8.3.3.1 Sun & Solar System
Recognize that the sun is a medium-sized star, one of billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy, and the closest star to Earth.
Describe how gravity and inertia keep most objects in the solar system in regular and predictable motion.
Recognize that gravitational force exists between any two objects and describe how the masses of the objects and distance between them affect the force.
Compare and contrast the sizes, locations, and compositions of the planets and moons in our solar system.
Use the predictable motions of the Earth around its own axis and around the sun, and of the moon around the Earth, to explain day length, the phases of the moon, and eclipses.
Overview
MN Standard in Lay Terms
Our solar system is centered around the sun, which is a medium-sized star and significantly closer to us than any other star in our galaxy. Our sun is one of billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Objects in the galaxy and even our solar system are so far apart that using miles or kilometers for measurement is unwieldy, so distances are instead measured in astronomical units. One astronomical unit is equal to the average distance between the earth and the sun.
The solar system consists of the sun orbited by eight planets and various other objects. The inner planets are smaller, denser rocky planets and the outer planets are much larger, less dense gaseous planets. The planets have a variety of unique features in their atmosphere and composition. Moons around the various planets also have unique characteristics.
The earth interacts with the sun and moon causing the phenomena we experience on the planet's surface as seasons, day length, eclipses and the phases of the moon.
Big Idea
Big Idea 2. Earth is 4.6 billion years old.
2.2 Our Solar System formed from a vast cloud of gas and dust 4.6 billion years ago. Some of this gas and dust was the remains of the supernova explosion of a previous star; our bodies are therefore made of "stardust." This age of 4.6 billion years is well established from the decay rates of radioactive elements found in meteorites and rocks from the Moon.
2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history. Active geologic processes such as plate tectonics and erosion have destroyed or altered most of Earth's early rock record. Many aspects of Earth's early history are revealed by objects in the solar system that have not changed as much as Earth has.
Earth Science Literacy: The Big Ideas and Supporting Concepts of Earth Science.
MN Standard Benchmarks
8.3.3.1.1 Recognize that the sun is a medium-sized star, one of billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy, and the closest star to Earth.
8.3.3.1.2 Describe how gravity and inertia keep most objects in the solar system in regular and predictable motion.
8.3.3.1.3 Recognize that gravitational force exists between any two objects and describe how the masses of the objects and distance between them affect the force.
8.3.3.1.4 Compare and contrast the sizes, locations, and compositions of the planets and moons in our solar system.
8.3.3.1.5 Use the predictable motions of the earth around its own axis and around the sun, and of the moon around the earth, to explain day length, the phases of the moon, and eclipses.
The Essentials
"Every passing hour brings the Solar System forty-three thousand miles closer to Globular Cluster M13 in Hercules --and still there are some misfits who insist that there is no such thing as progress."
Ransom K. Fern in The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut, 1959
Content Standard D Earth and Space Science Standards
Earth in the solar system
The earth is the third planet from the sun in a system that includes the moon, the sun, eight other planets and their moons, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets. The sun, an average star, is the central and largest body in the solar system.
Most objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motion. Those motions explain such phenomena as the day, the year, phases of the moon, and eclipses.
Gravity is the force that keeps planets in orbit around the sun and governs the rest of the motion in the solar system. Gravity alone holds us to the earth's surface and explains the phenomena of the tides.
Origin and evolution of the universe
Early in the history of the universe, matter, primarily the light atoms hydrogen and helium, clumped together by gravitational attraction to form countless trillions of stars. Billions of galaxies, each of which is a gravitationally bound cluster of billions of stars, now form most of the visible mass in the universe.
NSES Content Standard B Physical Science Standards
Motions and forces
Gravitation is a universal force that each mass exerts on any other mass. The strength of the gravitational attractive force between two masses is proportional to the masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
- AAAS Atlas:
The Physical Setting: The Solar System
The Physical Setting: Galaxies and the Universe
Benchmarks of Science Literacy
A. The Universe: By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that
The sun is a medium-sized star located near the edge of a disc-shaped galaxy of stars, part of which can be seen as a glowing band of light that spans the sky on a very clear night. 4A/M1a
The universe contains many billions of galaxies, and each galaxy contains many billions of stars. To the naked eye, even the closest of these galaxies is no more than a dim, fuzzy spot. 4A/M1bc
The sun is many thousands of times closer to the earth than any other star. Light from the sun takes a few minutes to reach the earth, but light from the next nearest star takes a few years to arrive. The trip to that star would take the fastest rocket thousands of years. 4A/M2abc
Nine planets of very different size, composition, and surface features move around the sun in nearly circular orbits. Some planets have a 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. 4A/M3
G. Forces of Nature: By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that
Every object exerts gravitational force on every other object. The force depends on how much mass the objects have and on how far apart they are. The force is hard to detect unless at least one of the objects has a lot of mass. 4G/M1
The sun's gravitational pull holds the earth and other planets in their orbits, just as the planets' gravitational pull keeps their moons in orbit around them. 4G/M2
Misconceptions
- Stars and constellations appear in the same place in the sky every night.
- The earth is the center of the solar system. (The planets, sun and moon revolve around the earth.)
- The moon can only be seen during the night.
- The moon does not rotate on its axis as it revolves around the earth.
- The phases of the moon are caused by shadows cast on its surface by other objects in the solar system.
- The phases of the moon are caused by the shadow of the earth on the moon.
- The phases of the moon are caused by the moon moving into the sun's shadow.
- Different countries see different phases of the moon on the same day.
- The shape of the moon always appears the same.
- The earth is the largest object in the solar system.
- The solar system is very crowded.
- The solar system contains only the sun, planets, and the moon.
- Force is a property of an object. An object has force and when it runs out of force it stops moving.
- Planets cannot be seen with the naked eye.
- Planets appear in the sky at the same place every night.
- Gravity is selective; it acts differently or not at all on some matter.
- Gravity increases with height.
- Gravity requires a medium to act through.
- The sun will never burn out.
- The sun is not a star.
Children's misconceptions about weather: A review of the literature.
Vignette
Students in Ms. L's class have been learning about the earth, moon and sun. They worked with small globes and a lamp to figure out day length, then added a partner and a small sphere on a toothpick to determine what causes the phases of the moon. They started to get some ideas about what causes seasons, but right now, the focus is on the solar system. Students went to the computer lab and worked with a partner to prepare for "The Great Solar System Debate." The students took careful notes and prepared their arguments for their planets, using the unique characteristics they learned about in their research. As students were getting prepared at different rates, Ms. L handed out a chart showing the distance of each planet from the sun. She challenged the students to develop a scale model of the solar system using this data. Some groups of students were concerned about how big the numbers were. Ms. L focused on the groups preparing for the debate and allowed the students working on the scale factors to work through ideas together. One group thought right away about scale factors on maps and began working to come up with a scale that would work. Another group became concerned about accurately showing the size of the planets and sun. Ms L got them information about the size of these objects, but warned that it might be quite a challenge. In the end, several groups had ideas and asked if they could find time to put their math to use and build the models. The group that wanted to include the sizes of the planets in their scale model asked if they could do theirs outside. While not all the students were involved in creating the models, they all benefited from viewing them and enjoyed the opportunity to get outside. (Hoffmann, 2011)
Resources
Suggested Labs and Activities
"Solar System Trading Cards" is an online activity allowing students to learn about the major objects in the solar system. This website is written at a 3rd grade reading level, which would make is accessible to most students in the classroom. If this were used as an introductory assignment, it might be useful to ask the students to gather certain information about the objects as they progress through the cards. (8.3.3.1.4)
This inquiry based module could be modified to meet specific classroom needs. "In our integrated science course for ninth grade students, we begin with a nine-week module during which students explore the causes of familiar phenomena (sunrise and sunset direction, moon face, phases of the moon, eclipses, and seasonal changes) and construct, communicate, and defend their explanations to their peers." (8.3.3.1.5)
"The Great Planetary Debate" is a unique way for students to share information and may increase their interest in researching their particular planet. (8.3.3.1.4)
An inquiry based activity for students to determine what causes the phases of the moon and the relative motions of the moon and earth around the sun. (8.3.3.1.5)
The American Museum of Natural History site for kids includes many online activities, information written for students and lesson ideas. The information is written at a student level and in a way that is more engaging than plain text; many are also available in a printable version. (8.3.3.1.1, 8.3.3.1.2, 8.3.3.1.3, 8.3.3.1.4, 8.3.3.1.5)
A webquest type activity with students having questions that they are researching to find the answers to. This might make a good introductory activity to the solar system. (8.3.3.1.4)
Instructional suggestions/options
From Benchmarks Online
Students should add more detail to their picture of the solar system. 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 of planetary orbits, or a planetarium can be useful at this level. Figuring out and constructing models of size and distance-for example, of the planets within the solar system-is probably the most effective activity. Models with three dimensions are preferable to pictures and diagrams. Everyone should experience trying to fashion a physical model of the solar system in which the same scale is used for the sizes of the objects and the distances between them (as distinct from most illustrations, in which distances are underrepresented by a factor of 10 or more).
Some experiences with how apparent positions of objects differ from different points of observation will make plausible the estimation of distances to the moon and sun. Finding distances by triangulation and scale drawings will help students to understand how the distances to the moon and sun were estimated and why the stars must be very much farther away. (The dependence of apparent size on distance can be used to pose the historically important puzzle that star patterns do not appear any larger from one season to the next, even though the earth swings a hundred million miles closer to them.)
Using light years to express astronomical distances is not as straightforward as it seems. (Many adults think of light years as a measure of time.) Beginning with analogs such as "automobile hours" may help.
Additional resources
NSTA Science Objects are online interactive modules developed to increase teacher background knowledge.
Solar System: The Earth in Space
Solar System: A Look at the Planets
Solar System: Asteroids, Comets, and Meteorites
Universe: How We Know What We Know
Universe: The Universe Beyond our Solar System
Earth, Sun, and Moon: Motion of the Moon
Digital Library of Earth Systems Education DLESE's educational resources include lesson plans, scientific data, visualizations, interactive computer models, and virtual field trips-in short, any web-accessible teaching or learning material.
Vocabulary/Glossary
- astronomical units (AU) - the mean distance between the earth and the sun equal to 149,597,870.691 kilometers.
- axis - the imaginary line around which the objects rotate
- Day - one complete rotation on an axis or the time from sunrise until sunset
- Eclipses - the partial or complete blocking out of one celestial body by another
- gravity - a force of attraction exerted by all objects with mass; gravitational force exists between any two objects and the masses of the objects and distance between them affect the force.
- Inertia - a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force
- inner planets - Mercury, Venus, the Earth and Mars, the four rocky planets orbiting nearer to the Sun
- orbit - the path of a celestial body or an artificial satellite as it revolves around another body.
- outer planets - planets of the solar system beyond Mars - the gas giants plus the dwarf planet, Pluto
- revolve - to move in a path around a central point
- rotate - to turn around an axis
- sun - a medium sized star, one of billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy, and the closest star to Earth.
An animated visualization explaining the phases of the moon and eclipses from the Smithsonian Institute. (8.3.3.1.5)
Your Weight On Other Worlds. Ever wonder what you would weigh on the moon or another planet? Find out at the Exploratorium. (8.3.3.1.3)
Math - math skills will be needed if scale models are constructed
Social Studies - space exploration past, present and future could be addressed in the social studies curriculum
Assessment
Assessment of Students
Bibliographic Citation: Keeley, P, Eberle, F, & Farrin, L. (2005). Uncovering student ideas in science: 25 formative assessment probes. Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association.
"Going Through A Phase" Students analyze various explanations of what causes the phases of the moon and explain which explanation is correct and why.
Bibliographic Citation: Keeley, P, Eberle, F, & Tugel, J. (2007). Uncovering student ideas in science: 25 more formative assessment probes. Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association.
"Darkness at Night" probes students understanding of what causes the cycles of day and night on earth.
Bibliographic Citation: Keeley, P, Eberle, F, & Dorsey, C. (2008). Uncovering student ideas in science: another 25 formative assessment probes. Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association.
"Where Do Stars Go?" This probe may reveal students ideas about stars location in the sky as they relate to the rotation of the earth, as well as the earth's revolution around the sun.
Bibliographic Citation: Keeley, P, & Tugel, J. (2009). Twenty-five new formative assessment probes. Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association.
"Lunar Eclipse" and "Solar Eclipse" Students often have misconceptions about the causes of eclipses.
Additional assessment items available with a free registration from AAAS
Assessment of Teachers
The concept of billions of stars and galaxies is hard to grasp. What are some ways to help students understand the concept of "billions?"
Gravity is a force that affects us all of the time on earth, yet it may be a difficult concept for students. How can students increase their understanding of gravity by learning about the solar system?
Why is Pluto no longer included in the standard?
Differentiation
According to Lee & Buxton (2010), a couple of approaches are useful for assisting English Language Learners (ELLs): teach content while fostering language development and draw on the so-called "funds of knowledge," which are students' personal experiences from home or community. For additional details on this see the original NSTA News posting and the official NSTA position statement.
Lee, O., & Buxton, C.A. (2010, April). NSTA Report: Teaching science to English language learners
English Language Learners. Official NSTA Position Statement.
NASA has an extensive website with a large outreach program. Students can learn about current missions, past missions, NASA's future, etc. An additional concept that might evoke interest is the colonization of space. The moon landings and space race may be of interest to students. The Hubble Space Telescope has provided amazing images from outside our solar system and might provide a starting point for students interested in learning more about the Universe.
The website has many for specific classroom suggestions for SpEd, ELL
Students with disabilities. Official NSTA Position Statement.
Most of the topics in this standard are addressed in trade books written at a variety of reading levels. Additionally, websites are written at different levels, with some more accessible and user friendly to a wider range of student abilities. The big ideas are the main focus of this standard, so modifying activities or assignments to focus on the important concepts may be beneficial as there are a lot of details that could be a distraction or become overwhelming.
Parents/Admin
Administrators
Models will be important for understanding the scale of the galaxy and solar system. Students may be constructing scale models of the solar system, which might require the use of long hallways, the gym, or going outside. Similarly, students will likely be modeling the movement of the moon around the earth to understand the phases of the moon. Administrators are likely to also see the use of the library or computer lab to research the solar system and resulting presentations of information.
Including parents in the active observations of day and night and the moons position and phase in the sky will help to ensure that students are getting the most out of the activity. As the students learn about what their observations mean, they can be further encouraged to share their understanding. Many schools are also able to organize a star-gazing night, encouraging families to attend and bring telescopes.