OpenSciEd Unit 8.4 · Lesson 15 · 15.A
Look for: Beginning of the solar system was a collectio…
From Teacher Edition
Facilitation guidance from the lesson plan — what to notice in student thinking and how to respond while teaching.
Building towards
15.A.1 Develop and map evidence from written and media sources to support the claim that the solar system formed from a disk of gas and dust, drawn together by gravity that was once chaotic but has become more stable over time.
What to look / listen for
- Beginning of the solar system was a collection of gas and dust particles in a disk going around our Sun.
- The particles of this gas and dust were drawn together by gravity, which formed bigger pebbles and rocks.
- These were drawn together to form even bigger clumps of matter; this process continued, forming asteroids, moons, and smaller planets.
- Many smaller planets collided to form larger planets over time.
- Some objects were thrown out of the solar system in this process.
- Over millions and millions of years, the collisions became less common and the solar system stabilized to the form it is today.
What to do
If students are struggling to identify the steps, stress that at this point they may not be sure of the exact order or number of steps, but it is important that they get their ideas out. Refer them back to the video of the computer model and prior investigations from previous lessons about the solar system. If students do not show evidence for the steps in their storyboard, prompt them to provide information from both the video of the computer model and prior investigations to support the information presented in their storyboards.