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Heliophysics Big Idea 1.2

The Framework for Heliophysics Education

Quick Facts

NASA studies aurora as they are visible markers of space weather processes around Earth.

NASA studies aurora as they are visible markers of space weather processes around Earth.

The Sun’s constant outflow of solar wind fills space with a thin wash of particles, fields and plasma.

The Sun’s constant outflow of solar wind fills space with a thin wash of particles, fields and plasma.

This solar wind, along with other solar events like giant explosions called coronal mass ejections, influences the very nature of space and can interact with the magnetic systems of Earth and other worlds.

This solar wind, along with other solar events like giant explosions called coronal mass ejections, influences the very nature of space and can interact with the magnetic systems of Earth and other worlds.

Such effects also change the radiation environment through which our spacecraft travel. Close to Earth, such space weather can interfere with satellite electronics, communications and GPS signals, and even – when extreme – utility grids on Earth.

Such effects also change the radiation environment through which our spacecraft travel. Close to Earth, such space weather can interfere with satellite electronics, communications and GPS signals, and even – when extreme – utility grids on Earth.

The Sun is active and can impact technology on Earth via Space Weather.

Guiding Questions

  • Introductory Learner (K-5)

    How does the Earth keep us safe from the harmful effects of the Sun (including radiation and space weather)?

    3-PS2-3. Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other. 
    3-PS2-4. Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about magnets.
    5-ESS2-1. Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.

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  • Intermediate Learner (6-8)

    How does space weather impact my daily life?

    MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process. 
    MS-ESS2-6. Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
    MS-PS1-4. Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed. 

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  • Advanced Learner (9-12+)

    How do scientists predict space weather?

    HS-ESS2-3. Develop a model based on evidence of Earth’s interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection.
    HS-PS2-4. Use mathematical representations of Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Coulomb’s Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects.
    HS-PS2-5. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electric current can produce a magnetic field and that a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current.

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First, visible at the top, are parts of the space station itself including solar panels. Just below the station is the band of our Milky Way Galaxy, glowing with the combined light of billions of stars, but dimmed in patches by filaments of dark dust. The band of red light just below the Milky Way is airglow -- Earth's atmosphere excited by the Sun and glowing in specific colors of light. Green airglow is visible below the red. Of course that's our Earth below its air, with the terminator between day and night visible near the horizon. As clouds speckle the planet, illumination from a bright lightning bolt is seen toward the lower right.

Related Topics By Level For Communicating Heliophysics