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LU Title: Exploring the Celestial Neighborhood |
Author(s): Deborah Haynes |
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Grade Level: 9 |
School : Holland Patent Central School |
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Topic/Subject Area: |
Address: Holland Patent, NY |
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Email: dhaynes@holland-high.moric.org |
Phone/Fax: 315-865-8154 |
The solar system is vast and very old. In this unit, we will explore the origins and organization of our solar system, Earth's place in it, and how planetary motions can explain natural phenomena observable from Earth.
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Declarative |
Procedural |
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Protoplanet Hypothesis |
Accessing CD ROMS |
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Vocabulary list for Topic IV |
Accessing Web pages |
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Lunar Phases |
Graphing and interpreting data |
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Effects of rotation and revolution |
Measurement |
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Causes of seasons |
Conversion of units |
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Geocentric and heliocentric models of the solar system, Kepler's Laws, comparative planetary geology |
Calculation of eccentricity |
CONNECTIONS TO NYS LEARNING STANDARDS
List Standard # and Key
Idea #: Write out related Performance Indicator(s) or Benchmark(s)
MST Standard 2-Information Systems: Students will access, generate, process and transfer information using appropriate technologies.
Key Idea #1: Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.
Performance Indicator: Use a range of equipment and software to integrate several forms of information in order to create good quality audio, video, graphic, and text-based presentations.
ELA Standard 2: Students will read, write, listen and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.
Benchmark: Speaking and writing for critical analysis and evaluation requires presenting opinions and judgements in experiences, ideas, information and issues, clearly, logically, and persuasively with reference to specific criteria in which the opinion or judgement is based.
MST Standard 4-Science: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
Key Idea #1: The earth and celestial phenomena can be described by principles of relative motion and perspective.
Performance Indicator: Explain daily, monthly and seasonal changes on earth.
MST Standard 1-Analysis, Inquiry and Design: Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.
Key Idea 1-Scientific Inquiry: The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing, creative process.
Performance Indicator: Seek to clarify, to assess critically, and to reconcile with their own thinking the ideas presented by others, including peers, teachers, authors, and scientists.
INITIATING ACTIVITY
During the first five minutes of class, using meter sticks and index cards, students will sketch the apparent diameter of the sun. We will do this three times per week, beginning the first full week of school in September, continuing until November. During this time, we will also access a Web site twice weekly. Displaying this site on a big screen, using an LCD overhead projection device, we will observe the position of the daylight/darkness line on various dates, as seen by satellites, in as close to "real time" as possible. In addition, we will note the duration of insolation for our location and for a chosen location in the Southern Hemisphere. Students will be asked to consider the relationship between the changing apparent diameter of the sun and the duration of insolation and to formulate possible reasons for this relationship.
Declarative Knowledge:
1. Vocabulary for Topic IV
Experiences:
Strategies to enhance learning:
What will be done: To develop working vocabulary, students will look up definitions using the CD-Rom. We will discuss the terms and use strategies from Tactics for Thinking.
2. Familiarity with lunar phases, causes of phases and the inferred phase is given hypothetical moon-earth-sun positions.
Experiences:
Strategies to enhance learning:
What will be done: We will look at several overhead diagrams with the sun in various positions with respect to the earth, to help students reason, not simply memorize. The web site allows the user to put the moon in motion, while the phase simultaneously is displayed. This can be used as a quiz, since the phase can be hidden.
3. Seasons-Causes of, location of the sun's vertical ray
Experiences:
Strategies to enhance thinking:
What will be done: I begin this lesson by posting signs indicating N, S, E and W around the room. Using a flashlight, I demonstrate the path of the sun, sunrise to sunset, on the first day of each season, as seen from our latitude. We discuss the various lengths of the paths, and how this relates to changes in duration. When students begin to catch on, this becomes more student-structured. Students pass around the flashlight. One student "calls" a season and another will demonstrate the inferred path of the sun for that date, using the flashlight.
Next, one student serves as the "sun", and I revolve a globe around him/her. Students learn to name the season by observing the tilt of the axis with respect to the "sun", noting that the tilt never really changes direction (parallelism). I then ask them to figure out three reasons for seasonal change. I manipulate the globe to various angles of tilt, or stop revolution or parallelism. Students predict what observations could be made from Earth, if these manipulations represented real Earth conditions.
We look at an overhead demonstration device called "The Eloquent Earth". We fill in the graphic organizer together. This week, we complete the Duration of Insolation Lab (Internet lab) and the Intensity of Insolation lab (Internet lab).
4. Effects of rotation, revolution, and retrograde motion.
Experiences:
Strategies to enhance learning:
What will be done: I review the globe demonstration, so that I am sure the students are differentiating rotation and revolution. To do the activity, we stand in a circle around a "sun", each representing a planet Earth. We imagine a little man standing on the end of our noses, staring at our feet. Objects around the perimeter of the room or on the walls (ex. Posters or clocks) represent constellations. We practice with time, making it midnight, noon and dawn for the little man. We note constellations. We make six months go by, reviewing the time. Students note that the constellations they saw earlier are no longer visible, but new ones were. Lastly, I go outside my student's "orbits", now representing Mars. We slowly make one revolution (I move one step to their three, demonstrating the relationship between a planet's mean distance from the sun and the period of revolution). Students map my position using diagrams they construct. This will demonstrate retrograde motion.
5. Geocentric and heliocentric models of the solar system.
Experiences:
Strategies to enhance learning:
What will be done: We will begin with lecture on the historical development of the modern model of the solar system, focusing on the influence of religious dogma on shaping scientific theory. Positives and negatives of both models will be presented. We will try and remain objective, and realize with modern instrumentation and later terrestrial observations that the heliocentric model seems self-evident; however, for the time, the geocentric model was both consistent with cultural norms and successful at explaining almost every celestial observation.
6. Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion
Experiences:
Strategies to enhance learning:
What will happen: We will begin by a presentation of the historical background of the heliocentric/geocentric debate and the relationship between Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. Students will break into small groups and access the site and answer advanced organizer questions. We will return to full group and have a question and answer session and take notes.
7.Factoids on the nine planets and our moon
Experiences:
Strategies to enhance learning:
What will be done: As an introduction, we will watch the video The Third Planet From The Sun and discuss theories on the origins of the universe. Students will work from the textbook for homework. On the second day, we will watch a segment from The Universe Next Door. Together we will construct a KWL chart, filling in the "K" and the "W". Students will break into groups and access The Nine Planets web site and work on a graphic organizer which will be provided to them. We will go back to large group and fill out the "L" on the KWL. Day 2- We watch a short segment from the Practical Guide to the Universe on the outer gas giants. Students access the web site and fill in another graphic organizer and a KWL. The lab this week utilizes the CD ROM, Exploring the Planets. We will complete a compare/contrast graphic organizer after round group discussion on the third day, and also have a teacher -directed lesson on comparative planetology, using the CD ROM, A 3-D Tour of the Solar System projected onto the large screen. I will provide the glasses, but there is a web site that suggests an activity in which you make them (http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/lpi.html). We will watch part of the video from Scientific Frontiers Mission to Mars with Alan Alda. We will discuss the idea of Mars habitation and access pages from Nasa.gov and see what is new from Pathfinder.
The lab, Dimensions of the Solar System, provides a sense of the enormous magnitude of the solar system and also provides practice with mathematical measurement and unit conversion. Each small group plots the relative distances from the sun and relative sizes of the planets on 12 feet of cash register tape.
Procedural Knowledge
What will be done to help students construct models, shape and internalize the knowledge?
What will be done: students will be given instruction on the use of these CD ROMS as well as a review on using Netscapse.
What will be done to help students construct models, shape and internalize the knowledge?
What will be done: Review of necessary declarative knowledge, such as independent and dependent variables and common pitfalls. I will circulate and ask students to articulate what they are doing and why they are doing it. Students will access and graph data on intensity and duration of insolation and interpret the graphs.
What will be done to help students construct models, shape and internalize the knowledge?
Students will use cash register tape to scale planets' distances from the sun and scale diameters. This will require conversion of units.
What will be done to help students construct models, shape and internalize the knowledge?
What will be done: A brief review of declarative knowledge will be given. Written steps will be handed out. Students will be led through a think-aloud and advised of common errors. As a ticket-out-the-door, students will draw five ellipses and correctly calculate eccentricity, showing all work.
Extending and Refining
What knowledge will students be extending and refining?
What reasoning process will be used?
Describe what will be done: Students will be provided a model for the process of comparing. We will practice using simple examples. Students will select three characteristics they wish to compare and four planets among which they wish to carry out the comparisons. They will compare these planets with respect to the characteristics chosen using a Venn diagram, or if they prefer, a comparison matrix. Information will be obtained from the CD ROM Exploring the Planets.
Contexts for classifications will be provided. Students should classify the planets in the solar system based on this context. (teacher-structured). Students then create at least two other categories for classification, and reclassify the planets. Graphic organizers will be provided.
Students will be asked to place themselves in the helio/geocentric debate. They will identify key areas of disagreement and defend one perspective, trying to describe the reasons or logic behind that perspective. Then, students will be directed to do the same with the other perspective. A Perspective Examination Matrix will be provided.
Reasoning Process-Invention
Previous this assignment, students will watch Mission to Mars and part of Windows on Mars (NASA TV). Students will be assigned to small groups. They are to assume the role of NASA scientists and engineers whose goal is to design a life-sustaining community on another planet in our solar system.
Students must consider conditions on the chosen planet, such as temperature, atmospheric composition, gravity, etc. In addition to providing for physical needs, students are asked to consider the importance of asthetics and culture to the quality of human life. Therefore, architecture, landscaping, art, literature and music will be extremely important.
Students will prepare a NASA Special News Report to break the story to the American public. They should have diagrams of the proposed community and explain what environmental conditions need to be overcome to make the community safe and sustainable, and how this will be accomplished.
Listening, reading and thinking with critical minds, communicating effectively and organization.
Individualized instruction, time extensions as necessary and/or modification of the culminating activity for students with learning disabilities.
This unit takes an extended period of time. Consideration avoidance of extended school holidays may be prudent.
CD ROMS, LCD overhead display device, web pages, videotapes