New Hampshire Science Curriculum Frameworks
Introduction Broad Goals Science as Inquiry Science, Technology, and Society
Life Science Earth/Space Science Physical Science Unifying Themes and Concepts
Earth/Space Science
The Earth is situated in a universe with many puzzling, interesting, and exciting phenomena. Students have a natural curiosity about the Earth and space and seek explanations for their observations of such things as the day and night time sky. Students should have numerous opportunities to explore Earth and space science topics. They become interested in the Earth and familiar with it at an early age, primarily as the solid surface on which they walk, play, and live. They are unaware of its size and shape, or the variety of landforms that are different from those in their immediate environment. As students' understanding of the Earth develops, they begin to connect their local environment to an Earth that is much larger and possibly very different. For example, middle school students can use a map to identify and compare large continental surface features as well as those found beneath the ocean. High school students should be able to recognize surface features of their state and relate those features to glacial or crustal activity. Young children see rocks and minerals as individual objects and not part of the Earth's changing surface. As students grow and develop, and their ability to visualize occurrences they can not directly observe develops, they can more easily understand the processes that form rocks and minerals. Students also have many explanations of what causes rain, winds, thunder, and lightning. At early ages, their explanations are based on familiar everyday mechanisms. In the middle-grades, students' explanations of the causes of precipitation become more scientific as their understanding of invisible gases and matter-as-molecules develop. Understanding how objects--moons, planets, comets, and Earth satellites--move in space is difficult for young children. They view the universe and the planet on which they live from the standpoint of standing on a flat surface, looking out at the heavens, seeing a sun that rises, passes over them, and sets, and stars that move across the night sky. Developing an accurate understanding of space is central to scientific literacy because of its importance to modern society. The study of astronomy and space science lends itself to many opportunities for students to practice inquiry skills; and to use technology to help them better understand such things as how objects in the solar system actually form or how they move in space.
Earth science applies principles developed in each of the other scientific disciplines to help in our understanding of the processes and interactions of the Earth's physical systems. Investigations of the Earth focus on five interacting and dynamic systems: the lithosphere (the solid part of the Earth), the hydrosphere (the water on and below the Earth's surface), the cryosphere (the ice formations found on the Earth), the atmosphere (the gaseous layer overlying the lithosphere and hydrosphere), and the biosphere (all life forms found on the Earth). Students can investigate each of the Earth science systems to help them understand that each system is composed of characteristic materials involving unique interrelated processes, uniting them into a single, universal system.
Curriculum Standard 4a
Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand that the Earth is a unique member of our solar system, located in a galaxy, within the universe.
Proficiency Standards
By the end of grade six students will be able to:
- Compare and contrast important features of the Earth, Sun and Moon.
- Observe and describe the motion of the sun, moon, and stars from the perspective of the Earth.
- Explain how the brightness of a star as seen from Earth is related to its size, color, and distance from the Earth.
- Use a telescope to magnify the appearance of some distant objects in the sky.
- Explain how the Earth's relationship to the Sun causes night, day, and the seasons.
- State the type of information which can be gathered by the use of scientific instruments such as telescopes, satellites, etc.
- Cite evidence that the Earth is very old.
Proficiency Standards
By the end of grade ten students will be able to:
- Use a model to describe the location and motion of the Earth and its Moon in the solar system.
- Identify the other planets in the solar system on a diagram or in the night sky, and describe their motions, as well as the motion of the planetary moons and comets.
- Describe the characteristics of Earth and other planets in the solar system in terms of their ability to support life.
- Describe the current scientific theory relating to the origin and geologic evolution of the Earth and the solar system.
- Explain phases of the Moon in terms of relative positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun.
- Draw inferences from celestial and terrestrial observations relating frames of reference for time and Earth motion.
Curriculum Standard 4b
Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand that the Earth is a complex planet with five interacting systems, which consists of the solid Earth (lithosphere), air (atmosphere), water (hydrosphere), ice (cryosphere), and life (biosphere).
Proficiency Standards
By the end of grade six students will be able to:
- Analyze rocks to obtain evidence of weathering and erosion.
- Identify common geographic features of New Hampshire landscapes, e.g. mountains, lakes.
- Describe basic facts about major features of the Earth's surface and natural changes in the features,e.g. volcanoes, earthquakes, glaciers.
- Identify/give examples of geological processes that have shaped New Hampshire's landscape over long periods of time, e.g. volcanoes, glaciers, weathering.
- Observe, describe and record weather conditions such as clouds, temperature, air pressure, and precipitation.
- Identify events in nature that have repeating patterns or cycles, e.g. weather patterns, water cycle, rock cycle.
- Identify common rocks and minerals using their physical properties.
- Construct models that demonstrate the effects of water, ice, wind, and waves on the Earth's land surfaces, e.g. stream tables, wave tanks.
- Compare and contrast the various types of common clouds.
- Relate observed weather conditions to different climates and seasonal changes.
Proficiency Standards
By the end of grade ten students will be able to:
- Use maps and globes to identify surface features of the Earth.
- Establish a correlation between different locations using rock and fossil evidence.
- Identify common soil conservation methods.
- Relate common cycles such as the water cycle, the nitrogen cycle, and the carbon cycle to each other.
- Describe the motions of ocean waters and identify their causes and effects on climate.
- Identify the composition and physical characteristics of the atmosphere.
- Explain the roles of water and weather in distributing the Sun's heat energy.
- Explain weather-related phenomena such as thunderstorms, tornados, hurricanes, drought, or acid precipitation.
- Use a variety of weather measurement instruments and recording methods such as barometers, anemometers, and charts.
- Relate observed weather conditions to large and small scale weather systems,e.g. highs, lows, and fronts.
- Demonstrate how living things alter the Earth's atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere.
- Describe the relationship of plate tectonics to earthquakes and volcanism.
Curriculum Standard 4c
Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand that the Earth contains a variety of renewable and non-renewable resources.
Proficiency Standards
By the end of grade six students will be able to:
- Identify Earth resources used in their life.
- Explain how some of the Earth's resources are processed to make them useful.
- List some ways that the Earth's water supply can be conserved.
- Identify/explain some effects human activities have on the atmosphere, e.g. smog, industrial wastes.
Proficiency Standards
By the end of grade ten students will be able to:
- Investigate how human activities, such as reducing the amount of forest cover and increasing the amount and variety of chemicals released into the atmosphere have changed the Earth's land, ocean, and atmosphere.
- Cite evidence that our fresh water supply is essential for life and also for most industrial processes.
- Describe possible consequences of reducing or eliminating some of the Earth's natural resources.
- Identify natural, as well as human-induced, factors which contribute to changes in the Earth's systems.
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