Standards
Idaho State Standards
Here are correlations to the Idaho State Language and Math standards and to the Idaho State Science Standards. For more information about the overall standards, see the complete Idaho Content Standards for Science, the Next Generation Science Standards, and the alignment between Idaho and NGSS Science Standards. You may also access the Idaho English Language Arts/Literacy Standards and Mathematics Standards.
Language
First Grade
ELA-1.RS.1
With support, conduct simple research tasks to take some action or make informal presentations by identifying information from classroom experiences or provided sources (including read alouds) and organizing information, recorded in words or pictures, using graphic organizers or other aids.
Suggested Lesson
In a group or on their own, students learn about one of the following topics: helium balloons, hot air balloons, tides, or orbits. Create a graphic organizer with pictures and/or words to describe their topic.
Third Grade
ELA-3.RS.1
Conduct short research tasks to take some action or share findings orally or in writing by gathering and recording information on a specific topic from reference texts or through interviews, and using text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information efficiently.
Suggested Lesson
Divide students into two groups. One group reads about Sir Isaac Newton and the other group reads about Galileo Galilei. Students discuss how their scientist is important to the understanding of gravity.
Fifth Grade
ELA-5.RW.1
Develop flexibility in writing by routinely engaging in the production of shorter and longer pieces for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. This could include, among others, summaries, reflections, descriptions, critiques, letters, and poetry, etc.
Suggested Lesson
Write a detailed description of centripetal force and centrifugal force. Create a demonstration for your class about each of these forces.
Math
Third Grade
Math-3.MD.A.2
Identify and use the appropriate tools and units of measurement, both customary and metric, to solve one-step word problems using the four operations involving weight, mass, liquid volume, and capacity (within the same system and unit).
Suggested Lesson
Read about the difference between mass and weight on earth from the facts page of Science Trek's Gravity site. Gather a variety of objects from your class and measure both their weight and their mass. Compare how they are different. Create a chart to show each of the measurements for all the objects.
Fourth Grade
Math-4.MD.A.2
Use the four operations to solve word problems involving measurements.
Suggested Lesson
Using this water displacement experiment for guidance, measure the liquid displaced when objects are placed in a container of water.
Sixth Grade
Math-6.EE.A.2c
Evaluate expressions at specific values of their variables. Include expressions that arise from formulas used in real-world problems. Perform arithmetic operations, including those involving whole-number exponents, in the conventional order when there are no parentheses to specify a particular order (Order of Operations).
Suggested Lesson
Using the following NASA StarChild page, enter your weight on earth. Then, calculate a formula for determining your weight on three different planets in our solar system.
Science
First Grade
Earth and Space Sciences: 1-ESS-1.1
Use observations of the Sun, Moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.
Supporting Content
Patterns of the motion of the Sun, Moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, and predicted.
Third Grade
Physical Sciences: 3-PS-1.2
Make observations and/or measurements of an object's motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.
Supporting Content
Force applied to an object can alter the position and motion of that object: revolve, rotate, float, sink, fall, and at rest.
The patterns of an object's motion in various situations can be observed and measured; when that past motion exhibits a regular pattern, future motion can be predicted from it.
Physical Sciences: 3-PS-1.1
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
Supporting Content
Each force acts on one particular object and has both strength and a direction. An object at rest typically has multiple forces acting on it, but they add to give zero net force on the object. Forces that do not sum to zero can cause changes in the object's speed or direction of motion. Assessment is limited to gravity being addressed as a force that pulls objects down.
Fourth Grade
Earth and Space Sciences: 4-ESS-2.1
Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
Supporting Content
Rainfall helps to shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Water, ice, wind, living organisms, and gravity break rocks, soils, and sediments into smaller particles and move them around.
Fifth Grade
Physical Sciences: 5-PS-2.1
Support an argument that Earth’s gravitational force exerted on objects is directed downward.
Supporting Content
The gravitational force of Earth acting on an object near Earth's surface pulls that object toward the planet's center.
"Downward" is a local description of the direction that points toward the center of the spherical Earth.
Sixth Grade - Middle School
Earth and Space Sciences: MS-ESS-1.2
Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.
Supporting Content
The solar system consists of the sun and a collection of objects, including planets their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the sun by its gravitational pull on them.
The solar system appears to have formed from a disk of dust and gas, drawn together by gravity.
Emphasis for the model is on gravity as the force that holds together the solar system and Milky Way galaxy and controls orbital motions within them. Examples of models can be physical (such as computer visualizations of elliptical orbits) or conceptual (such as mathematical proportions relative to the size of familiar objects.)
Earth and Space Sciences: MS-ESS-1.1
Develop and use a model of the Earth-Sun-Moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and seasons.
Supporting Content
Patterns of the apparent motion of the sun, the moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, predicted, and explained with models.
This model of the solar system can explain eclipses of the sun and the moon. Earth's spin axis is fixed in direction over the short-term but tilted relative to its orbit around the sun. The seasons are a result of that tilt and are caused by the differential intensity of sunlight on different areas of Earth across the year.
Physical Sciences: MS-PS-2.5
Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Supporting Content
Forces that act at a distance (electric, magnetic, and gravitational) can be explained by fields that extend through space and can be mapped by their effect on a test object.
Examples of investigations could include first-hand experiences or simulations.
Physical Sciences: MS-PS-2.4
Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects.
Supporting Content
Gravitational forces are always attractive. There is a gravitational force between any two masses, but it is very small except when one or both of the objects have large mass-e.g., Earth and the sun.
Examples of evidence for arguments could include data generated from simulations or digital tools; and charts displaying mass, strength of interaction, distance from the Sun, and orbital periods of objects within the solar system.