Specific skills and knowledge demonstrated by the task:
|
Alignment with Project 2061 Benchmarks for Science Literacy
|
Alignment with National Science Education Standards
|
Students' ability to describe and interpret, using the different
wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. the different images
generated by observation of the Crab Nebula and the supernova that
produced it.
|
4F- Motion (9-12)#3: …A great variety
of, radiation is in the form of electromagnetic waves: radio waves,
microwaves, radiant heat, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, x-rays,
and gamma rays. These wavelengths vary from radio waves, the longest, to
gamma rays, the shortest....
|
Standard B Physical Science: Interactions of Energy
and Matter#2 …Electromagnetic waves include radio waves,
microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation,
x-rays, and gamma rays…
|
Students' ability to describe how technology has extended our senses to
help us learn more about the universe.
|
4A-universe (9-12)#3:Increasingly
sophisticated technology is used to learn about the universe. Visual,
radio and X-ray telescopes collect information from across the entire
spectrum of electromagnetic waves; computers handle an avalanche of data
and increasingly complicated computations to interpret them....
|
Standard A- Inquiry (9-12)- Understandings About
Scientific Inquiry- Scientists rely on technology to enhance the
gathering and manipulation of data. New techniques and tools provide new
evidence to guide inquiry and new methods to gather data, thereby
contributing to the advance of science.
|
Students' ability to accurately represent the vast scale of the
interstellar space, through the relationship between the distance of the
Crab Nebula from the Earth, and the time it takes for the light to
travel that distance.
|
4A- universe (9-12)#2: …Light from the
next nearest star takes a few years to arrive. The trip to that star
would take a rocket ship thousands of years. Some distant galaxies are
so far away that their light takes several billion years to reach the
Earth. People on earth, therefore, see them as they were that long ago
in the past.
|
Unifying Concepts and Processes- Constancy, Change,
and Measurement- concepts of scale including speed of light.
|
Students' ability to accurately represent the supernova process within
the life cycle of stars, and to describe the nature of the matter
ejected from the supernova.
|
4A universe (9-12)#2 … Eventually, some
stars exploded producing clouds containing heavy elements from which
other stars (and presumably planets orbiting them) could later condense.
The process of star formation and destruction continues.
|
Standard D: Earth and Space- The Origin and Evolution
of the universe- Stars produce energy from nuclear reactions,
primarily the fusion of hydrogen to form helium, These and other
processes in stars have led to the formation of all the other elements.
|
Students' skill in constructing 3 analogies, making the distance, the
energy released, and the physical size of the nebula, more easily
comprehensible.
|
11B Models (See Essay p267) "Conceptual models are tools for learning about the things they are meant to resemble. Imagery, metaphor, and analogy are every bit as much a part of science…"
|
Unifying Concepts and Processes- Evidence, Models,
and Explanation- (mental constructs)…tentative schemes or
structures that correspond to real objects, events, or classes of
events, and that have explanatory power.
|
Students' ability to integrate information and images into a piece that
communicates science to the general public.
|
12D Communication Skills (see Essay p 295)
Translating scientific ideas to the general public.
|
Standard A: Inquiry-
Communication:…accurate and effective communication
including expressing concepts, reviewing information, summarizing data,
using language appropriately, developing diagrams and charts…
|
Students' ability to describe historical and cultural contributions to
scientific knowledge.
|
1C The Scientific Enterprise (9-12)#1 The
early …Chinese [and Native American] cultures are responsible for
many scientific ideas…
|
Standard G: History and Nature of Science- Historical
Perspectives #1: In history, diverse cultures have contributed
scientific knowledge …
|