Astronomy 1 & 2 Core

Intended Learning Outcomes for Astronomy 1 & 2

The Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) describe the skills and attitudes students should learn as a result of science instruction. They are an essential part of the Science Core Curriculum and provide teachers with a standard for evaluation of student learning in science. Instruction should include significant science experiences that lead to student understanding using the ILOs.

The main intent of science instruction in Utah is that students will value and use science as a process of obtaining knowledge based upon observable evidence.

By the end of science instruction in high school, students will be able to:

1. Use Science Process and Thinking Skills

Observe objects, events and patterns and record both qualitative and quantitative information.
Use comparisons to help understand observations and phenomena.
Evaluate, sort, and sequence data according to given criteria.
Select and use appropriate technological instruments to collect and analyze data.
Plan and conduct experiments in which students may:

Identify a problem.
Formulate research questions and hypotheses.
Predict results of investigations based upon prior data.
Identify variables and describe the relationships between them.
Plan procedures to control independent variables.
Collect data on the dependent variable(s).
Select the appropriate format (e.g., graph, chart, diagram) and use it to summarize the data obtained.
Analyze data, check it for accuracy and construct reasonable conclusions.
Prepare written and oral reports of investigations.

Distinguish between factual statements and inferences.
Develop and use classification systems.
Construct models, simulations and metaphors to describe and explain natural phenomena.

Use mathematics as a precise method for showing relationships.
Form alternative hypotheses to explain a problem.

2. Manifest Scientific Attitudes and Interests

Voluntarily read and study books and other materials about science.
Raise questions about objects, events and processes that can be answered through scientific investigation.
Maintain an open and questioning mind toward ideas and alternative points of view.
Accept responsibility for actively helping to resolve social, ethical and ecological problems related to science and technology.
Evaluate scientifically related claims against available evidence.
Reject pseudoscience as a source of scientific knowledge.

3. Demonstrate Understanding of Science Concepts, Principles and Systems

Know and explain science information specified for the subject being studied.
Distinguish between examples and non-examples of concepts that have been taught.
Apply principles and concepts of science to explain various phenomena.
Solve problems by applying science principles and procedures.

4. Communicate Effectively Using Science Language and Reasoning

Provide relevant data to support their inferences and conclusions.
Use precise scientific language in oral and written communication.
Use proper English in oral and written reports.
Use reference sources to obtain information and cite the sources.
Use mathematical language and reasoning to communicate information.

5. Demonstrate Awareness of Social and Historical Aspects of Science

Cite examples of how science affects human life.
Give instances of how technological advances have influenced the progress of science and how science has influenced advances in technology.
Understand the cumulative nature of scientific knowledge.
Recognize contributions to science knowledge that have been made by both women and men.

6. Demonstrate Understanding of the Nature of Science

Science is a way of knowing that is used by many people, not just scientists.
Understand that science investigations use a variety of methods and do not always use the same set of procedures; understand that there is not just one "scientific method."
Science findings are based upon evidence.
Understand that science conclusions are tentative and therefore never final. Understandings based upon these conclusions are subject to revision in light of new evidence.
Understand that scientific conclusions are based on the assumption that natural laws operate today as they did in the past and that they will continue to do so in the future.
Understand the use of the term "theory" in science, and that the scientific community validates each theory before it is accepted. If new evidence is discovered that the theory does not accommodate, the theory is generally modified in light of this new evidence.
Understand that various disciplines of science are interrelated and share common rules of evidence to explain phenomena in the natural world.
Understand that scientific inquiry is characterized by a common set of values that include logical thinking, precision, open-mindedness, objectivity, skepticism, replicability of results and honest and ethical reporting of findings. These values function as criteria in distinguishing between science and non-science.
Understand that science and technology may raise ethical issues for which science, by itself, does not provide solutions.

Science language students should use: / Generalize, conclude, hypothesis, theory, variable, measure, evidence, data, inference, infer, compare, predict, interpret, analyze, relate, calculate, observe, describe, classify, technology, experiment, investigation, tentative, assumption, ethical, replicability, precision, skeptical, methods of science

Astronomy I Core Curriculum

Science Benchmark

Sky objects have properties, locations, and movements that can be observed and described. Most objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motion. Those motions explain such phenomena as the day, the year, phases of the Moon, and eclipses. The Sun, for example, appears to move across the sky in the same way every day, but its path changes slowly over the seasons. The Moon moves across the sky on a daily basis much like the Sun. The observable shape of the moon changes from day to day in a cycle that lasts about a month, as a result of the relative positions of Earth, the moon, and the sun. Earth turns on an axis that is tilted relative to the plane of Earth’s yearly orbit. The tilt causes sunlight to fall more intensely on different parts of the Earth during various parts of the year. The differences in heating of Earth’s surface and length of daylight hours produce the seasons.

The solar system consists of planets, moons, and other smaller objects including asteroids and comets that orbit the sun. Planets in the solar system differ in terms of their distance from the sun, number of moons, size, composition, and ability to sustain life. The sun’s gravitational pull holds Earth and other planets in orbit. Earth’s gravitational force holds the moon in orbit. Historically, cultures have observed objects in the sky and understood and used them in various ways. The Sun, the Earth, and the rest of the solar system formed from a nebular cloud of dust and gas 4.6 billion years ago. The early Earth was very different from the planet we live on today.

Gravity is the force that keeps planets in orbit around the Sun, holds us to the Earth’s surface, creates tides, and governs motion in the solar system. Any two objects in the universe with mass exert equal and opposite gravitational forces on one another. Planetary motions around the sun can be predicted using Kepler’s three empirical laws, which can be explained based on Newton’s theory of gravity. These orbits may also change somewhat due to the gravitational effects from, or collisions with, other bodies. Objects in the universe interact with one another by way of forces. An object’s state of motion will remain constant unless unbalanced forces act upon the object. Changes in the motion of an object are proportional to the sum of the forces, and inversely proportional to the mass. Whenever a force is applied to an object there is an equal and opposite reaction force.

STANDARD I: Students will understand the formation and organization of the solar system and history of astronomy.

Objective 1: Investigate and describe the causes of days, seasons, lunar phases, Venetian phases, and eclipses.

Analyze Earth’s seasons and temperatures based on the tilt of the axis, length of day, and angle to the light source andapply this information to other planets in the solar system.
Design an investigation and collect data depicting the phases of the moon and apply this model to Venus.
Describe and model the causes of Solar and Lunar Eclipses.

Objective 2:Describe the formation and structure ofthe solar system.

Research, investigate, compare, and report the physical properties of the planets and theirmoons (e.g., size, solid or gaseous, magnetosphere, atmosphere, composition, temperature, geographic features, moons, rings, solar day, solar year), describing the differences between the terrestrial and the Jovian planets
Model the scale of the solar system.
Investigate and summarize the formation of the solar system and left over debris such as: asteroids, meteors, comets, Oort Cloud, asteroid belt, and Kuiper belt.

Objective 3:Describe the history of astronomy and the effect of this knowledge on society.

Describe and summarize the geocentric model of the solar system including retrograde motion, epicycles, and deferents.
Research and report the contributions of Galileo, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Keplar to the understanding of a heliocentric model of the solar system.
Research and report how spacecraft missions have contributed to knowledge of the solar system and understanding of Earth and the impact of this knowledge on society (e.g., Venus- greenhouse effect, Mars- historical progression of Earth, Moon- asteroid impacts, remote imaging of Earth and Mars, etc…).

Science language students should use: / Asteroids, comets, planets, satellites, solar system, solar day, solar year, Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud, Asteroid Belt, meteor, nebula, accretion, planetesimals, protoplanets, protosun, terrestrial planet, Jovian planet, geocentric, heliocentric, retrograde motion, epicycle, deferent, magnetosphere, atmosphere, Solar Eclipses, Lunar Eclipses, and phases

Science Benchmark

The sun is one of billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Most stars are binaries or variable stars. Stars are ranked on an absolute magnitude scale to describe their brightness. Depending on their distance from the Earth, their relative brightness changes. Astronomers find the distances to stars by parallax, relative brightness, spectroscopy, or standard candles (variable stars).

Stars have a regular life cycle, only part of which is a normal stable star on the main sequence. Stars form from contracting nebulae of gas that compress until there is sufficient pressure and heat to start nuclear fusion. Stars produce energy from nuclear reactions, primarily the fusion of hydrogen to form helium. These and other processes in stars have led to the formation of all the other elements. New stars form from remnants of old stars, creating metal rich stars.

Stars die in several different ways (i.e. brown dwarf, supernova, black-hole...) depending on their mass. The larger the star, the faster it burns, and the shorter the life cycle. Supernovas create the heaviest of elements after iron.

STANDARD II: Students will understand the location, composition, type, and life cycle of stars.

Objective 1:Describe how astronomers use constellations and describe distances.

Observe, locate, compare, and explain how the major constellations and asterisms in the night sky are used for navigation (e.g. Ursa Major- Big Dipper, Ursa Minor- Little Dipper, Summer Triangle, Orion, etc…).
Recognize that stars in a constellation are not all the same distance from Earth using astronomical units, light years, and parsecs.

Objective 2:Describe the layers of the sun, solar activity, and energy creation in the Sun.

Describe the properties and layers of the sun (i.e. core, radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, transition zone, corona, and solar wind).
Diagram the Sun’s magnetic field and solar cycle andrelate the changes in the magnetic field to various types of solar activity (i.e. solar prominences, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and solar winds) affecting earth.
Explain the creation of energy in the Sun by nuclear fusion and the transfer of energy from the Sun’s core to the photosphere by radiation, convection, and conduction.

Objective 3:Describe the mass, size, luminosity, and life cycles of Stars.

Investigate the relationship between star distance, luminosity, mass, and brightness.
Classify stars by color, surface temperature, and spectral characteristics (e.g. OBAFGKM).
Investigate and identify stars on the HR Diagram (e.g. main sequence, instability strip, supergiants, etc…).
Describe and diagram the life cycles of stars through stages including formation in nebulae (stellar nurseries), protostar, main sequence, supergiant, and death.
Summarize and contrast the stages of death of low and high mass stars (i.e. black holes, pulsars, neutron stars, and white dwarfs).

Science language students should use: / Constellations, asterisms, coordinate systems, astronomical unit, light year, parsec, spectral type, luminosity, apparent magnitude, absolute magnitude, conduction, convection, radiation, core, radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, transition zone, corona, solar wind, prominence, solar flare, sunspot, nuclear fusion, HR Diagram, spectrum, main sequence, protostar, novae, supernovae, black-hole, pulsar, neutron star, planetary nebula, white dwarf, brown dwarf, black dwarf, dwarf, giant, and supergiant

Science Benchmark

Galaxies are composed of stars, star clusters, interstellar medium of gas and dust, and dark matter. Galaxies are categorized by shape: ellipse, spiral, barbed spiral, and irregular. The sun is located in the spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy with a supermassive blackhole in the bulge. Galaxies are found in the universe in groups.

Light transfers energy and information about galaxies as waves. Characteristics of waves include wavelength, amplitude, and frequency. Waves can combine with one another, bend around corners, reflect off surfaces, be absorbed by materials they enter, and change direction when entering a new material. All these effects vary with wavelength. Observable waves include mechanical and electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic radiation, light, is differentiated by wavelength or frequency, and includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, x-rays, and gamma rays. These wavelengths vary from radio waves (the longest) to gamma rays (the shortest). In empty space all electromagnetic waves move at the same speed, the “speed of light.”

The origin of the Universe remains one of the greatest questions in science. The “big bang” theory places the origin between 10 and 20 billion years ago, when the Universe began in a hot dense state; according to this theory, the Universe has been expanding ever since.

Early in the history of the Universe, matter, primarily the light atoms hydrogen and helium, clumped together by gravitational attraction to form countless trillions of stars. Billions of galaxies, each of which is a gravitationally bound cluster of billions of stars, now form most of the visible mass in the universe.

STANDARD III: Students will understand thestructure, makeup, expansion, and origin of the Universe supported by scientific evidence.

Objective 1:Describe the properties of galaxies including the Milky Way Galaxy.

Describe the shape of the Galaxy as a spiral galaxy with the Sun being two-thirds of the distance out on a spiral arm.
Describe the formation of the galaxy and compare with other galaxies and the distribution of galaxies in the universe (e.g., local group, superclusters).
Describe the parts and location of different objects in galaxies (e.g. galactic center, bulge, disk, spiral arms, nebulae, star formation, old stars, young stars, supermassive blackholes, and star clusters: globular cluster and open cluster, etc…).
Describe the types of galaxies (e.g., elliptical, spiral, barbed spiral, irregular).

Objective 2: Describe the expanding Universe and “Big Bang Theory”.

Explain and describe the evidence supporting the “Big Bang Theory” (e.g. Hubble’s Law, redshift, creation of heavier elements through nuclear fusion, cosmic microwave background, galactic evolution, abundance of primordial elements, dark matter and energy, etc…).
Study and report the history of the expanding universe (e.g. contributions of Einstein, Hubble, LeMaitre, Hoyle, etc...)and the importance of red shift to astronomy in determining motion of galaxies relative to Earth.
Explain the large-scale structure of the universe with filaments of galaxies and voids (similar to Swiss cheese).

Science language students should use: / Galaxy, local group,local supercluster, spiral galaxy, barbed spiral galaxy, elliptical galaxy, irregular galaxy, star cluster, globular cluster, open cluster, primordial atom, universe, dark matter, cosmology, cosmic microwave background, Big Bang, red shift, dark matter

Astronomy 2 Core Curriculum