/ I / the Phenomenon |
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Gravity is an attractive force that depends greatly on mass.
[CER] DISCUSSION QUESTION:
How predictable are Earth's ocean tides? Make a claim then gather evidence to support and justify your claim throughout this lesson. |
/ Ii / Investigate
1. Moon Walk - investigate how far you can jump and your weight on the Moon and other celestial objects.
2. Start a Revolution - investigate the relationship between orbital periods and the mean distance from the sun using this Solar System interactive. 3. Turn the Tide - investigate patterns and the gravitational relationship between the Earth, Moon and Sun that results in Earth’s ocean tides using an this online interactive. 4. Create your own Universe - investigate how celestial bodies warp the fabric of space-time and interact with each other using this simulation. 5. Gravity and Orbits - discover the variables that affect the strength of gravity and predict how motion would change if gravity was stronger or weaker using this simulation. |
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Gravity and Orbits GUIDE
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Discover the variables that affect the strength of gravity and predict how motion would change if gravity was stronger or weaker.
/ iII / Level Up!
During this lesson you will learn more about the underlying forces that explain the variety of interactions we observed between objects.
✎Notes:
- Electric and magnetic (electromagnetic) forces can be attractive or repulsive, and their sizes depend on the magnitudes of the charges, currents, or magnetic strengths involved and on the distances between the interacting objects.
- Gravitational forces are always attractive.
- There is a gravitational force between any two masses, but it is very small except when one or both of the objects have large mass—for example, Earth and the sun.
- Long-range gravitational interactions govern the evolution and maintenance of large-scale systems in space, such as galaxies or the solar system, and determine the patterns of motion within those structures.
- Forces that act at a distance (gravitational, electric, and magnetic) can be explained by force fields that extend through space and can be mapped by their effect on a test object (a ball, a charged object, or a magnet, respectively).
/ IV / choose your path
NOVICE [+2 points]
1. Explore the causes of tides as they occur along the coasts around the world in this interactive tutorial. 2. Draw and explain how the mass of the Sun and Moon causes Earth's ocean tides. |
EXPERT [+5 points]
According to this article from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, "What happens as the Moon Moves Away From Earth?" the moon is moving away from Earth by a few centimeters a year. Evaluate the evidence and identify its strengths and weaknesses of this claim using the following criteria:
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/ V / Knowledge Check
Comets, meteoroids, and small asteroids are constantly moving around in space. Scientists estimate that about 48.5 tons of space material falls on Earth each day but are soaked up, disintegrate or destroyed by Earth's thick atmosphere that protects us. Sadly, for the moon, this isn’t the case. It has pretty much no atmosphere and so the impact isn’t stopped or even reduced.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft has been mapping the moon since 2009. By comparing pictures from different periods in time, the scientists have been able to determine how much impact the space rocks have had. “We detected 222 new impact craters and found 33% more craters with a diameter of at least 10m,” said NASA’s researchers. Studying this data revealed that the space rocks are creating around 180 craters each year, all over ten meters in diameter.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft has been mapping the moon since 2009. By comparing pictures from different periods in time, the scientists have been able to determine how much impact the space rocks have had. “We detected 222 new impact craters and found 33% more craters with a diameter of at least 10m,” said NASA’s researchers. Studying this data revealed that the space rocks are creating around 180 craters each year, all over ten meters in diameter.
✓ MASTERY CHECK
National Research Council 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13165
This site contains original content that may not be authorized for use by the creator and is legally used under the fair use principles section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1986 (17 U.S. Code § 107)
The official NGSS website. https://www.nextgenscience.org
PS2.B, MS-PS2-4
Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects. (Systems and System Models) [MS-PS2-4]
This site contains original content that may not be authorized for use by the creator and is legally used under the fair use principles section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1986 (17 U.S. Code § 107)
The official NGSS website. https://www.nextgenscience.org
PS2.B, MS-PS2-4
Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects. (Systems and System Models) [MS-PS2-4]