Unpacked Content
Scientific and Engineering Practices
Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Knowledge
Students know:
- A (scale) model is a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object being represented.
- Measurements may be multiplied or divided to correctly scale objects in a model.
- Charts and data tables may be analyzed to find patterns in data.
- Patterns can be used to describe similarities and differences in objects in the solar system.
- Systems and their properties may be described using more than one scale.
Skills
Students are able to:
- Develop a model of objects in the solar system and identify the relevant components.
- Describe that different representations illustrate different characteristics of objects in the solar system, including differences in scale.
- Use mathematics and computational thinking to determine scale properties.
- Describe that two objects may be similar when viewed at one scale but may appear to be quite different when viewed at a different scale.
Understanding
Students understand that:
- The solar system consists of the sun and a collection of objects, including planets, their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the sun by its gravitational pull on them.
- Space phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small.
Vocabulary
- Model
- Scale
- Scale model
- Properties
- Size
- Distance
- Diameter
- Solar system
- Planet
- Moon
- Sun
- Asteroid
- Asteroid belt
- Celestial body