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Surveying the Solar System

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Investigation total duration
2 hours

Next Generation Science Standards

Science literacy and critical thinking skills

  • Analyzing and interpreting data

  • Engaging in argument from evidence

Three dimensional lesson summary:

Students use models and analyze graphical data to identify similarities and differences between the orbital properties of groups of small Solar System objects, then use patterns in their data to classify newly-discovered objects.

Building towards:

HS-ESS1-4 Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system.

MS-ESS1-2 Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.

MS-ESS1-3 Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models

  • Develop and/or use a model to predict and/or describe phenomena.

  • Develop, revise, and/or use a model based on evidence to illustrate and/or predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system.


Students use a data-based model (orbit viewer) that allows them to categorize different small Solar System objects.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

  • Use graphical displays (e.g., charts, graphs, and/or tables) of large data sets to identify temporal and spatial relationships.

  • Apply concepts of statistics and probability (including mean, median, mode, and variability) to analyze and characterize data, using digital tools when feasible.

  • Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings.

  • Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.

  • Evaluate the impact of new data on a working explanation and/or model of a proposed process or system.


Students analyze and interpret histograms and an orbit viewer to identify similarities and differences in the temporal, spatial and dynamic characteristics of four groups of Solar System objects, and to provide evidence for the Solar System formation. They then evaluate a new group of objects and revise their model to include the new group.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

HS-ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System

Kepler’s laws describe common features of the motions of orbiting objects, including their elliptical paths around the sun. Orbits may change due to the gravitational effects from, or collisions with, other objects in the solar system.

Students use Kepler’s Laws to predict and analyze the motions of small Solar System objects by evaluating their eccentricity and distance from the Sun, and consider how orbits may have been altered by gravitational interactions or collisions with other objects.

MS-ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System

  • The solar system consists of the sun and a collection of objects, including planets, their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the sun by its gravitational pull on them.

  • The solar system appears to have formed from a disk of dust and gas, drawn together by gravity.

    Students explain how their observations of the orbital properties of Solar System objects support the solar nebula theory.

Related DCIs

MS-PS2.A: Forces and Motion

The motion of an object is determined by the sum of the forces acting on it; if the total force on the object is not zero, its motion will change. The greater the mass of the object, the greater the force needed to achieve the same change in motion. For any given object, a larger force causes a larger change in motion.

Students apply prerequisite knowledge of Newton’s Laws to predict how orbits could change as a result of a close encounter between two Solar System objects (one high mass and one low mass).

MS-PS2.B: Types of Interactions

Forces at a distance are explained by gravitational fields permeating space that can transfer energy through space.

Students consider how the factors of distance and mass between two Solar System objects alters the amount of mutual gravitational force they experience, and explain how that would influence the object’s orbit or speed.

Crosscutting Concept

Patterns

  • Different patterns may be observed at each of the scales at which a system is studied and can provide evidence for causality in explanations of phenomena.

  • Empirical evidence is needed to identify patterns.

  • Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data.


Students use histograms and an orbit viewer to identify similarities and differences in the spatial and temporal characteristics of four main groups of Solar System objects. The zoom capability of the orbit viewer allows students to look for patterns at different scales of distance in the Solar System.

Connections to Engineering

Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Engineering advances have led to important discoveries in virtually every field of science and scientific discoveries have led to the development of entire industries and engineered systems.

The innovative engineering design of the Rubin Observatory telescope and camera system will enable discoveries of millions of new Solar System objects.

Connections to Nature of Science

Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems

Science assumes that objects and events in natural systems occur in consistent patterns that are understandable through measurement and observation.

Through observation and measurement of the orbital properties of small Solar System objects, unique groups can be identified that have formed as a result of the collapse of the solar nebula and subsequent gravitational interactions.