HS-ESS1-6

Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth's formation and early history.

  1. Space

    My 10 years on Mars: NASA’s Curiosity rover describes its adventure

    Did life evolve on Mars? NASA’s Curiosity rover spent the last 10 years trying to answer that question. Here’s the story from the rover’s point of view.

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  2. Chemistry

    Let’s learn about diamond

    Diamond is born under extreme heat and pressure inside Earth and elsewhere in the universe.

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  3. Planets

    Ancient volcanoes may have left ice at the moon’s poles

    Volcanic eruptions billions of years ago may have produced several temporary atmospheres on the moon that held water vapor.

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  4. Planets

    The InSight lander has caught a large ‘earthquake’ on Mars

    This magnitude 5 quake is offering scientists a peek at what’s going on beneath the Martian surface.

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  5. Earth

    Tiny gemstones show when Earth’s crust first started moving

    Chemical hints observed in zircons suggest when the important process of plate tectonics first took off.

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  6. Planets

    Mercury’s surface may be studded with diamonds

    Billions of years of meteorite impacts may have transformed much of Mercury's graphite crust into precious gemstones.

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  7. Planets

    Let’s learn about Pluto

    Once known as a pipsqueak planet, Pluto is now the solar system’s best known dwarf planet.

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  8. Animals

    The end of the dinosaurs appears to have come in springtime

    Fish fossils from North Dakota suggest when the Chicxulub asteroid devastated Earth, triggering the mass extinction of dinosaurs and other species.

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  9. Physics

    Wild art? No, it’s a radio image of the heart of our Milky Way

    Eyelash-like radio filaments accent the brightest feature in this image — a supermassive black hole.

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  10. Chemistry

    No, organic molecules alone don’t point to life on Mars

    These carbon-based molecules, found in a meteorite, may reflect merely a mixing of water and minerals on the Red Planet over billions of years.

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  11. Physics

    Explainer: Telescopes see light — and sometimes ancient history

    Different kinds of telescopes on Earth and in space help us to see all wavelengths of light. Some can even peer billions of years back in time.

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  12. Planets

    The long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope has a big to-do list

    The James Webb Space Telescope has been in the works for so long that new fields of science have emerged for it to study.

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