HOW HAS OUR IDEAS ABOUT SPACE CHANGED OVER TIME.
For centuries, the thought was that the earth was the centre of the
universe with the sun, moon, stars and planets orbiting it. This was
known as the Geocentric model. This idea changed with the works of
Galileo and Copernicus around the year 1543, who proved that the Sun
was the centre of the solar system with the earth and other planets
orbiting it – this is known as the Heliocentric model. Also, early cultures
saw the earth as flat, but by the time of the ancient Greeks, it was realised
that the earth of spherical.
UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES THAT OTHER CULTURES
HAVE ABOUT THE MOON’S PHASES AND CONSTELLATIONS, IN PARTICULAR
THE INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS.
The Indigenous Australians had dreamtime stories about their beliefs with
the moon and surrounding constellations. They believed that the full moon
appears once every month because of a popular dreamtime story called
“Moon Man”. It’s a story that the aboriginals believe that explains the
lunar cycle. They also have many other beliefs such as the cosmos is a
sense of life, rather than a seemingly empty void.
UNDERSTAND WHAT CAUSES ORBIT OF THE MOON WITH THE ROLES OF
GRAVITY.
Gravity is the attraction between 2 objects that have mass. It is a property
of all matter in the universe. When a smaller mass in space gets pulled
into a circular path around a larger mass because gravity is proportional
to distance, it becomes stuck in an orbit because of its forward velocity
and downward pull. Orbiting is when a smaller mass in space follows a
continuous path are a larger mass, such as a planet. The orbit of the moon
occurs because the gravitation pull of the earth sucks the moon into its
orbit. This
causes it to follow earths circular path indefinitely.
UNDERSTAND WHAT CAUSES DAY AND NIGHT
Day and night are caused by the Earth’s rotation on its axis. As the Earth
rotates, one hemisphere faces the Sun and receives its light, creating
daytime. Meanwhile, the opposite hemisphere is turned away from the
Sun and remains in darkness, experiencing nighttime. This continuous
rotation of the Earth ensures that day and night alternate in a regular
cycle across the planet.
UNDERSTAND WHAT CAUSES SEASONS
The Earth’s axis is tilted at an angle of 23.4 degrees. This tilt causes
different parts of the Earth to receive varying amounts of sunlight
throughout the year. When sunlight hits a region more directly—at a
higher angle—that area experiences warmer temperatures, resulting in
spring or summer. Conversely, when sunlight strikes at a lower, more
indirect angle, the region receives less energy, leading to cooler
temperatures, which we experience as autumn or winter.
UNDERSTAND WHAT CAUSES DIFFERENT LIGHT INTESNITY ON EARTH AND
WHAT THIS CHANGES
The intensity of sunlight on Earth changes because the Earth is round and
tilted on its axis. Near the equator, sunlight hits more directly, so it is
stronger and causes warmer temperatures, while near the poles, sunlight
spreads out at a slanted angle, making it weaker and colder. The rotation
of the Earth causes day and night, so different areas receive sunlight at
different times, and the tilt of the Earth causes seasonal changes, with
stronger sunlight in summer and weaker sunlight in winter. These
differences in light intensity affect temperature, weather patterns, and the
length of days and nights.
UNDERSTAND WHAT CAUSES THE PHASES OF THE MOON AND RECALL THE
PHASES OF THE MOON NAMES AND POSITIONS IN THE SOUTHERN
HEMISPHERE
The phases of the Moon happen because the Moon orbits the Earth, and
we see different amounts of its lit side from Earth as it moves. The
sunlight always lights up half of the Moon, but the part we see changes
depending on the Moon’s position around Earth. In the Southern
Hemisphere, the phases, in order, are: New Moon (not visible), Waxing
Crescent (a growing sliver on the right), First Quarter (right half lit),
Waxing Gibbous (mostly lit on the right), Full Moon (fully lit), Waning
Gibbous (mostly lit on the left), Last Quarter (left half lit), and Waning
Crescent (a shrinking sliver on the left), before starting the cycle again.
The “waxing” phases mean the visible light is increasing, and “waning”
means it is decreasing.
UNDERSTAND WHAT CAUSES TIDES
Tides are caused mainly by the gravitational pull of the Moon on Earth’s
oceans, with a smaller effect from the Sun. The Moon’s
gravity pulls water toward it, creating a high tide on the
side of Earth facing the Moon. At the same time, on the
opposite side of Earth, another high tide forms because
the Earth is being pulled slightly more than the water,
leaving the water “behind.” Between these high tides,
low tides occur. As the Moon moves around the Earth,
the positions of high and low tides change, which is why
most places have two high tides and two low tides each
day.