 days. But because it moves around the Sun faster than it rotates - and the rotation is in reverse of it's motion around the Sun - the motion causes the Sun to set before the planet fully rotates - the planet literally shadows itself, imagine moving around a lamp in a circle, but not turning you always face the same direction, if you start out facing the lamp, the halfway through the circle you'll have your back to it. This results in Venus's solar day being considerably shorter at 116.75 days.
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/
Shopping List
ELEMENT: Systems and interactions
Students should be able to:
Tides
Build the models from this site
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/astronomy/sunearthmoon/
Solar System Simulator: http://space.jpl.nasa.gov
http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/2017_anim.HTM
5. describe the cycling of matter, including that of carbon and water, associating it with biological and atmospheric phenomena.
https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zg9v6yc/revision/1
Precipitation, rain or any other water falling from the sky
Transpiration is the release of water from plants (usually their leaves)
Evaporation, when liquid water changes to gaseous water and floats up in the athmosphere.
Condensation when gaseous water return back to a liquid, (although probably in very small droplets)
Accumulation, gathering of liquid water on the surface of the earth
Respiration is the release of energy from food in the presence of Oxygen in animals. It releases energy, Carbon Dioxide and Water
Carbon
https://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/cycles6.htm
ELEMENT: Energy
Students should be able to:
6. research different energy sources; formulate and communicate an informed view of ways that current and future energy needs on Earth can be met.
ELEMENT: Sustainability
Students should be able to:
7. illustrate how earth processes and human factors influence Earth’s climate, evaluate effects of climate change and initiatives that attempt to address those effects
Climate Change