These solar system models ultimately must fit in with models of the formation of the universe, as tiny parts of the whole, but ones for which comparatively complete data exists. The information obtained from the Genesis mission pertaining to the primordial solar system should ultimately prove useful to cosmologists and cosmogonists, since the solar system is thought to have originated from a disk-shaped cloud of gas and dust when the universe was about two-thirds its current age. Thus, the Genesis mission becomes a part of the necessary cosmological strategy of working backwards through time toward a beginning.

The Student Activity, "Mathematical Models," emphasizes the fact that cosmology is, of necessity, a mathematical science, and it illustrates the power of mathematics to organize our thoughts and to direct the course of future investigations. During this activity, students should be guided to an understanding of the various kinds of models used by scientists and how observations are converted into useful logic-based models.

The Student Activity, "Density and Gravity-The Push and the Pull of the Universe," focuses on the importance of a very simple concept (gravity) to cosmological thought while stressing the difficulty of determining the density of something as vast and poorly defined as the universe. The part of this activity dealing with gravity is designed to underline the crucial role that this extremely weak force plays in determining the structure of the universe.

The Student Activity, "Doppler Effect-Are You Coming or Going?" illustrates the application of a simple technique that has been a mainstay of cosmological science since the early part of the 20th century. After students develop a physical model that simulates the Doppler effect, they proceed to explore some actual cosmic Doppler data and draw conclusions based on these observations.

The Student Activity, "Quarks-Getting Down to Fundamentals," focuses the students' attention on extrapolations into the unknown by inference. The inferred information is used to build models consistent with observable contemporary data about fundamental particles and how this matter relates to the origin of the universe.

Use the Student Activities, "A Spongy Universe" and "Dark Matter-More Than Meets the Eye" to create interest in learning more about the structure of the universe and the models that are now being considered. The "Spongy Universe" activity emphasizes two things. The first is that how we view things often depends on our perspective, and the second is how our view of the universe from here in the solar system is very limited by our perspective.

The "Dark Matter" activity encourages students to wrestle with the difficulties faced by scientists when they do not have information on which to base models. The activity also focuses on the intellectual developments that are necessary in order to address these obstacles.