This document outlines learning objectives related to understanding the motion of objects in space, including: how the Earth revolves around the sun and rotates on its axis, causing day/night and seasons; how the tilt of the Earth's axis causes seasons; why we see phases of the Moon and solar/lunar eclipses occur; how to distinguish between stars and planets based on their motion; and how our understanding of the universe has developed over time through scientific observation.

1. Lesson Learning Objective Before After
State how long a day, a month and a year is
Describe the motion of the Sun across the sky
7L.1 Describe how the Earth moves around the sun
Explain why we get day and night, and years and leap years
Make predictions about time of day
Describe how the temperature changes with the season
Describe how the number of hours of daylight changes with the season
Describe how the Earth is tilted on its axis
7L.2 Explain how the tilt of the Earth's axis causes the seasons
Describe the apparent motion of the Sun across the sky in different seasons
Explain why the days in the summer have more hours of daylight
Use the idea of concentration of the Sun's rays to explain the seasonal variation
Describe the difference between a star and a planet
Describe how we see planets and classify objects as luminous or not
7L.3 Explain why stars appear to move across the night sky
Explain why we see phases of the Moon
Use the phases of the Moon to explain how long it takes for the Moon to orbit the Earth
Describe how the size of the Moon compares with the size of the Sun
Sequence pictures and descriptions of a solar eclipse
Explain how the position of the Moon causes eclipses
7L.4
Explain why we don't see solar eclipses more frequently
Explain why the Moon is still visible during a total lunar eclipse
Use primary sources to describe how a total solar eclipse appears from Earth
Compare the sizes of different objects in space
Name the planets in the Solar System
7L.5
Determine whether an object is a star or a planet by its motion
Use data about the planets to describe patterns and to compare them with each other
Describe the role of scientists in developing our changing view of the Universe
Describe some uses for satellites
7L.
HSW Explain why a space telescope is better than one on Earth
Discuss ethical questions around the use of satellites
Describe why the observations of Galileo got him into trouble with the church