Earth and Space Science
Massachusetts Standards for Grades 6–8
TOPIC: Mapping the Earth
1. Recognize, interpret, and be able to create models of the earth’s common physical features in various mapping representations, including contour maps.
TOPIC: Earth’s Structure
2. Describe the layers of the earth, including the lithosphere, the hot convecting mantle, and the dense metallic core.
TOPIC: Heat Transfer in the Earth System
3. Differentiate among radiation, conduction, and convection, the three mechanisms by which heat is transferred through the earth’s system.
4. Explain the relationship among the energy provided by the sun, the global patterns of atmospheric movement, and the temperature differences among water, land, and atmosphere.
TOPIC: Earth’s History
5. Describe how the movement of the earth’s crustal plates causes both slow changes in the earth’s surface (e.g., formation of mountains and ocean basins) and rapid ones (e.g., volcanic eruptions and earthquakes).
6. Describe and give examples of ways in which the earth’s surface is built up and torn down by natural processes, including deposition of sediments, rock formation, erosion, and weathering.
7. Explain and give examples of how physical evidence, such as fossils and surface features of glaciation, supports theories that the earth has evolved over geologic time.
TOPIC: The Earth in the Solar System
8. Recognize that gravity is a force that pulls all things on and near the earth toward the center of the earth. Gravity plays a major role in the formation of the planets, stars, and solar system and in determining their motions.
9. Describe lunar and solar eclipses, the observed moon phases, and tides. Relate them to the relative positions of the earth, moon, and sun.
10. Compare and contrast properties and conditions of objects in the solar system (i.e., sun, planets, and moons) to those on Earth (i.e., gravitational force, distance from the sun, speed, movement, temperature, and atmospheric conditions).
11. Explain how the tilt of the earth and its revolution around the sun result in an uneven heating of the earth, which in turn causes the seasons.
12. Recognize that the universe contains many billions of galaxies, and that each galaxy contains many billions of stars.
1. Recognize, interpret, and be able to create models of the earth’s common physical features in various mapping representations, including contour maps.
TOPIC: Earth’s Structure
2. Describe the layers of the earth, including the lithosphere, the hot convecting mantle, and the dense metallic core.
TOPIC: Heat Transfer in the Earth System
3. Differentiate among radiation, conduction, and convection, the three mechanisms by which heat is transferred through the earth’s system.
4. Explain the relationship among the energy provided by the sun, the global patterns of atmospheric movement, and the temperature differences among water, land, and atmosphere.
TOPIC: Earth’s History
5. Describe how the movement of the earth’s crustal plates causes both slow changes in the earth’s surface (e.g., formation of mountains and ocean basins) and rapid ones (e.g., volcanic eruptions and earthquakes).
6. Describe and give examples of ways in which the earth’s surface is built up and torn down by natural processes, including deposition of sediments, rock formation, erosion, and weathering.
7. Explain and give examples of how physical evidence, such as fossils and surface features of glaciation, supports theories that the earth has evolved over geologic time.
TOPIC: The Earth in the Solar System
8. Recognize that gravity is a force that pulls all things on and near the earth toward the center of the earth. Gravity plays a major role in the formation of the planets, stars, and solar system and in determining their motions.
9. Describe lunar and solar eclipses, the observed moon phases, and tides. Relate them to the relative positions of the earth, moon, and sun.
10. Compare and contrast properties and conditions of objects in the solar system (i.e., sun, planets, and moons) to those on Earth (i.e., gravitational force, distance from the sun, speed, movement, temperature, and atmospheric conditions).
11. Explain how the tilt of the earth and its revolution around the sun result in an uneven heating of the earth, which in turn causes the seasons.
12. Recognize that the universe contains many billions of galaxies, and that each galaxy contains many billions of stars.
