PWC ES-A1a.
SOL ES.14 The student will investigate and understand the sun, planets and minor members of the solar system.    Key Concepts include:

Physical and Chemical Properties of the inner and outer planets.

Critical Attributes:
The four inner (terrestrial) planets consist mostly of solid rock.

Four of the outer planets are gas giants, consisting of thick, outer layers of gaseous materials, perhaps with a small rocky core.

The fifth outer planet, Pluto, has an unknown composition and appears solid.

Moons are natural satellites of planets that vary widely in composition.

ES-A.1b
Key concept:
Members of the solar system and their positions and motions

Critical Attribute:
The planets and moons of our solar system can be evaluated by their positions and motions.
 

ES-A.1c
Key concept:
Instruments used to study the universe

Critical Attributes:
Today's astronomers utilize a variety of telescopes to study the universe including reflecting, refracting and radio telescopes as well as spectroscopes.

Much of our information about our galaxy and the universe comes from ground based observations.

The Hubble space telescope has greatly improved our understanding of the universe.
 

ES-A.1d
Key Concept:
Comets, meteors, and asteroids

Critical Attributes;
Comets are "dirty snowballs" composed mostly of a solid nucleus with ice crystals that revolve around the sun in a very elliptical orbit.

Meteoroids are space debris that can come in contact with the Earth's atmosphere.  It usually burns up but possibly can strike the Earth's surface.

Asteroids are chunks of rock in orbit between Mars and Jupiter.  Their sizes range from millimeters to kilometers.  They are the source of most meteorites.
 

ES-A.1e
Key Concept:

Characteristics of the sun.

Critical Attributes:
Our sun is an example of a middle-aged, yellow star that has common star characteristics such as the internal structure and various surface and atmospheric features.

The sun consists largely of hydrogen gas.  Its energy comes from nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium.
 

ES-A1.f
Key Concept:

Measurement of distance in space

Critical Attributes:
Distances on Earth are often measured in traditional units such as kilimeters, but the distance to stars is so large that the kilometer is not a very practical unit.

Astronomers use a unit called a light-year to measure distance in space.

A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 9.5 million million kilometers.
 
 

Grade Level/Subject:   Grade 9 Science
Strand: Earth and Space Science

PWC ES-A2a.
SOL ES.14 The student will investigate and understand the history and contributions of the space program.    Key Concepts include:

Early space initiatives and their contributions to the space program.

Critical Attributes:
The early space programs helped to speed the advancement of technology in the fields of communications, space flight and weather prediction.

PWC ES-A2b
Key concepts include:

The U.S. Manned Space program

Critical Attributes:
THe U.S. manned space program sequenced through the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and the Space Shuttle programs and each developed or advanced certain aspects of space technology.
 

PWC ES A.2c
Key concepts include:

Major events in space exploration

Critical Attributes:
Much of our knowledge about the solar system is a result of space exploration efforts.

There have been many major events in space exploration from manned missions to unmanned robotic probes.

Apollo 11 was the first manned landing on the moon.
 

PWC ES A.2d
Key concepts include:

Technological advancements resulting from the space program.

Critical Attributes:
Space technology impacts our every day lives by spurring the development of weather forecasting; satellite communications; search for alternative energy sources; and medical advances.
 

Grade Level/Subject:   Grade 9 Science
Strand: Earth and Space Science

PWC ES-A3a.
SOL ES.14 The student will investigate and understand the concepts related to the origin and evolution of the solar system, galaxy, and the universe.    Key Concepts include:

The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram.

Critical Attributes:
The H-R Diagram is a plot of a star's absolute magnitude and surface temperature and shows the relationship between the two.

Here is a software program to show the H-R diagram.  Click on the following icon and save the program to your hard drive and then try the program!!!

PWC ES-A.3b
Key Concepts:

Classification of stars

Critical Attributes:
The main characteristics used to classify stars are size, temperature, and brightness.

Red giants, blue giants, white dwarfs, and yellow dwarfs cna be plotted on the H-R diagram according to their size and temperature.
 

PWC ES-A.3c
Key Concept:

The creation of the solar system including the solar nebular theory

Critical Attributes:
The solar nebular theory is our best current hypothesis for the origin of the solar system.

The solar nebular theory states that our solar system was created by a rotating nebula from which the sun and the planets developed.
 

PWC ES-A.3d
Key Concepts:

Concept of cosmology
Creation of the universe including the Big Bang Theory

Critical Attributes:
Cosmology is the study of the origin and processes for the formation of the universe.

There are three major theories that explain the creation of the universe including the Oscillating Universe Theory, the Steady-State Theory, and the most widely accepted theory, the Big Bang Theory.
 

PWC ES-A.3f
Key Concepts:

Origin of stars, stellar systems and constellations

Critical Attributes:
The universe is vast and very old.

Stars have a finite lifetime and evolve over time.

The mass of a star controls its evolution, length of its lifetime, and ultimate fate.

Stars form by condensation of interstellar gas.