*For Ontario curriculum. National curriculum connections soon to come.

Grade 1 (Understanding Earth and Space Systems)
3.1 identify the sun as Earth’s principal source of heat and light

Grade 1 (Understanding Matter and Energy)
3.2 demonstrate an understanding that the sun, as the earth’s principal source of energy, warms the air, land, and water; is a source of light for the earth; and makes it possible to grow food

Grade 6 (Understanding Earth and Space Systems)
2.2 use technological problem-solving skills (see page 16) to design, build, and test devices (e.g., a sundial, a model of the earth’s rotation
around the sun) for investigating the motions of different bodies in the solar system
2.4 use appropriate science and technology vocabulary, including axis, tilt, rotation, revolution, planets, moons, comets, and asteroids, in oral
and written communication
3.1 identify components of the solar system, including the sun, the earth, and other planets, natural satellites, comets, asteroids, and meteoroids, and describe their physical characteristics in qualitative terms

Grade 9 (Academic Science) Earth and Space Science: The Study of the Universe
D2.1 use appropriate terminology related to the study of the universe, including, but not limited to: celestial objects, orbital radius, retrograde motion, and satellite
D2.5 compare and contrast properties of celestial objects visible in the night sky, drawing on information gathered through research and using
an appropriate format (e.g., compare the size of planets; represent the distance of stars from Earth using scientific notation; compare star
temperatures and colour)
D3.3 describe the major components of the solar system and the universe (e.g., planets, stars, galaxies), using appropriate scientific terminology and units
D3.4 describe the sun’s composition and energy source, and explain how its energy warms Earth and supports life on the planet (e.g., with
reference to the types of radiation the sun emits and the interaction of the sun’s energy with Earth’s atmosphere)
Grade 9 (Applied Science) Earth and Space Science: Space Exploration
D2.1 use appropriate terminology related to space exploration, including, but not limited to: astronomical units, gravitational pull, and universe
D3.1 describe the major components of the universe (e.g., planets, moons, stars, galaxies), the motion of the different types of celestial objects, and the distances between certain objects, using appropriate scientific terminology and units
D3.2 compare the characteristics and properties of celestial objects that constitute the solar system, including their motion and their distance from other celestial objects in the solar system
D3.4 describe the characteristics of the sun and the effects of its energy on Earth and Earth’s atmosphere

Grade 12 (Earth and Space Sciences)
B3.2 explain the scale of distances between celestial bodies (e.g., with reference to astronomical units, light years, and parsecs) and the methods astronomers use to determine these distances (e.g., stellar parallax, cepheid variables)
C3.1 explain the composition of the solar system (e.g., the sun, terrestrial inner planets, the asteroid belt, gas giant outer planets, the
Kuiper belt, the scattered disc, the heliopause, the Oort cloud), and describe the characteristics of each component
C3.2 identify and explain the classes of objects orbiting the sun (e.g., planets, dwarf planets, small solar system bodies
C3.4 identify the factors that determined the properties of bodies in the solar system (e.g., differences in distance from the sun result in temperature variations that determine whether substances on a planet, moon, or other body are solid or gaseous)
C3.6 compare Earth with other objects in the solar system with respect to properties such as mass, size, composition, rotation, magnetic field, and gravitational field