MS-ESS1-2 lessons
Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system. (The solar system only; galaxies are not covered.)
The Next Generation Science Standards code MS-ESS1-2 asks students to: “Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system. (The solar system only; galaxies are not covered.)” These Fieldbook lesson teaches it hands-on, with everyday materials, a printable teacher guide and a student sheet.
The Solar System: Gravity, Orbits and Scale Grades 5–8 · partly supports this standard
- Why do planets go around the Sun and not fly away? 50–60 min
Students make a human orbit held together by a linked arm of 'gravity', let go to see where a planet would go without it, and follow Isaac Newton's cannon on a mountaintop. Then they graph the real length of every planet's year against its distance from the Sun and find the pattern.
NGSS is used as written in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming, so the code MS-ESS1-2 matches there. Other states word and number their own versions: see curriculum alignment for your state's codes.
More NGSS standards for middle school
All standards we teach · Curriculum alignment by state and province
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