Earth and space science conceptions

Core concepts

When exploring the natural world, the wide expanse of knowledge leads us to develop the big ideas or core concepts of science. Teachers and students can use these concepts to explain and make predictions about a range of related phenomena in the natural world. Through the curriculum, these concepts are introduced and developed according to the age and stage of the students.

	Earth is part of an astronomical system; interactions between Earth and celestial bodies influence the Earth system	The Earth system comprises dynamic and interdependent systems; interactions between these systems cause continuous change over a range of scales
F	Earth and space sciences not covered at this year level	Earth and space sciences not covered at this year level
Y1	Concept not covered at this year level	Describe daily and seasonal changes in the environment and explore how these changes affect everyday life
Y2	Recognise Earth is a planet in the solar system and identify patterns in the changing position of the sun, moon, planets and stars in the sky	Concept not covered at this year level
Y3	Concept not covered at this year level	Compare the observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate why they are important Earth resources
Y4	Identify sources of water and describe key processes in the water cycle, including movement of water through the sky, landscape and ocean; precipitation; evaporation; and condensation	Concept not covered at this year level
Y5	Concept not covered at this year level	Describe how weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition cause slow or rapid change to Earth’s surface
Y6	Describe the movement of Earth and other planets relative to the sun and model how Earth’s tilt, rotation on its axis and revolution around the sun relate to cyclic observable phenomena, including variable day and night length	Concept not covered at this year level

 

Astronomical systems

Alternative conceptions

Earth is part of an astronomical system; interactions between Earth and celestial bodies influence the Earth system.

This list of alternative concepts is not meant to be comprehensive, but instead aims to provide a starting point.

Alternative conception	Accepted conception
Air is weightless or has negative weight.	Air has mass and can be affected by gravity. Therefore, air has weight.
There is air between air particles/molecules.	There is space, not air between particles.
The sun goes around the earth.	The Earth orbits the sun.
The moon only comes out at night.	The moon orbits the Earth every 27.3 days. The Earth rotates so that the moon is above the horizon for approximately 12 hours each 24 hours (not always at night).
Summer is hot because the earth is closer to the sun.	During summer, there are more hours of direct sunlight to heat the earth, which then heats the air. European summer occurs when the sun is at the furthest point from the sun.
The earth revolves around the Sun every day.	The Earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours. The Earth orbits the sun every 365.25 days.
The 'man in the moon' watches us.	The moon rotates on its axis at a similar rate to its orbit around the Earth. This means that we only see the same face of the moon.
There is a dark side of the moon.	The Moon rotates on its axis every 29.5 days. This means the length of a Moon day is 29.5 days.
The Moon shines its light on Earth at night.	The Moon reflects the light of the Sun.
The Moon is made of cheese that is eaten each night.	The Moon has phases because of the position of the Sun shining light on half the Moon.
The Earth's shadow causes the phases of the Moon.	When the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, the Sun’s light shines on the far side of the Moon. The Earth sees a ‘new moon’.
The Earth's spin causes gravity.	Gravity is a result of Earth’s mass distorting space and time.
Rockets can be launched at any time.	All the planets and stars are constantly moving in space. The orbits of each need to be calculated to ensure the rocket pathway is clear.
Rockets travel in straight lines.	Rockets are affected by the gravitation forces that are caused by all celestial bodies.
Weightlessness means there is no gravity.	There is microgravity in space. Astronauts on the international space station experience weightlessness because they (and the space station) are constantly falling at the same rate that they are moving forward. This is the reason that they are orbiting the Earth.
Jets can fly to space.	Jets need atmospheric air to move over the wings to provide lift. Space no atmospheric air.
All lights in the sky are stars.	The Moon and some planets (Venus) reflect the light of the Sun in the night sky.
You can scream in space.	Sound requires particles to move and bump into each other. Any particles in space are too far apart to pass on sound energy.
All planets are the same as Earth.	Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are gas planets.
A planet's orbit is circular.	Most planets have elliptical orbits.
Pluto is a planet.	Planets are spherically shaped, orbit the sun and, clear the space in their orbit from other objects. Pluto is thought to have not cleared the space in its orbit.
Moons are smaller than planets.	Pluto is 2/3 the size of Earth’s Moon. The diameter of both is less than the length of Australia.
All planets take the same time to orbit the Sun.	The further away from the Sun, the longer the orbit.

Earth's systems

Alternative conceptions

The Earth system comprises dynamic and interdependent systems; interactions between these systems cause continuous change over a range of scales

This list of alternative concepts is not meant to be comprehensive, but instead aims to provide a starting point.

Alternative conception	Accepted conception
The particles in the air are not moving.	Air is made up of gas particles that are constantly moving (have kinetic energy).
When water in a container evaporates, the water has soaked into the container.	Liquid water evaporates and becomes water vapour in the air.
Boiling water makes steam which becomes clouds. The Sun boils the sea to make clouds.	Liquid water evaporates and becomes water vapour in the air. As the water vapour cools, it condenses into small collections of liquid water (clouds).
Thunder is because of God(s)/angels/bowling balls in the sky.	The moving air/clouds cause a separation of charged particles in the sky (static electricity). Lightning is the spark of electricity that allows the charges to move together. This rapidly heats and expands the air causing thunder.
We sweat more on a humid day.	Less water evaporates on a humid day.
Rain is caused by clouds being too full of water or bursting. Rain comes from holes in the clouds.	As water vapour cools, it condenses into water droplets that combine and become a drop. When the air is saturated, rain will fall.
Soil has always been present.	Soil is the product of weathering, erosion and decomposition.
Soil is made up of dead things.	Soil is the product of weathering, erosion and decomposition.
Rocks are always heavy.	Some rocks (pumice) contain pockets of air.
Mountains and valleys have always been present.	Mountains and valleys are formed by a combination of tectonic plate movement, volcanoes, weathering, erosion and deposition.
Volcanic lava comes from the centre of the earth.	The centre of the earth is solid surrounded by molten magma. When magma leaves the earth’s surface it is called lava.
The greenhouse effect is bad.	The greenhouse effect traps heat in the atmosphere and helps us avoid the extremes of temperatures that occurs on the Moon or in space.
It is hotter in the city this summer and that is global warming.	Global warming is measured over large areas (Earth) and time scales (many years) to show the trend.
The atmosphere is oxygen and carbon dioxide.	The atmosphere is a mixture of gases including 78% nitrogen.