My Trip to Jupiter

Correlations to National Science Education Standards

Grades K–4
Science as Inquiry – Content Standard A
Understandings about Scientific Inquiry

Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know about the world (scientific knowledge). Good explanations are based on evidence from investigations.
Scientists make the results of their investigations public; they describe the investigations in ways that enable others to repeat the investigations.

Earth and Space Science – Content Standard D
Properties of Earth materials

Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere. The varied materials have different physical and chemical properties.

Changes in the Earth and Sky

Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons. Weather can be described by measurable quantities, such as temperature, wind direction and speed, and precipitation.

History and Nature of Science – Content Standard G
Science as a Human Endeavor

Although men and women using scientific inquiry have learned much about the objects, events, and phenomena in nature, much more remains to be understood. Science will never be finished.

Grades 5-8
Science as Inquiry –Content Standard A
Understandings about Scientific Inquiry

Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations. Some investigations involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or events; some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects and phenomena; and some involve making models.
Current scientific knowledge and understanding guide scientific investigations. Different scientific domains employ different methods, core theories, and standards to advance scientific knowledge and understanding.
Technology used to gather data enhances accuracy and allows scientists to analyze and quantify results of investigations.

Earth and Space Science – Content Standard D
Structure of the Earth System

Water, which covers the majority of Earth's surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the "water cycle." Water evaporates Earth's surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects in lakes, oceans, soil, and in rocks underground.

The solid Earth is layered with a lithosphere; hot, convecting mantle; and dense, metallic core.
The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases that include water vapor. The atmosphere has different properties at different elevations.
Clouds, formed by the condensation of water vapor, affect weather and climate.
Global patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather. Oceans have a major effect on climate, because water in the oceans holds a large amount of heat.

Earth in the Solar System

Earth is the third planet from the Sun in a system that includes the Moon, the Sun, eight other planets and their moons, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets. The Sun, an average star, is the central and largest body in the solar system.
Gravity is the force that keeps planets in orbit around the Sun and governs the rest of the motion in the solar system. Gravity alone holds us to Earth's surface and explains the phenomena of the tides.

History and Nature of Science – Content Standard G
Nature of Science

It is part of scientific inquiry to evaluate the results of scientific investigations, experiments, observations, theoretical models, and the explanations proposed by other scientists. Evaluation includes reviewing the experimental procedures, examining the evidence, identifying faulty reasoning, pointing out statements that go beyond the evidence, and suggesting alternative explanations for the same observations. Although scientists may disagree about explanations of phenomena, about interpretations of data, or about the value of rival theories, they do agree that questioning, response to criticism, and open communication are integral to the process of science. As scientific knowledge evolves, major disagreements are eventually resolved through such interactions between scientists.