MS-ESS1-2

SCUSD NGSS Curriculum Guide ESS1.A - The Universe and Its Stars
 * MS-ESS1-2: Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system. ** [Clarification Statement: Emphasis for the model is on gravity as the force that holds together the solar system and Milky Way galaxy and controls orbital motions within them. Examples of models can be physical (such as the analogy of distance along a football field or computer visualizations of elliptical orbits) or conceptual (such as mathematical proportions relative to the size of familiar objects such as students' school or state).] [//Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Kepler’s Laws of orbital motion or the apparent retrograde motion of the planets as viewed from Earth.//]

====**Science Background for the Teacher:** Anything that has mass has gravitational force. Sun is moving with the Milky Way as it rotates. ====

====**Key Vocabulary: **Gravity, force, elliptical, mass, weight, orbital motion ====

====**Possible Assessments (formative and/or summative): **==== Why does the Milky Way look so hazy? (http://www.slideshare.net/allsaintsscience/8th-grade-ch-4-sec-4-star-systems-galaxies-2577824) .

**Key Student Activity**:
Check out sciencespot.net (Gravity Exploration and Adopt a Constellation) Kinesthetic Astronomy (www.spacescience.org/education/extra/kinesthetic_astronomy?KASkTimeAug04_lr.pdf)

**Common Student Misconceptions: **
Earth's orbit is round. (it is elliptical) Weight vs mass.


 * Things to Avoid/Correct: **

====**Other Resources (text, video, simulations, activities, models, etc..): **====

sciencespot.net

www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/tour-solar-system.html (cool heliocentric and geocentric animated graphic)

Bill Nye DVD or you tube "Galaxies"

www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/origins-solar-system.html (video)

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/home/index.html