Tracking Jupiter's Moons Students are divided into four teams of observers, with each team responsible for observing one of the four Galilean moons. A slide projector projects images of Jupiter and the four color-coded moons. Their goal is to determine the orbital period and distance for each moon. The student use scientific methods during field and laboratory investigations. Collect information by observing and measuring.
Students look for patterns in their data to find the period of their assigned moon.
Within each group, students compare their data in order to agree on a period and orbital distance for their moon. Each group reports their orbital period and traces their data, the path of their moon over nine nights, onto a transparency sheet. Superimposing each groups transparency reveals the motions of all the moons around Jupiter. The student uses critical thinking and scientific problem solving to make informed decisions. The scientific explanation for the changing positions of Jupiter's moons is that the moons orbit Jupiter.