Earth & Space

Learning Target:Most of the cycles and patterns of motion between the Earth and sun are

predictable.

You understand this when you know:

1) 1 Revolution of the Earth takes approximately 365 days.

2) 1 Rotation of the Earth on its axis takes 24 hours.

3) The Earth's axis tilts at 23.5 degrees.

4) The seasons are caused by the amount of direct sunlight an area

receives.

Universe  Vocabulary

Gravity-­‐  the  force  that  pulls  objects  toward  each  other

Axis-­‐  an  imaginary  line  that  passes  from  the  north  pole  to  the  south  pole  through  earths  center

Atmosphere  –  layer  of  gasses,  air,  around  the  earth

Star  –  an  object  in  space  that  produces  its  own  heat  and  light  (our  sun)

Magnitude-­‐size  of  something  such  as  the  brightness  of  a  star;  determined  by  size,  distance  and  temperature

Orbit-­‐the  path  that  one  object  in  space  takes  around  another  object  in  space

Revolution  –  one  complete  trip  of  a  planet  around  the  sun

Rotation  –  the  spinning  of  a  planet  or  moon  on  its  axis

HR Diagram

The Sun, Earth, & Moon

by Christine Goudeau

Click to watch a clip

Earth's AxisAn AXIS is an imaginary line that runs through the center of an object.

The Earth's Axis is tilted 23.5

degrees

Reading pages 218-219

Earth's orbit is almost completely circular and

centered around the sun, but some planets' orbits

are not

click to exploreorbit shapes

The Earth follows an ORBIT around the SUN

return

Earth's OrbitAn orbit is the path that something makes as it revolves around another object.

Click on theEarth to seehow it revolves

Revolution and Rotation of the Earth,Moon and Sun.

Revolution-to go around something else

Rotation-to turn around itself

What's the difference between rotation and revolution?

Earth'sRotation

Click to see

So, What is the EFFECT of our Earth's Rotation?

DAY

NIGHT

How long does it take for Earth to make one complete rotation?

About 24hours(1 Day)

The part of the Earth that is facing thesun is having what?

The part of the Earth that is facing awayfrom the sun is having what?

nightday

Day and Night

Materials:FlashlightEarth on AxisDark Room

Problem: How can we show Day and Night with everyday objects?

*You will work in pairs in this activity.

Earth

Axis

Sunshine

So, What is the EFFECT of our Earth's Revolution?

Seasons

To understand how this works, we need to study about:

*Earth's Orbit *Earth's Axisclick click

Reading pages 220-221

Seasons

So, how does Earth's AXIS and it's ORBIT around the sun cause us to have SEASONS?

If the Earth weren't titled on its axis, the same parts of the earth would always receive the same amount of direct sunlight and their weather would remain the same throughout the year

Watch the Earth'sRevolution around

the sun

We will be creating this foldable in class to illustrate the seasons! Make sure to bring your coloring supplies (crayons or colored pencils!!)

Seasons Foldable

A teacher walking

around desks A twirlingballerina

The hands of a clockA car wheel

If an object rotates, the center stays in the same place.

Notice how the middle of the fan stays in the same spot while the rest of the fan travels in a circle around the middle.

Is it Revolution or Rotation?People often get Revolution and Rotation confused! Here's a trick to help you remember the difference:

If an object revolves, the whole object circles a center object or area.

Click on the dog to watch a dog's revolution around the center of the pool. Notice how the

whole dog moves around the center of the pool.

Is the object showing REVOLUTION or ROTATION?

A teacher walking

around desks A twirlingballerina

The hands of a clockA car wheel

If an object rotates, the center stays in the same place.

Notice how the middle of the fan stays in the same spot while the rest of the fan travels in a circle around the middle.

Is it Revolution or Rotation?People often get Revolution and Rotation confused! Here's a trick to help you remember the difference:

If an object revolves, the whole object circles a center object or area.

Click on the dog to watch a dog's revolution around the center of the pool. Notice how the

whole dog moves around the center of the pool.

Is the object showing REVOLUTION or ROTATION?

Sun

sunlight

Earth and the Moon are always half lit.

It's a little more complicated with moonlight. Since the moon revolves around the Earth, the amount of the half lit moon that we see changes depending on where the moon is in its month long rotation around the earth. We call these different amounts of moonlight Moon Phases.

We've already learned that the half of the Earth that's lit is experiencing daytime and the other half is having nighttime.

Let's learn more!

The Phases of Our Moon

There are 8 moon phases.

Each one shows a different amount or area of moonlight.

The moon takes about one month to go through each of the 8 phases.

see the moon phases

Reading pages 222-223

Sun

First QuarterWaxing Crescent

New

Waxing Gibbous

Full

Waning Gibbous

Last Quarter

Waning Crescent

Click in each box next to the phases's name to see what the moon looks like from earth during that moon phase

Sun

First QuarterWaxing Crescent

New

Waxing Gibbous

Full

Waning Gibbous

Last Quarter

Waning Crescent

Click in each box next to the phases's name to see what the moon looks like from earth during that moon phase

Match each phase with its name.WaxingGibbous

WaningCrescent

Full

New

FirstQuarter

WaningGibbous

LastQuarter

WaxingCrescent

Learning Target for Today:

- Understand that the Sun is the closest star to Earth

- Understand the characteristics of the Sun (age, composition, and temperature)

- Understand how the Sun compares to other stars.

Comparing the sizes of the SunEarthMoon

Click to comparethe Earth, Moon, and Sun

Another way to think about it...

If the Sun were the size of a basketball...

the Earth would be about the size of a pea....

the Moon would be aboutthe size of a pinhead....

Watcha clip

A closer look at Our Sun

Reading Pages 226-227

The sun is about 110 times the diameter of the Earth

The sun is about 4.6

billion years old

The sun is an averaged-sized yellow

star

Sun Facts...

Video!

Let's take a closer look at

Our Solar SystemIn Our Solar System, there are 8 planets

Watcha

Clip

Can you namethem in order?

Rememberthis!

MyVeryEnergetic MotherJust SatUnderNoodles

Reading Page 228

How do the inner planets compare in size?Click on the picture for a closer look.

How do the axes of the inner planets compare?Click on the picture for a closer look.

How do the ORBITSof the inner planets

compare?Click on the picture for

a closer look.

Earth is one of the four INNER PLANETS along with Mercury, Venus, & Mars

Earth is the third planet from the sun

The Earth's protective atmosphere blocks out most of the sun's damaging rays.

Unlike the other three inner planets,

Earth has large amounts of life-

supporting water and an oxygen-rich

atmosphere.

The Earth is a geologically active planet

with a surface that is

constantly changing.

How is our Earth unique?

Other space bodies!

Asteroi

d

Belt

Comet...MeteroidMeteor

Dwarf PLANETS

An asteroid is a metallic bit of rock. It can be thought of as what was "left over" after the Sun and all the planets were formed. Most of the asteroids in our solar system can be found orbiting the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. This area is sometimes called the "asteroid belt". Think about it this way: the asteroid belt is a big highway in a circle around the Sun. Think about the asteroids as cars on the highway. Sometimes, the asteroid cars run into one another. When this happens, the asteroids may break up into smaller asteroids. Scientists think that most asteroids are the result of collisions between larger rocky space bodies.Asteroids can be a few feet to several hundred miles wide. The belt probably contains at least 40,000 asteroids that are more than 0.5 miles across.If an asteroid is captured by the gravitational pull of a planet, the asteroid can be pulled out of the belt and go into orbit as a moon around the planet that pulled on it.

Asteriod Belt - page 230

What are comets?A comet is a small world which scientists sometimes call a planetesimal. They are made out of dust and ice, kind of like a dirty snow ball.

Where do they come from?Comets come from two places: The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.

Reading page 233

Meteor - streak of light,Meteoriod - small space rocks that orbit the sun,Meteorite - Meteorid that strikes Earth's surface

When you wish upon a star...

The meteorites you see during a meteor shower might appear to be very close, but did you know that those tiny particles of burning space debris are actually about 30 to 40 miles (48 to 64km) above Earth's surface? Pretty amazing that you are able to see such a tiny piece of space dust from so far away!

Reading Page 234

Size Distance fromEarth Temperature

Size - the bigger one

Long before the time of television, people told stories about the "pictures" they saw in the night sky.

Many star groups were named for the people, animals and objects our ancestors imagined when they looked at the stars.

Constellations pages 236-237

Certain Constellations can only be seen during certain times of the year!

Observing Space

In the 16th century, an astronomer named

Copernicus developed a HELIOCENTRIC model

of the universe, in which the sun was the center of the universe with the earth and other planets orbiting around the sun.

Soon after, an astronomer named Galileo expanded upon and offered proof of Copernicus's sun-centered model of our solar system.

Today, we understand that the sun is the center - but not of the universe, The sun is the center of our solar system. We continue to learn more and more about our solar system, galaxy, and our universe with new scientific discoveries.

Two famous Greek philosophers who wrote about this Ptolemy and

Aristotle. Most people believed this Geocentric view of the universe to be true for a long, long, time!

An earth-centered model of the universe

was developed thousands of years

ago by Greek philosophers.

This earth-centered model is called a

GEOCENTRIC model.

How has our understanding

of our solar system

changed over time?

Watch a clip