Science Education Standards: Earth and Space Science -- Content Standard D

Earth in the Solar System

• The Earth is the third planet from the sun in a system that includes the Moon, the sun, seven other planets and their moons, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets.

• 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.

Short Description: Students will construct a scale model of Saturn; use it to explain a Voyager image of Saturn's shadow on its rings; and, by trial and error, discover that light moves through space in straight lines.