Curriculum Relevance
Relevance in Curriculum: Science in the New Zealand Curriculum (1994)
Learning Strand:
Making Sense of the Nature of Science and its relationship to Technology, Pg 14.
Achievement Aim:
Pg. 24: 1. Critically evaluate ideas and processes related to science and become aware that scientific understanding is developed by people, whose ideas change over time.
Learning Strand Level: 1:
Pg 26:
Learning Strand Level: 2:
Learning Strand Level: 3:
Learning Strand Level: 4:
Learning Strand Level: 5:
Learning Strand Level: 6:
Learning Strand Level: 7:
Learning Strand Level: 8:
Learning Strand:
Making Sense of Planet Earth and Beyond, pg 106.
Learning Strand Level: 1:
Achievement Objectives:
- Pg 108: No 3. Share their ideas about objects in space and about very noticeable environmental patterns associated with these objects, e.g., Moon, Sun, stars, day and night, seasons.
Sample Learning Contexts:
- Night and day,
- Maori legends,
- A visit to the beach or planetarium,
- Old photographs.
Possible Learning Experiences:
- Pg 109: expressing their own ideas about the Moon or Sun and listening to those of others;
- talking about seeing the Moon in the daytime;
- drawing pictures to show the activities that they do at different times over a twenty-four hour period;
- talking about the stars they see in the night sky.
Assessment Examples:
- Teachers and students could assess the students’:
- ability to communicate their ideas about environmental changes, when the students role play the elements that make up winter and summer weather;
- awareness of patterns in daily activity, and ability to work as a member of a group, when the students construct a group time line showing that people often do the same things at much the same time on different days;
- awareness of differences between day and night, when the students draw pictures and write simple sentences about this;
- ability to accurately recall main ideas, when the students retell the story of a Maori legend about the Sun;
- ability to recognise different shapes of the Moon, when they talk about diagrams of these.
Learning Strand Level: 2:
Achievement Objectives:
- Pg 110. Students can:
- 3. use their ideas to investigate major objects in our solar system and very noticeable environmental patterns associated with these objects, e.g., Moon, Sun, planets, day and night, shadow movements, seasons.
Sample Learning Contexts:
- Space photography;
- Star gazing;
- I te tìmatanga;
- Protection from the Sun.
Possible Learning Experiences:
- Pg 111:
- guided reading of a School Journal article to extend their ideas about a planet or the stars;
- constructing a simple sundial and using it to tell the time;
- monitoring changes in shadows over a period of time to show change in the position of the Sun;
- sharing a big book about the planets to help develop research skills and teamwork.
Assessment Examples:
- Pg 111. Assess:
- understanding of the cause of shadows, when the students share their ideas about how shadows change shape during the day;
- ideas relating to the Sun’s apparent motion, when the students predict where their shadows will fall in one hour’s time.
Learning Strand Level: 3:
Achievement Objectives:
- Pg 112: Students can-
- 3. Locate and use information obtained from space exploration to clarify, challenge, and extend their ideas about the general nature and behaviour of the Earth, its moon, and the other planets in our solar system, e.g., Moon missions, satellites, space stations.
Sample Learning Contexts:
- Pg 112:
- Space, Weather, Global warming, weather maps, Volcanoes, Pakiwaitara o Ngatoro-i-rangi, Satellites, Voyages of discovery, Rockets, Atlases, Moon probes;
- Space exploration; Solar power; Science fiction; Space travel; Ngàwhà .
Possible Learning Experiences:
- Pg 113:
- making a model volcano to illustrate its structure; discussing ideas about what Earth looks like from the Moon or a space shuttle;
- viewing a video of a space mission to the Moon to increase awareness of the Moon’s landscape and/or viewing a video of a space launch to increase awareness of the use of technology in space exploration;
- researching some facts about another planet to help answer students’ questions about a planet.
Assessment Examples:
- Pg 113. Assess:
- knowledge about the surface structure of the Moon, when they write questions to use in a role play interview of an astronaut returning from a Moon mission;
- observation skills, when the students compare surface features as shown in a photograph of Earth taken from space with features indicated in a world map.
Learning Strand Level: 4:
Achievement Objectives:
- Pg 114:
- 3. (a) use simple technological devices to observe and describe our night sky, e.g., binoculars, simple star maps;
- (b) investigate and use models which explain the changing spatial relationships of the Earth, its moon, and the Sun, and the way different cultures have used these patterns to describe and measure time, and position, e.g., phases of the Moon, eclipses, tides, seasons, sun clocks;
Sample Learning Contexts:
- Pg 114:
- Papatuanuku, Rangi, and the children, Clouds, The ocean, Space probes,
- Space travel, Weather forecasting, The night sky Navigation.
Possible Learning Experiences:
- Pg 115:
- designing a mobile to show the relative positions of Sun, Moon, and Earth during solar or lunar eclipses;
- making a simple needle compass and demonstrating how it is used;
- drawing the shape of the Moon on as many different days as possible over a month, then discussing and comparing their results;
- attending a star party at which someone demonstrates the use of telescopes or binoculars to find interesting objects in the night sky.
Assessment Examples:
- Pg 115. Assess:
- understanding of the cause of eclipses, when the students use a torch and two balls to simulate an eclipse;
- understanding of the space relationships of the Sun, Moon, and Earth, when the students make a model showing their relative positions;
- familiarity with the night sky, when the students identify several space objects.
Learning Strand Level: 5:
Achievement Objectives:
- Pg 116. Students can:
- 1/2. Investigate and describe processes which change the Earth’s surface over time at local and global levels, e.g., erosion, weathering, earthquakes, volcanoes, continental drift, plate tectonics;
- 3. (a) use simple technological devices, such as telescopes and simple star maps, to observe and describe changing patterns in our night sky, e.g., position of the Moon, orientation of the Southern Cross;
- (b) use information obtained from technological devices, such as radio telescopes and satellites, to clarify, challenge, and extend their ideas about the general characteristics of some near and far space objects, e.g., structure, size, surface landscape, climate; the Sun and other stars, Earth’s moon, planets, comets, meteors, clusters, galaxies; feasibility of life.
Sample Learning Contexts:
- Pg 116:
- Earthquakes of the Pacific Rim, Alpine faults, Global warming, Black holes, Telescopes, I roto àtea, The solar system, The Moon, Space probes or space missions, Volcanoes, Satellite photography, Comets, Antarctica, Soils, Ice ages.
Possible Learning Experiences:
- Pg 117:
- researching and presenting a report on plate tectonics; using a planetarium program on a computer to recreate the night sky;
- making telescopes using lenses, concave mirrors, and cardboard tubes;
- acting out planet orbits to scale on the playing field;
- launching water-powered, plastic soft drink bottle “rockets” with a bike pump and testing variables which affect the flight of such model rockets;
- using the projection method to record sunspot activity;
- researching the latest information available on the nature of extreme outer space.
Assessment Examples:
- Pg 117. Assess:
- knowledge of the suggested relationship between sites of volcanic and earthquake activity in New Zealand and the Pacific Rim and the position of Earth’s crustal plates, when the students draw an annotated diagram to explain their ideas;
- understanding of the changing position of stars in the night sky, when the students
- identify the Southern Cross at two different times of the night or year;
- ability to visualise the structure of the solar system, when the students place planet diagrams correctly on to a blank map of the solar system;
- ability to understand how telescopes are used, when they provide observational evidence to support their ideas of the surface structure of Mars;
- ability to relate theory to observation, when students prepare a project on a named celestial body;
- awareness of the nature of space objects, when students compare the size and speed of meteors and satellites;
- ability to manipulate equipment correctly and safely, when students focus a clear projected image of the Sun through binoculars or a telescope on to a small screen, taking appropriate precautions.
Learning Strand Level: 6:
Achievement Objectives:
- Pg 118:
- 3. Use information from a range of sources, including their own observation, to explain spatial relationships of objects in the night sky and the challenge such spatial relationships present to space exploration, e.g., distance between and changing positions of objects; theories about the origins of the Universe.
Sample Learning Contexts:
- Pg 118:
- Satellite imaging, Light years, Big Bang Theory.
Possible Learning Experiences:
- Pg 119:
- visiting a local observatory or planetarium to view objects in the night sky;
- carrying out an information research project on the Big Bang Theory;
- discussing theories about the formation of the Universe with an local astronomer.
Assessment Examples:
- Pg 119. Assess:
- co-operative learning skills, when the students work in groups to construct a model or poster about the Big Bang Theory of the origin of the Universe;
- ability to evaluate ideas, when the students compare the Big Bang Theory to another theory about the origin of the Universe;
- understanding of the scale of space, when the students can express distance in terms of “spacecraft travel time” and “light travel time”.
Learning Strand Level: 7:
Achievement Objectives:
- Pg 120. Students can-
- 3. Examine evidence from a variety of detectors to reach conclusions about the nature of stars and other celestial objects;
Sample Learning Contexts:
- Pg 120:
- Volcanoes of the Pacific Rim, Canals on Mars, World environmental issues, e.g., ozone depletion, oil pollution, Nga take o te Life on other planets, The Moon, The life story of a star.
Possible Learning Experiences:
- Pg 121:
- collecting and summarising media reports of articles relating to space exploration and possible evidence of life on other planets;
- examining evidence from images of planets to gather data in order to make speculations about the nature of a planet;
- carrying out systematic observations of a celestial object such as the Sun, a planet, or a star;
- analysing the light curve of a variable star.
Assessment Examples:
- Pg 121. Assess:
- ability to use group decision-making strategies to formulate a logical survival plan, when the students imagine they have the problem of being space travellers lost on Mars;
- ability to reach conclusions from given evidence, when the students prepare a report on the nature of our Sun;
- persistence, when a student carries out observations of a space object over an extended period of time.
Learning Strand Level: 8:
Achievement Objectives:
- Pg 122. Students can-
- 1/4 Carry out an extended investigation, involving a range of techniques, originating from their own interests into some aspect of, or issue related to, Planet Earth and Beyond;
- 2. Investigate and describe the sequence and characteristics of major events in the Earth’s geological past;
- 3. Research and present a report on a current astronomical event or discovery.
Sample Learning Contexts:
- Pg 122:
- Plate tectonics, Space exploration, Information skills in science, Science fiction, Nga pukapuka pakiwaitara o pùtaiao, Space stations, Space travel.
Possible Learning Experiences:
- Pg 123 :
- debating “Money on space exploration is well spent” to highlight an issue involved in space exploration;
- preparing a cost-benefit analysis for some aspect of space technology;
- collecting newspaper and magazine articles relating to space exploration and grouping and summarising these.
Assessment Examples:
- Pg 123. Assess:
- ability to communicate effectively the key evidence used to support the currently held theory of plate tectonics, when the students prepare a seminar on Gondwanaland for presentation to a form 5 class;
- ability to solve problems, when the students present a group report defending the establishment of a human colony on the Moon;
- awareness of space exploration issues, when the students decide, in groups, on a code of behaviour for disposal of space rubbish;
- ability to appreciate the uncertain nature of scientific theories, when the students explain in their own words how earlier astronomical theories were shown to be incorrect;
- willingness to keep abreast of current events, when the students give seminars on current astronomical events or discoveries.
Relevance in Achievement Standards:
- as90192 - Science 1.7 - Describe aspects of astronomy.
- References:
- This achievement standard is derived from Science in the New Zealand Curriculum, Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1993, p. 118–119, in particular achievement objective 3; and Pūtaiao i roto i te Marautanga o Aotearoa, Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1996, ‘Ō Ahupūngao: Te Waonui’, WP 6.1, p. 46–47.
- Notes:
- 2 Aspects of astronomy will be selected from:
- spatial relationships within the solar system
- space exploration of the solar system.
- Spatial relationships within the solar system could involve orbits of the planets and their moons, position of the planets relative to Earth, major moons and problems related to distances between the planets.
- as90764 - Science 2.7 - Describe the Nature and Life Cycle of Stars.doc
- as90733 - Science 3.7 - Report on a recent astronomical event or discovery.doc
- as90771 - Science 2.2 - Research information to present a scientific report.doc
Relevance in Unit Standards:
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