Science - Level D

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Interactive Guidelines - Knowledge & Understanding

Earth & Space
Earth in Space

C

this is
Level D

E

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Level D	Learning activities e.g.	Additional advice from Guide for Teachers & Managers
ES-D1.1	Target Menu from G18	Earth in Space
relate the movement of planets around the Sun to gravitational forces	use the library to find out about 'weightlessness' experienced by astronauts in space discuss which objects in the Solar System will have the greatest gravitational pull write my assignment on the topic of gravity and its influence on nature make an annotated diagram to explain the effect of the Sun on the movement of the planets find out how we determined that the Earth moves around the Sun.	Gravity is simply a pull that is exerted by any object. Note that larger objects are not always heavier. When astronauts go into space, they experience 'weightlessness' and float about. The spacecraft and astronauts are, in fact, in 'free-fall'. That is, they are 'falling' towards the Earth but never reach it because of the speed of the spacecraft in orbit and the curvature of the Earth. What this means is that the astronauts are apparently weightless because they are 'falling' at the same speed as the spacecraft. Over the great distances in the Solar System, it is the Sun that exerts the greatest effect on the planets. Every planet would move through space in a straight line without the Sun's gravitational pull, which causes the planets to swing round in orbit. The results of careful observations of the apparent movement of stars could be explained by Earth orbiting the Sun. We now have visual confirmation of Earth's movement, seen from space.
ES-D1.2	Target Menu from G18	Earth in Space
give some examples of the approaches taken to space exploration	use secondary sources to find out how evidence of our Solar System has been collected find out how we determined that the Earth moves around the Sun make a chart outlining the history of space exploration and flight identify some other ways in which we find out about space, using library and websites.	Sputnik was launched in 1957. Apollo 11 landed men on the Moon in 1969 using a three-stage rocket. Shuttles, which are re-usable, have been used since 1981 for putting astronauts into orbit around the Earth. Pupils should be reminded of the very limited nature of this exploration - our planet and its moon - a far cry from the 'Star Wars' fantasies. Telescopes have been used to view the heavens since the early seventeenth century. Huge and sophisticated light telescopes are used now and one of these is at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh. Other forms of energy can now be detected, having been emitted long, long ago from distant stars. Some instruments detect part of the spectrum that is not visible, such as infrared light, whilst others detect x-rays. The quality of light reaching us tells us much about the source of the light. Spectroscopes are used to study this. Radio telescopes are used to detect radio waves from space.

Earth & Space
Materials from Earth

C

this is
Level D

E

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