Introduction
Every student arguably has heard of the word “gravity,” and seemingly understands the idea that it is an invisible but physical force that pulls humans and all other objects of mass down to the ground, and towards the center of the Earth. However, it is not often that teachers present gravity as an “evolutionary force” that is both necessary and essential for life to exist, evolve, grow, and reproduce. Recent research supports the claim that gravity plays a deciding factor on the sizes, heights, and shapes of living things, as well as the specific locations of vital organs like our hearts.2 For instance, crawling insects have developed adhesive mechanisms such as hairy pads to overcome the friction forces of the ground as they travel, while humans need an inverted pendulum mechanism to counter the effect of gravity as we stand and walk.3
The three essential questions for this interdisciplinary unit that integrates Science with Math and ELA standards include: 1) What is gravity? 2) How does gravity affect life and space travel? 3) Does it play a role in evolution? The unit is designed with 10 lessons for the span of 2-3 weeks.
By studying how gravity impacts the evolutionary journey of life on Earth, we can begin to imagine how alien life could emerge in other planetary systems. Throughout this unit, students will address the effects of gravity with teacher’s direct instruction, student-centered learning centers, peer-to-peer support, math calculations, model-making, discussion, and opinion writing. For examples, students will record root causes of microgravity on the health of astronauts in their science journals, build a large-scale Solar System model to understand gravitational forces, and write an evidence-based argument to defend why a heavier (more massive) or a lighter (less massive) Earth-like exoplanet is the more desirable residence for humans.
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