From Earth to Venus – Lesson 4: Investigating Atmospheres
Lesson Summary
In this lesson: Students will begin by considering temperatures that they are most comfortable in, and compare these temperatures to surface temperatures on the 4 innermost planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars). Then, they will plan and carry out investigations to produce data and use that data as evidence for a claim about temperature. Finally, they will use what they learned in this lesson and the previous lesson to make a claim about why Earth and Venus are so different now and support it with evidence.
Lesson level question: Why are Earth and Venus so different now and what happened in the past to cause these differences?
Engage
Students will identify and share the temperatures that they are most comfortable in, and use this as the basis to examine and discuss surface temperatures on other planets.
Explore
Students will plan and carry out an investigation to understand at least one variable that impacts surface temperature on planets.
Explain
Students will analyze the data from their experiments in order to make a claim about how the variable they chose for their experiment impacts the temperature on planets.
Elaborate
Students will use any evidence they have gathered from Lesson 3 or this lesson to make claims about what happened in the past to make Earth and Venus so different now.
Evaluate
Students will document their work and learning for this lesson by meeting the deliverables outlined in MO-4.
Extend (optional)
Students will explore NASA careers related to the work of this lesson.
Standards Alignment
Each lesson includes standards alignment information for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Many lessons also include information on alignment opportunities for: CCSS Mathematics, CCSS English, WA State Learning Standards in Computer Science, WA State Standards in Social Emotional Learning.
In these documents, you will find an alignment summary, followed by details for each lesson: