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A core learning question from the Astrobiology Learning Progressions
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7.2. How do we explore within our own Solar System for signs of life?
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7.4. How can we identify worlds around other stars that could have life?
Grades K-2 or Adult Naive Learner
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As we look into the night sky and see so many stars it’s also amazing to think about how many of those stars have planets. Maybe some of those planets are similar to the planets in our own solar system. Maybe some are even similar to our Earth.A planet that orbits a star other than our Sun is called an exoplanet. Telescopes can see stars very well, but seeing planets around other stars is actually pretty hard. However, there are ways for us to find out about something without seeing it directly. Sometimes, an exoplanet will move in front of its star. When this happens, it blocks a really small amount of the light from the star. And we can actually see that and it lets us know that there is an exoplanet there. Also, when planets orbit around stars, they tug and pull at the star and make it move around a little bit. We can also measure this and use it to find exoplanets!We’ve now discovered thousands of exoplanets orbiting other stars, and we keep finding more and more all of the time. Most of them that we’ve found are really big planets, like Jupiter and Saturn, but we’re also finding planets that are smaller and closer to the size of Earth. Some of us even wonder if we might soon find an exoplanet that also has signs of life on it. Wouldn’t that be amazing?!
Disciplinary Core IdeasPS3.A: Definitions of Energy: Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles of matter. The relationship between the temperature and the total energy of a system depends on the types, states, and amounts of matter present. (MS-PS3-3, MS-PS3-4)PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life: The chemical reaction by which plants produce complex food molecules (sugars) requires an energy input (i.e., from sunlight) to occur. In this reaction, carbon dioxide and water combine to form carbon-based organic molecules and release oxygen.LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience: Biodiversity describes the variety of species found in Earth’s terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems. The completeness or integrity of an ecosystem’s biodiversity is often used as a measure of its health. (MS-LS2-5)ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars: Patterns of the apparent motion of the Sun, the Moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, predicted, and explained with models. (MS-ESS1-1) ▪ Earth and its solar system are part of the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of many galaxies in the universe. (MS-ESS1-2)ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System: 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. (MS-ESS1-2, MS-ESS1-3)ESS2.A: Earth’s Materials and Systems: All Earth processes are the result of energy flowing and matter cycling within and among the planet’s systems. This energy is derived from the Sun and Earth’s hot interior. The energy that flows and matter that cycles produce chemical and physical changes in Earth’s materials and living organisms. (MS-ESS2-1)ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes: Water continually cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere via transpiration, evaporation, condensation and crystallization, and precipitation, as well as downhill flows on land. (MS-ESS2-4) ▪ Global movements of water and its changes in form are propelled by sunlight and gravity. (MS-ESS2-4)ESS3.A: Natural Resources: Humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for many different resources. Minerals, fresh water, and biosphere resources are limited, and many are not renewable or replaceable over human lifetimes. These resources are distributed unevenly around the planet as a result of past geologic processes. (MS-ESS3-1)ESS2.D: Weather and Climate: Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns. (MS-ESS2-6) ▪ The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the Sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents. (MS-ESS2-6)Crosscutting ConceptsPatterns: Similarities and differences in patterns can be used to sort, classify, communicate and analyze simple rates of change for natural phenomena. (5-ESS1-2)Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: Natural objects exist from the very small to the immensely large. (5-ESS1-1)
Big Ideas: Stars seen from Earth likely have planets surrounding them. Some of these planets have the potential to house life. Planets that orbit stars other than the Sun are called exoplanets. Exoplanets are very difficult to detect. Most exoplanets are really big like Jupiter, smaller exoplanets that are closer to the size of Earth have also been found.Boundaries: At this level, the focus is on the variety of exoplanets, both in terms of their size and location.
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Grades 3-5 or Adult Emerging Learner
Storyline
NGSS Connections for Teachers
Concept Boundaries for Scientists
Resources
As we look into the night sky and see so many stars it’s also amazing to think about how many of those stars have planets. Maybe some of those planets are similar to the planets in our own solar system. Maybe some are even similar to our Earth.A planet that orbits a star other than our Sun is called an exoplanet. Telescopes can see stars very well, but seeing planets around other stars is actually pretty hard. However, there are ways for us to find out about something without seeing it directly. Sometimes, an exoplanet will move in front of its star. When this happens, it blocks a really small amount of the light from the star. And we can actually see that and it lets us know that there is an exoplanet there. Also, when planets orbit around stars, they tug and pull at the star and make it move around a little bit. We can also measure this and use it to find exoplanets!Most of the thousands of exoplanets that have been detected so far were found by the Kepler mission. Kepler was a space telescope that looked at just a very small region of the sky (if you hold your hand out with a straight arm at night and point it to the sky, the region covered by your hand is roughly the size of the area that Kepler was looking at!).We’ve now discovered thousands of exoplanets orbiting other stars, and we keep finding more and more all of the time. Most of them that we’ve found are really big planets, like Jupiter and Saturn, but we’re also finding planets that are smaller and closer to the size of Earth. Some of us even wonder if we might soon find an exoplanet that also has signs of life on it. Wouldn’t that be amazing?!
Disciplinary Core IdeasPS3.A: Definitions of Energy: Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles of matter. The relationship betw …