Page 143 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: Science, 2008 (revised)

c2.2 identify geological features and processes that are common to Earth and other bodies in the solar system (e.g., craters, faults, volcanic eruptions), and create a model or illustration to show these features, using data and images from satellites and space probes [PR, AI, C]
c2.3 use an inquiry or research process to investi- gate the effects of various forms of radiation and high-energy particles on bodies, organisms, and devices within the solar system (e.g., the effects of cosmic rays on atmospheric phenom- ena, of ultraviolet light on human and animal eyes and skin, of solar wind on radio communi- cations) [IP, PR]
c2.4 investigate the ways in which interactions between solid bodies have helped to shape the solar system, including Earth (e.g., the accretion of minor bodies, the formation of moons, the formation of planetary rings) [PR]
c2.5 investigate the properties of Earth that pro- tect life from hazards such as radiation and collision with other bodies (e.g., Earth’s orbital position helps protect it from asteroids, some of which are deflected by the Jovian planets; Earth’s magnetic field protects the planet from solar wind; atmospheric ozone minimizes in- coming ultraviolet radiation) [PR]
c2.6 investigate techniques used to study and understand objects in the solar system (e.g., the measurement of gravitational pull on space probes to determine the mass of an object, the use of spectroscopy to study atmospheric com- positions, the use of the global positioning system to track plate movement and tectonic activity from space) [PR]
C. Understanding Basic Concepts
By the end of this course, students will:
c3.1 explain the composition of the solar system (e.g., the sun, terrestrial inner planets, the asteroid belt, gas giant outer planets, the Kuiper belt, the scattered disc, the heliopause, the Oort cloud), and describe the characteristics of each component
c3.2 identify and explain the classes of objects orbiting the sun (e.g., planets, dwarf planets, small solar system bodies [SSSBs])
c3.3 explain the formation of the solar system with reference to the fundamental forces and processes involved (e.g., how gravitational force led to the contraction of the original solar nebula)
c3.4 identify the factors that determined the properties of bodies in the solar system (e.g., differences in distance from the sun result in temperature variations that determine whether substances on a planet, moon, or other body are solid or gaseous)
c3.5 identify and explain the properties of celes- tial bodies within or beyond the solar system, other than Earth, that might support the exist- ence of life (e.g., the possible existence of liquid water on Europa; the proximity of a body to its host star)
c3.6 compare Earth with other objects in the solar system with respect to properties such as mass, size, composition, rotation, magnetic field, and gravitational field
c3.7 identify Kepler’s laws, and use them to describe planetary motions (e.g., the shape of their orbits; differences in their orbital velocity)
c3.8 identify Newton’s laws, and use them to explain planetary motion
c3.9 describe the major external processes and phenomena that affect Earth (e.g., radiation and particles from the “quiet” and “active” sun; cosmic rays; gravity of the sun and moon; asteroidal and cometary debris, including their force, energy, and matter)
PLANETARy SCIENCE (SCIENCE OF THE SOLAR SySTEM)
11
Earth and Space Science
SES4U