"03 The Science of Astronomy"

Part A:

Let's start with an example from history. Listed below are a series of claims regarding United States 

President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963). Classify each statement according to whether or not it is falsifiable. 

Falsifiable

• Kennedy died from a bullet in his brain
• Kennedy was the 35th president of the USA

Not Falsible

• Kennedy death was the will of God
• If he lived Kennedy would have ended the Vietnam war
• the war of Kennedy was the act of evil
• Kennedy murder was orchestrated by an undetectable shadow government of the US.

Part B

Let's now consider possible scientific claims. Recall that a scientific claim is falsifiable if it could in principle be shown to be false by observations or experiments, even if those observations or experiments have not yet been performed. Classify each claim according to whether or not it is falsifiable. 
Falsifiable

• The chemical content of the universe it Is mostly hydrogen and helium.
• The sun is at the center of the solar system
•   The observable universe contains approximately 100 billion  galaxies
• Earth is at the center of the solar system 

Not Falsifiable

• The laws of nature a magnificent and beautiful
• The universe was created by God
• We are playing playthings in a computer program created by advanced aliens 

Vocabulary in Context: Kepler's Planetary Orbits

Part A

A vocabulary in context exercise in which students match words to definitions describing elliptical planetary orbits, applying ideas from Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion.

Ranking Task: Kepler’s Second Law of Planetary Motion

Parts A through C all refer to the orbit of a single comet around the Sun.

             Part A

 

                Part B

Part C

Part D

 Part E

                  Part F

     Part G

Visual Activity: Phases of Venus
Part A

Part B 

Part C

Part D

Part E

Process of Science Task: Earth-Centered vs. Sun-Centered Models

Learning Goal:

To understand how evidence allows us to distinguish between alternate possible models of the solar system.

Imagine that you did not know whether Earth is the center of the solar system (as the Greeks assumed) or just one planet going around the Sun. In this activity, you will consider a set of observations, some real and some not real, that could help you distinguish between the Greek Earth-centered model and our modern Sun-centered model. Note that, in the Greek Earth-centered model, the planets Mercury and Venus lie between Earth and the Sun, while all other planets orbit Earth beyond the orbit of the Sun.

Part A

 

Part B






Part C

Part D