Star Distances on a Map
Choose a location on a map to represent the Sun’s location, and then locate points on the map to illustrate the position of nearby stars. Using a local map helps students to grasp the enormous distances involved.
Standards
Idea Sheets are cross-referenced to subjects listed in the Common Core, Next Generation Science Standards, and California Content Standards.
Science and Engineering Practices: 1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems 2. Developing and Using Models 3. Planning and Carrying Out Investigations 4. Analyzing and Interpreting Data 5. Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking 6. Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions 7. Engaging in Argument from Evidence 8. Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information ||Next Generation Science Standards||Middle School||Science and Engineering Practices|||Mathematical Practices: 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. 2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. 4. Model with mathematics. 5. Use appropriate tools strategically. 6. Attend to precision. 7. Look for and make use of structure. 8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. ||Common Core Mathematics||Grade 6||Mathematical Practices|||6.RP.1. Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities. For example, “”The ratio of wings to beaks in the bird house at the zoo was 2:1, because for every 2 wings there was 1 beak.”” “”For every vote candidate A received, candidate C received nearly three votes.””||Common Core Mathematics||Grade 6||Ratios And Proportional Relationships||Understand Ratio Concepts And Use Ratio Reasoning To Solve Problems|||6.RP.2. Understand the concept of a unit rate a/b associated with a ratio a:b with b =? 0, and use rate language in the context of a ratio relationship. For example, “”This recipe has a ratio of 3 cups of flour to 4 cups of sugar, so there is 3/4 cup of flour for each cup of sugar.”” “”We paid $75 for 15 hamburgers, which is a rate of $5 per hamburger.””1||Common Core Mathematics||Grade 6||Ratios And Proportional Relationships||Understand Ratio Concepts And Use Ratio Reasoning To Solve Problems|||6.RP.3. Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations.||Common Core Mathematics||Grade 6||Ratios And Proportional Relationships||Understand Ratio Concepts And Use Ratio Reasoning To Solve Problems|||Mathematical Practices: 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. 2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. 4. Model with mathematics. 5. Use appropriate tools strategically. 6. Attend to precision. 7. Look for and make use of structure. 8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. ||Common Core Mathematics||Grade 7||Mathematical Practices|||7.RP.2. Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.||Common Core Mathematics||Grade 7||Ratios And Proportional Relationships||Analyze Proportional Relationships And Use Them To Solve Real-World And Mathematical Problems|||Mathematical Practices: 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. 2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. 4. Model with mathematics. 5. Use appropriate tools strategically. 6. Attend to precision. 7. Look for and make use of structure. 8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. ||Common Core Mathematics||Grade 8||Mathematical Practices|||Mathematical Practices: 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. 2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. 4. Model with mathematics. 5. Use appropriate tools strategically. 6. Attend to precision. 7. Look for and make use of structure. 8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. ||Common Core Mathematics||High School||Mathematical Practices|||Science and Engineering Practices: 1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems 2. Developing and Using Models 3. Planning and Carrying Out Investigations 4. Analyzing and Interpreting Data 5. Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking 6. Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions 7. Engaging in Argument from Evidence 8. Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information ||Next Generation Science Standards||High School||Science and Engineering Practices|||HS.N.Q.1. Use units as a way to understand problems and to guide the solution of multi-step problems; choose and interpret units consistently in formulas; choose and interpret the scale and the origin in graphs and data displays.||Common Core Mathematics||High School||Quantities||Reason Quantitatively And Use Units To Solve Problems|||HS.N.Q.2. Define appropriate quantities for the purpose of descriptive modeling.||Common Core Mathematics||High School||Quantities||Reason Quantitatively And Use Units To Solve Problems
2.1 Convert one unit of measurement to another (e.g., from feet to miles, from centimeters to inches).||CA Mathematics||Grade 6||02. Algebra and Functions||2.0 Students analyze and use tables, graphs and rules to solve problems involving rates and proportions.|||2.2 Demonstrate an understanding that rate is a measure of one quantity per unit value of another quantity.||CA Mathematics||Grade 6||02. Algebra and Functions||2.0 Students analyze and use tables, graphs and rules to solve problems involving rates and proportions.|||2.3 Solve problems involving rates, average speed, distance, and time.||CA Mathematics||Grade 6||02. Algebra and Functions||2.0 Students analyze and use tables, graphs and rules to solve problems involving rates and proportions.|||4.b. The sun is one of many stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. Stars may differ in size, temperature, and color.||Grade 8||01. Physical Sciences||4. Earth in the Solar System||4. The structure and composition of the universe can be learned from the study of stars and galaxies, and their evolution.|||4.c. How to use astronomical units and light years as measures of distance between the sun, stars, and Earth.||Grade 8||01. Physical Sciences||4. Earth in the Solar System||4. The structure and composition of the universe can be learned from the study of stars and galaxies, and their evolution.|||2.a. The solar system is located in an outer edge of the disc-shaped Milky Way galaxy which spans 100,000 light years.||Grade 9-12||04. Earth Sciences||1. Earth’s Place in the Universe||2. Earth-based and space-based astronomy reveals the structure, scale, and change over time of stars, galaxies and the universe.
- Earth and Space Science
- Grades 6-8
- Science
- Math