Mississippi Science ESS.1B.1
The Standard
- ESS.1B
- Students will develop an understanding of Earth, the solar system, and the laws that predict the motion of celestial bodies.
Read and evaluate scientific information for mechanisms/results (e.g., the solar nebular theory) to explain how the solar system was formed. Cite evidence and develop a logical argument.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Earth in the Universe
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students read accounts of how a cloud of gas and dust formed the Sun and planets. They compare each account with observations and cite evidence in their own explanation.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain how gravity formed a spinning disk and how material in that disk built planets. They use young-star disk images, planetary orbits, and meteorite ages as evidence, while saying what each observation supports.
Common Misconceptions
- Some students think the Big Bang made the planets directly, or that the Sun threw off pieces that became planets. Others treat an image of a disk around another star as a picture of our solar system forming.
How to Assess It
- Give students a young-star disk image and a paragraph stating that the planets orbit in nearly the same plane. Ask: 'How did the solar system form? Cite one detail from each source and name one thing the image cannot show.'
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have groups arrange cards labeled cloud, gravity, rotation, disk, and planetesimals on a desk, then add arrows to explain the sequence.
Give pairs two short source excerpts, one with disk observations and one with an unsupported claim; ask which account has stronger evidence and why.
Play evidence match: teams pair disk images, meteorite ages, and orbital patterns with formation claims, then explain which match is weakest.
Show an ALMA telescope image of a disk around a young star; students label what is observed and what remains inferred.
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