Astronomy
Fall Semester | |||||
Unit Title | Ancient Astronomy | Telescopes | Earth, Sun, Moon System | Development of Modern Astronomy | Solar system |
Time | ~3.5 weeks | ~1.5 weeks | ~4 weeks | ~3 weeks | ~4 weeks |
Understandings | Evaluate and communicate how ancient civilizations developed models of the universe using astronomical structures, instruments, and tools such as the astrolabe, gnomons, and charts and how those models influenced society, time keeping, and navigation.
Describe and explain the historical origins of the perceived patterns of constellations and the role of constellations in ancient and modern navigation.
Identify constellations such as Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Orion, Cassiopeia, Lyra, Crux, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Andromeda and zodiac constellations along the ecliptic and describe their importance.
Understand the difference between astronomy and astrology, the reasons for their historical conflation, and their eventual separation.
Evaluate the impact on astronomy from light pollution, radio interference, and space debris. | Use astronomical technology such as telescopes, binoculars, sextants, computers, and software.
Research and evaluate the contributions of scientists, including Ptolemy, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, as astronomy progressed from a geocentric model to a heliocentric model | Observe, record, and analyze the apparent movement of the Sun, Moon, and stars and predict sunrise and sunset;
Demonstrate the use of units of measurement in astronomy, including astronomical units and light years, minutes, and seconds;
Model the scale, size, and distances of the Sun, Earth, and Moon system and identify the limitations of physical models
Model how the orbit and relative position of the Moon cause lunar phases and predict the timing of moonrise and moonset during each phase;
Model how the orbit and relative position of the Moon cause lunar and solar eclipses; and
Examine and investigate the dynamics of tides using the Sun, Earth, and Moon model.
Examine the relationship of a planet's axial tilt to its potential seasons;
Predict how changing latitudinal position affects the length of day and night throughout a planet's orbital year
Investigate the relationship between a planet's axial tilt, angle of incidence of sunlight, and concentration of solar energy
Explain the significance of Earth's solstices and equinoxes.
Describe and communicate the historical development of human space flight and its challenges;
Explore and explain careers that involve astronomy, space exploration, and the technologies developed through them.
| Research and evaluate the contributions of scientists, including Ptolemy, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, as astronomy progressed from a geocentric model to a heliocentric model
Observe the movement of planets throughout the year and measure how their positions change relative to the constellations.
Demonstrate the use of units of measurement in astronomy, including astronomical units and light years, minutes, and seconds.
Calculate the relative light-gathering power of different- sized telescopes to compare telescopes for different applications.
Relate Newton's law of universal gravitation and Kepler's laws of planetary motion to the formation and motion of the planets and their satellites
Illustrate how astronomers use geometric parallax to determine stellar distances and intrinsic luminosities. | Model the scale, sizes, and distances of the Sun and the planets in our solar system and identify the limitations of physical models.
Explore and communicate the origins and significance of planets, planetary rings, satellites, asteroids, comets, Oort cloud, and Kuiper belt objects.
Compare the planets in terms of orbit, size, composition, rotation, atmosphere, natural satellites, magnetic fields, and geological activity.
Describe and communicate the historical development of human space flight and its challenges.
Describe and communicate the uses and challenges of robotic space flight.
Evaluate the evidence of the existence of habitable zones and potentially habitable planetary bodies in extrasolar planetary systems
|
TEKS | 5A, 5C, 6C,6D, 16D | 2A, 5B | 6A, 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, 8C, 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, 16D, 16F | 5B, 6B, 7A, 10B, 11A, 13G | 7C, 11B, 11C, 16A, 16B |
Skills TEKS | Ast 1A-4B | ||||
Spring Semester | ||||||
Unit Title | Our Sun and Solar Activity | Spectroscopy & the EM Spectrum | Classification & Properties of Stars | Life Cycle of Stars | Galaxies | Cosmology |
Time | ~2 weeks | ~3 weeks | ~3 weeks | ~3 weeks | ~3 weeks | ~3 weeks |
Understandings | Identifies the approximate mass, size, motion, temperature, structure, and composition of the Sun.
Distinguish between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission and identify the source of energy within the Sun as nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium
Describe the eleven-year solar cycle and the significance of sunspots
Analyze the origins and effects of space weather, including the solar wind, coronal mass ejections, prominences, flares, and sunspots.
Describe and communicate the uses and challenges of robotic space flight [Parker Solar Probe; SOHO] | Demonstrate the use of units of measurement in astronomy, including astronomical units and light years, minutes, and seconds
Investigate the use of black body radiation curves and emission, absorption, and continuous spectra in the identification and classification of celestial objects
Analyze the importance and limitations of optical, infrared, and radio telescopes gravitational wave detectors, and other ground-based technology
Analyze the importance and limitations of space telescopes in the collection of astronomical data across the electromagnetic spectrum.
Describe the use of spectroscopy in obtaining physical data on celestial objects such as temperature, chemical composition, and relative motion; | Compare the factors essential to life on Earth such as temperature, water, gasses, and gravitational and magnetic fields to conditions on other planets and their satellites.
Identify the characteristics of main sequence stars, including surface temperature, age, relative size, and composition
Describe and communicate star formation from nebula to protostars to the development of main sequence stars
Use the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram to classify stars and plot and examine the life cycle of stars from birth to death
Evaluate the evidence of the existence of habitable zones and potentially habitable planetary bodies in extrasolar planetary systems
| Investigate the use of black body radiation curves and emission, absorption, and continuous spectra in the identification and classification of celestial objects;
Distinguish between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission and identify the source of energy within the Sun as nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium;
Evaluate the relationship between mass and fusion on stellar evolution
Compare how the mass of a main sequence star will determine its end state as a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole;
Describe how stellar distances are determined by comparing apparent brightness and intrinsic luminosity when using spectroscopic parallax and the Leavitt relation for variable stars
Evaluate the evidence of the existence of habitable zones and potentially habitable planetary bodies in extrasolar planetary systems | Demonstrate the use of units of measurement in astronomy, including astronomical units and light years, minutes, and seconds.
Illustrate the structure and components of our Milky Way galaxy and model the size, location, and movement of our solar system within it
Compare spiral, elliptical, irregular, dwarf, and active galaxies
Develop and use models to explain how galactic evolution occurs through mergers and collisions
Describe the Local Group and its relation to larger-scale structures in the universe | Demonstrate the use of units of measurement in astronomy, including astronomical units and light years, minutes, and seconds;
Evaluate the indirect evidence for the existence of dark matter
Describe and evaluate the historical development of evidence supporting the Big Bang Theory;
Evaluate the limits of observational astronomy methods used to formulate the distance ladder;
Evaluate the indirect evidence for the existence of dark energy;
Describe the current scientific understanding of the evolution of the universe, including estimates for the age of the universe
Describe current scientific hypotheses about the fate of the universe, including open and closed universes.
Describe and communicate the uses and challenges of robotic space flight
Examine and describe current developments and discoveries in astronomy |
TEKS | 12A, 12C, 12D, 16B | 7A, 10A, 10C, 10D, 13E | 11D, 13A, 13B, 13F, 16C | 10A, 12B, 13B, 13C, 13D, 13H | 7A, 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D | 7A, 14E, 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15E, 16B, 16E |
Skills TEKS | Ast 1A-4B | |||||