Achievement standard 90954: Astronomical cycles

by john west | Sep 27, 2012 | school posts, Year 11, K-12

The asessment task for AS 90954, Astronomy Research

You need to have gathered all the resource material you require to write this project up and bring it to school day 1 term 4………….or……………

you will fail miserably and be very depressed. The four credits for this standard are the easiest science credits you will get.

How do I tackle this?

You have to describe at least two cycles from the list and link them to the effects that they have. For excellence you need to have images, data, and diagrams to show how different astronomical cycles can have more than one effect on Earth. Accompanying paragraphs explain how the different cycles and effects are linked and can influence one another.

What cycles might I chose?

There are basically two types of cycle to write about:

1. Cycles linked to the rotation of the earth on its axis, its tilt and orbit around the sun and effects
2. Cycles linked to the moon and effects.

We have concentrated on 1 in class. The effects you could chose to explain include:

1. Day and night
2. Seasons
3. Changes of temperature during the day and night
4. Changes of temperature with the changes in season at the North and South poles, latitude of New Zealand, Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, and the Equator.
5. Formation and the direction of winds in the Southern hemisphere
6. Direction of surface ocean current flows in the Pacific Ocean

The first four effects are the ones we concentrated on in class.

A useful video to help with the earth’s orbit around the sun, seasons, tropics of cancer and capricorn. The effect of the tilt  of the earth’s axis in the plane of rotation around is well covered.