Earth & Space
Ages 6–8 · Grades 1–2
- Sunlight Warms the EarthThe Sun gives Earth light and heat.
- Our Planet EarthWe live on Earth, a round planet so big it looks flat when you stand on it.
- Keeping Earth CleanLitter can be carried into rivers and the sea, where it can hurt animals.
- Stars in the Night SkyStars are huge balls of hot, glowing gas that look tiny because they are far away.
- Rocks, Soil and SandRocks come in many sizes, colours and textures, and can be sorted into groups.
- Water on EarthWater covers most of our planet, and most of it is in the oceans.
- The Four SeasonsIn many places the year has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.
- Weather Every DayWeather is what the sky and air are like outside: sunny, rainy, windy or snowy.
- The Moon Changes ShapeThe Moon makes no light of its own; it shines because sunlight lands on it.
- Day and NightThe Sun seems to move across the sky from morning to evening.
Ages 8–11 · Grades 3–5
- Protecting Earth’s ResourcesHuman activities such as clearing forests, burning fuels and dumping plastic harm land, air and water.
- Earth’s Four SpheresEarth can be described as four spheres: geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere.
- The Sun and Other StarsThe Sun is a medium-sized star that looks brightest because it is closest to Earth.
- Shadows, Days and SeasonsEarth’s daily spin makes the Sun appear to cross the sky, so shadows change length and direction.
- Energy ResourcesCoal, oil and natural gas are non-renewable fossil fuels formed over millions of years.
- Earthquakes and VolcanoesEarth’s outer layer is broken into slowly moving tectonic plates.
- Rock Layers Tell TimeRock layers form as sediment settles and is pressed into rock over millions of years.
- Weathering and ErosionWeathering breaks rock into smaller pieces through ice, roots, rain, wind and temperature change.
- The Water CycleThe Sun powers the water cycle by evaporating water into invisible water vapour.
- Weather and ClimateWeather is the condition of the air at one time and place, measured with instruments.
Ages 11–14 · Grades 6–8
- Climate Change: Causes and EvidenceGreenhouse gases trap outgoing heat; the natural greenhouse effect keeps Earth habitable.
- Natural Hazards and ForecastingNatural hazards cluster in predictable places: plate boundaries, warm tropical seas, floodplains and coasts.
- Where Earth’s Resources Are FoundMineral, energy and water resources are unevenly distributed because of past geological processes.
- Oceans, Winds and ClimateUneven heating of a round Earth drives convection cells and global winds.
- Air Masses and Weather FrontsAir masses take on the temperature and humidity of their source regions.
- Deep Time: Earth’s HistorySuperposition, cross-cutting relationships and index fossils put rock layers in order (relative dating).
- Plate Tectonics: The EvidenceFitting coastlines, matching fossils and rocks, and ancient glacier marks suggested the continents were once joined.
- The Rock CycleRocks are igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic according to how they formed.
- Moon Phases and EclipsesThe Sun always lights half the Moon; phases come from seeing that half from changing angles.
- The Solar System and GravityThe Solar System is the Sun and everything held in orbit around it: planets, moons, dwarf planets, asteroids and comets.
Ages 14–18 · Grades 9–12
- Modelling Climate ChangeClimate models divide the Earth system into grid cells and apply the laws of physics, stepping forward in time.
- Resources, Hazards and Human HistoryEarly cities grew along rivers that supplied water, fertile soil and trade routes; later industry clustered near coal and iron.
- Earth and Life Change TogetherPhotosynthesising cyanobacteria oxygenated the atmosphere, leaving banded iron formations and building the ozone layer.
- Water’s Remarkable PropertiesWater is polar; hydrogen bonds give it a high heat capacity, make it a strong solvent and make ice float.
- Feedbacks in the Earth SystemPositive (amplifying) feedbacks, such as ice–albedo and water vapour, reinforce change.
- Earth’s Early HistoryEarth’s oldest rocks are rare because the crust is recycled; zircons, meteorites and Moon rocks fill the gap.
- Earth’s Interior and Plate MotionSeismic waves reveal Earth’s layers: crust, slowly flowing mantle, liquid outer core and solid inner core.
- Kepler’s Laws and Orbital MotionPlanets move in ellipses with the Sun at one focus, sweeping equal areas in equal times.
- The Big Bang and the Expanding UniverseRedshift and Hubble’s law show that space is expanding, carrying galaxies apart.
- The Sun: A Nuclear FurnaceFusion of hydrogen into helium in the Sun’s core converts mass into energy (E = mc²).