Science // Area
Space Systems & Earth's History
Age coverage
Ages 5 to 14
Starts at age 5 // 2 topics
Starting at age 5
Your child is discovering how daylight changes throughout the year by observing that days are longer in summer and shorter in winter.
- Why seasons change
Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year, noticing longer days in summer and shorter days in winter
Ages 5 to 7Concept - Naming the Planets
Name the planets in our solar system in order from the Sun and use vocabulary for space — planet, star, sun, moon, satellite, orbit, solar system, galaxy…
Ages 5 to 8Language
Starts at age 6 // 1 topic
Starting at age 6
Your child is learning about predictable patterns in the sky — observing how the sun rises and sets daily, how the moon changes shape, and how stars appear at night.
- Sun, Moon, and stars
Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe predictable patterns such as the sun rising and setting, the moon changing shape, and stars appearing…
Ages 6 to 7Concept
Starts at age 7 // 1 topic
Starting at age 7
Your child is learning that Earth changes over time — some changes happen quickly like earthquakes and volcanoes, while others like erosion and mountain building take millions of years.
- Rapid earth changes
Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions) or slowly (erosion, mountain…
Ages 7 to 8Concept
Starts at age 8 // 1 topic
Starting at age 8
- Earth & Space Vocabulary
Use technical vocabulary for Earth's motion and the wider universe — rotation, revolution, axis, tilt, orbit, light year, gravitational force, atmosphere, lunar…
Ages 8 to 11Language
Starts at age 9 // 3 topics
Starting at age 9
Your child is exploring our solar system and Earth's place in it — understanding how the Earth's rotation creates day and night, how planets orbit the sun, and how we can read Earth's history through rocks and fossils.
- The solar system
Describe the sun, Earth, and moon as approximately spherical bodies, and describe the movement of the Earth and other planets orbiting the sun in the solar…
Ages 9 to 10Concept - How fossils form
Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time
Ages 9 to 10Concept - Earth's rotation and day/night
Use the idea of the Earth's rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky
Ages 9 to 11Concept
Starts at age 10 // 2 topics
Starting at age 10
Your child is exploring how Earth fits into the solar system — understanding why the sun appears brighter than distant stars and observing patterns in shadows, day and night cycles, and seasonal changes in the sky.
- Shadows
Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in shadow length and direction, day and night cycles, and seasonal star patterns
Ages 10 to 11Method - Star Brightness & Distance
Support an argument that the apparent brightness of the sun and stars is due to their relative distances from Earth, understanding the sun is a relatively close…
Ages 10 to 11Concept
Starts at age 11 // 3 topics
Starting at age 11
- Why We Have Seasons
Explain that the seasons are caused by the tilt of Earth's axis during its orbit around the Sun, distinguishing this from the common misconception that seasons…
Ages 11 to 12Concept - Phases of the Moon
Explain the phases of the Moon as the changing angle of sunlight on the lunar surface as seen from Earth, and describe how solar and lunar eclipses occur
Ages 11 to 12Concept - The solar system (age 11+)
Describe the detailed structure of the solar system, including moons, asteroids, and comets, compare orbital periods and distances of the planets, and…
Ages 11 to 12Concept
Starts at age 12 // 2 topics
Starting at age 12
- Galaxies and the universe
Describe the scale of the universe, including the structure of galaxies, the position of the Sun in the Milky Way, and the use of light years as a unit of…
Ages 12 to 13Concept - Universal Gravitation
Describe gravity as a universal attractive force between all masses, explain that orbital motion arises because gravity provides the centripetal force keeping…
Ages 12 to 13Concept
Starts at age 13 // 1 topic
Starting at age 13
- Life Cycle of a Star
Describe the life cycle of a star from nebula through main sequence to its end state (white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole depending on mass), and relate…
Ages 13 to 14Concept