Science
Grade: 9th
SCI.V.4.2
Strand V:
Using Scientific Knowledge in Earth Science
Standard 4:
Galaxy and Universe- All students will describe and explain how
objects in the solar system move
Benchmark 2:
Describe the position and motion of our solar system in our
galaxy and the overall scale, structure, and age of the universe.
Constructing and Reflecting:
SCI.I.1.1 – Ask questions that can be investigated empirically.
SCI.I.1.3 – Recognize and explain the limitations of measuring devices.
SCI.I.1.4 – Gather and synthesize information from books and other sources of information.
SCI.I.1.5 – Discuss topics in groups by making clear presentations, restating or summarizing what others have
said, asking for clarification or elaboration, taking alternative perspectives, and defending a position.
SCI.II.1.1 – Justify plans or explanations on a theoretical or empirical basis.
SCI.II.1.2 – Describe some general limitations of scientific knowledge.
Vocabulary
Context
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Observations of other stars:
¾ Star clusters
¾ Nebulas
¾ Galaxies
¾ Potential planetary systems
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Accounts of possible travel to other star
systems.
Stars
Galaxies
Milky Way
Spiral structure
Speed of light
Light year
Travel miles
Big Bang
Red shift
Telescopes
Binoculars
Spectroscopes
Planetarium
Knowledge and Skills
Students will:
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Explain how spectral observations (red
shift) have led to the theory of the big bang,
which explains the origin and the age of the
universe
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Explain the motion and position of our solar
system in the Milky Way galaxy
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Explain the motion of the Milky Way galaxy
in the Universe.
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Explain the scale of our solar system in our
galaxy
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Explain that the universe consists of billions
of galaxies. Like our solar system there is
also structure and organization to our
galaxy and the universe, but on a much
larger scale with distances measured in
light years.
Resources
Coloma Resources:
Glencoe CH 31 Galaxies & Universe
Glencoe Lab 31.1 Modeling Spiral Galaxies
Glencoe MiniLabs Pg 128 Classifying Galaxies
Pg 122 Identifying Stellar Spectral Lines
Other Resources:
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Michigan Teacher Network Resources
http://mtn.merit.edu/mcf/SCI.V.4.HS.2.html
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Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive: features a
new image daily and an accompanying description.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
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Scope Unit – Solar System, Galaxy and Universe
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Pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope:
http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/Pictures.html
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Education Constellation Quiz.
http://www.mtwilson.edu/
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Hamilton, Calvin. Views of the Solar System CDROM. NSTA, 1996.
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Project SPICA: A Teacher Resource To Enhance
Astronomy Education. Kendall/Hunt Publishing,
1995.
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Upton Planetarium
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Challenger Learning center, Kalamazoo MI
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Stargazers TV show on PBS
Videoconferences Available
For more information, see www.remc11.k12.mi.us/dl or
call Janine Lim 471-7725x101 or email
jlim@remc11.k12.mi.us
V.4.HS.2
Exploration of the Solar System from NASA Glenn
Research Center
Scaling the Cosmos from NASA Glenn Research Center
Space and the Solar System from NASA Glenn
Research Center
Instruction
Benchmark Question: Where are we?
Focus Question: How do scientists determine
how objects are moving in space?
The teacher will review the Doppler Effect with
students and one or more demonstrations
using sound or water. The teacher will review a
light spectrum and remind students that in the
visible spectrum, red light is a longer
wavelength and lower frequency.
The teacher will provide students with a
reference spectrum of an element, which is
available in most physics or astronomy texts.
Students will compare the wavelength of
characteristic lines from the reference
spectrum with those same lines in the
spectrum of a star. With a partner, they will
calculate the amount and direction of the
wavelength shift in the star.
Students will determine the direction of relative
movement by noting the direction of
wavelength shift (red = moving away, blue =
moving toward).
Students will determine the relative speed of
the object by comparing the size of the
wavelength shift (larger shift = faster moving).
Students will create a timeline of the formation
of the Universe
Assessment
A student in the future has just completed the
Doppler shift lab in school and has rushed home to
get on the family’s spaceship to go away for the
weekend. Shortly after departure, the student
realizes that he or she may have left the sodium
reference light on when leaving the lab. Upon
aiming the spectroscope back toward school, the
discovery is made that the sodium lamp is indeed
on.
Given the drawing of the sodium reference
spectrum that the student has just completed in the
lab, how would the sodium spectrum observed from
the rapidly moving spaceship compare? Explain.
(Hint: Include a diagram in your explanation.)
Criteria
Apprentice
Basic
Meets
Exceeds
Accuracy
of
diagram
Proposes
red shift.
Proposes
red shift
using a
diagram.
Proposes
red shift
using a
diagram
and
indicates
that
objects
are
moving
away
from
each
other.
Proposes
red shift
using a
diagram,
indicates
that objects
are moving
away from
each other,
and explains
the
relationship
between the
amount of
shift and the
relative
speed.
Teacher Notes:
Describe and explain how objects in the solar system move.
Students often think that the phases of the moon are caused by the earth's shadow on the moon or
by the shadow cast on the moon's surface by clouds. Modeling the position of the sun, earth and
moon while the students observe the moon phases may help students understand how the system
works together. In order to understand the phases of the moon, students also need to understand the
idea that light reflects and that the moon is not its own source of light. Deep understanding of all
these ideas is difficult for some students because of their lack of knowledge of the relative size,
motion and distance of the sun and other solar system objects from the earth. Modeling of the earth,
moon and sun may help students realize that the moon can be visible in the day as well as the night,
depending on its position.
In order to understand the day/night cycle, students must first accept that the sun is stationary and
that the earth turns on its axis. The apparent movement of the sun across the sky leads novice
astronomers to think about the movement of the sun rather than the movement of the earth. This is
not difficult to understand given that for 1500 years professional astronomers thought similarly.
Common terms like sunrise and sunset support the idea that the sun moves around the earth.
Moving beyond the solar system, farther out into the universe, we know that students have difficulty
understanding certain aspects of stars. They might assume that stars are all the same size and that
the brightness of stars depends on how far they are from the earth. In fact, the brightness of most
stars like our sun is more dependent on the mass of the star, larger stars burning brighter. Students
also need to maintain their night sky observations to realize that the stars appear to move across the
sky. The constellations visible in the night sky change as the seasons of the year change, due to the
position of the Earth in its orbit. This cycle of constellations has been used for centuries as a means
for navigation and telling time.
The movement of the solar system objects and of all objects in the universe is caused by gravity.
Elementary students, in general, may not see gravity as a force and attribute the falling of objects to
some feature of the object. High school students frequently have difficulty understanding the
interaction of gravitational forces. These issues are critical when learning about the universe and
must be attended to in teaching.
The scale of the solar system and the overwhelming immensity of the universe are difficult to
understand. Young students and some adults find it hard to fully comprehend distances to other
planets, or the sun. They may also not fully realize the enormous size differences among the planets
in our solar system and other celestial bodies. The elementary and middle school years focus
primarily on our solar system and the objects in it. Identifying the differences among the sun, the
earth and the moon, understanding how the sun, the earth and the moon move together,
comparisons of the earth to other planets, and describing how those other planets move with regard
to the sun, are all critical ideas for the elementary and middle school years.
Discussion of the relative sizes of planets and distances between solar system objects is begun at
the middle school level with the introduction of key concepts of relative size and relative distance.
The high school student is prepared to discuss more abstract concepts regarding the universe. High
school is the appropriate time to compare our sun to other stars and how to describe how our solar
system moves in the universe. These concepts begin to build the idea of the age of the universe and
methods used to determine that age.