(PreK-2) E3

Science Curriculum Preview Committee Clarification of Learning Results

Revised 08/22/04

5-8

G4: Describe scientists' exploration of space and the objects they have found (eg., comments, asteroids, pulsars).

Organizing Questions

Describe an unmanned space probe and what information about the Solar System it has sent back to Earth.

What information has been learned about objects in the Solar System from Earth-based instruments (eg. telescopes)?

What have scientists learned about comets and how have they gotten this information?

Elaboration
Also see G1.

Students should be familiar with Earth-based space exploration (eg. telescopes) as well as unmanned and manned missions. It is equally important to know how information about space has been collected as it is to understand the objects in space that have been so studied.

Specific Ideas

Nine planets of very different size, composition, and surface features move around the sun in nearly circular orbits. Some planets have a great variety of moons and even flat rings of rock and ice particles orbiting around them. Some of these planets and moons show evidence of geologic activity. The earth is orbited by one moon, many artificial satellites, and debris. Benchmarks 4A3

Large numbers of chunks of rock orbit the sun. Some of those that the earth meets in its yearly orbit around the sun glow and disintegrate from friction as they plunge through the atmosphere--and sometimes impact the ground. Other chunks of rocks mixed with ice have long, off-center orbits that carry them close to the sun, where the sun's radiation (of light and particles) boils off frozen material from their surfaces and pushes it into a long, illuminated tail. Benchmarks 4A4

Technology is essential to science for such purposes as access to outer space and other remote locations, sample collection and treatment, measurement, data collection and storage, computation, and communication of information. Benchmarks 3A2

Developmental & Instructional Implications
The intent of the national standards seems to focus on understanding the Solar System. This would suggest that the study of pulsars is more suitable to grades 9-12 (see MLR G2). A sophisticated look at remote sensing technology and the electromagnetic spectrum should wait until grades 9-12 (see MLR G1 and Benchamrks 4A.)

Students should add more detail to their picture of the universe, pay increasing attention to matters of scale, and back up their understanding with activities using a variety of astronomical tools. Student access to star finders, telescopes, computer simulations fo planetary orbits, or a planetarium can be useful at this level. Benchmarks p. 63.

Examples

Back to Big Ideas Grid G Back to Standard G Back to Index

Organizing Questions	Describe an unmanned space probe and what information about the Solar System it has sent back to Earth. What information has been learned about objects in the Solar System from Earth-based instruments (eg. telescopes)? What have scientists learned about comets and how have they gotten this information?
Elaboration	Also see G1. Students should be familiar with Earth-based space exploration (eg. telescopes) as well as unmanned and manned missions. It is equally important to know how information about space has been collected as it is to understand the objects in space that have been so studied.
Specific Ideas	Nine planets of very different size, composition, and surface features move around the sun in nearly circular orbits. Some planets have a great variety of moons and even flat rings of rock and ice particles orbiting around them. Some of these planets and moons show evidence of geologic activity. The earth is orbited by one moon, many artificial satellites, and debris. Benchmarks 4A3 Large numbers of chunks of rock orbit the sun. Some of those that the earth meets in its yearly orbit around the sun glow and disintegrate from friction as they plunge through the atmosphere--and sometimes impact the ground. Other chunks of rocks mixed with ice have long, off-center orbits that carry them close to the sun, where the sun's radiation (of light and particles) boils off frozen material from their surfaces and pushes it into a long, illuminated tail. Benchmarks 4A4 Technology is essential to science for such purposes as access to outer space and other remote locations, sample collection and treatment, measurement, data collection and storage, computation, and communication of information. Benchmarks 3A2
Developmental & Instructional Implications	The intent of the national standards seems to focus on understanding the Solar System. This would suggest that the study of pulsars is more suitable to grades 9-12 (see MLR G2). A sophisticated look at remote sensing technology and the electromagnetic spectrum should wait until grades 9-12 (see MLR G1 and Benchamrks 4A.) Students should add more detail to their picture of the universe, pay increasing attention to matters of scale, and back up their understanding with activities using a variety of astronomical tools. Student access to star finders, telescopes, computer simulations fo planetary orbits, or a planetarium can be useful at this level. Benchmarks p. 63.
Examples