SILO 3.2 (DRAFT)Year 3, Term 2: SatellitesFocus: Gravity Scope and sequence: Gravity, Heliocentric model |
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Learning
intention: Students
explore night and day and seasonal changes in relation to
orbiting bodies
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Overview: The Earth is a
satellite which rotates on its own axis each day while revolving
around the Sun each year. Students will come to see how
this rotation causes us to experience night and day. The
angle of the Earth's rotation combined with its revolution
around the Sun is why we experience different seasons throughout
the year. This unit also looks at mechanical satellites
which are used for global communications.
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NSW Syllabus
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Australian Curriculum (version
9.0)
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"A student describes how contact
and non-contact forces affect an object’s motion." (ST2-9PW-ST)
"A student investigates regular
changes caused by interactions between the Earth and the Sun,
and changes to the Earth’s surface." (ST2-10ES-S)
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"Students learn to describe the
movement of Earth and other planets relative to the sun and
model how Earth’s tilt, rotation on its axis and revolution
around the sun relate to cyclic observable phenomena, including
variable day and night length." (AC9S6U02)
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A satellite is a moon, planet or machine that orbits a larger object such as a planet or star. 'Orbit' is a revolution around another object as distinct from rotation which involves spinning around its own axis. The following video (1:50) explains all of this in relation to night and day.
This animation (0:56) was made by a student in Year 6 and
it introduces some of the basics about how communication satellites
work.
This video (0:47) shows an experiment conducted on the
Moon during the Apollo 15 voyage in 1971.
The 'anti-gravity creature' appears to defy gravity by
climbing up the string rather than sliding down.This activity works well
with students of all ages.
Procedure:
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What happens if you remove the marbles by cutting them off?
Why does this happen? |
Brian Brondel - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
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Why doesn't gravity cause the Moon to collide with the Earth? |
Rocket science can refer to the engineering behind the construction of rockets or the chemical processes involved in rocket propulsion. We will look briefly at both in this section starting with rocket fuel which often consists of mixing liquid hydrogen with liquid oxygen.
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This video (3:25) does not mention rocket fuel but liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are still used in many rockets today and were used in many of the most famous space missions.
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Direction is relative as shown in this video (0:47)
where clockwise and anti-clockwise depend on your frame of reference.
In the animated GIF below you can see that the movement in in a clockwise direction.
By Willow W - Own work, CC
BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3397590
The following photo has the numbers going
anticlockwise. Look carefully for other details in the photo to
explain why this might be the case. (Hint: Think in terms of
geography.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundial#/media/File:Sundial_in_Supreme_Court_Gardens,_Perth.jpg
The Coriolis effect describes the pattern of deflection taken by objects not firmly connected to the ground as they travel long distances. This explains why tornadoes spin in different directions in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres as the Earth is moving much faster at the equator than at the poles.
The following video (1:20) involves placing a glue stick on a spinning 'Lazy Susan' to demonstrate the Coriolis effect.
Life is different at the poles
(Jacobs & Robin, 2016, p. 273)
The arrangement of these rocks on Wadawurrung country
mirrors the changing position of the setting Sun throughout the year.
The Heliocentric model is the idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun (as opposed to the Geocentric model where the Sun revolves around the Earth). The Heliocentric model was very controversial during the Renaissance (15th and 16th centuries) and was a key ingredient in the Scientific revolution. However, the following video (2:16) featuring Eratosthenes (276 BCE – 194 BCE) shows how this idea was discussed much earlier.
How big is our universe? This video (7:05) by the
BBC shows just how big the universe is.
Elliptical orbits
Drawing ellipses