stem for ty teachers discovering our place in the universe day 2 mark bailey and libby mckearney,...
TRANSCRIPT
STEM for TY Teachers
Discovering Our Place in the Universe
Day 2
Mark Bailey and Libby McKearney, Armagh Observatory
H&S, Housekeeping etc. This is a non-smoking building
Morning tea and lunch will be served:
Fire alarm, fire escapes – I will lead you to our fire assembly point, please remain there until I check your name off the register and only return here when advised to do so.
Please be aware of any trip hazards (trailing leads, steps etc.)
Location of facilities
Evaluation – please continue to fill out your evaluation form as we go through today and tomorrow!
Second form on your table.
Our Programme for Today
Reminder: Main Learning Objective
To provide TY Teachers/Coordinators with sufficient knowledge of astronomy and related sciences to give them the confidence and skills to introduce some aspects of astronomy to their TY students.
“Earth’s Place in Space: Bringing ‘Heaven’ Down to
Earth”
Talk by Mark Bailey
Gap tasks!
Suggested Core Themes
Here we begin to look at 4 core themes that you will perhaps use back at school (Moon, Constellations, Solar System and Sun, Stars and Galaxies.) The 5th is Research and Presentations: Students presenting the knowledge gained to peers and possibly to feeder primary school children in future
1. The Moon: Phases, physical properties; tides (very relevant in costal parts of Donegal); physical and cultural relationships with the Earth; craters and cratering history; eclipses (now in with Solar System); space travel etc.
Task: Observing, e.g. with binoculars, and complete an observing sheet over a month.
Moon – revision of basic facts Our nearest neighbour, 384,400 km on average away.
Has a quarter of the Earth’s diameter.
A natural satellite, rich in stories; religious festival dates.
Shines by reflecting the Sun’s light, has virtually no atmosphere.
Takes approx. 27.3 days to make a complete orbit of Earth (relative to background stars).
Period to show same phase to Earth is approx. 29.5 days (e.g. from one Full Moon to the next Full Moon).
For something that appears to us so bright, the Moon has a similar reflectance to coal!
1/6 Earth's gravity
How did the Moon come to be?!Moon is thought to have formed shortly after origin of
solar system (4.567bn + 30-50 million years later)
The current most widely accepted explanation is that it formed from debris left over after a giant impact between the proto-Earth and a Mars-sized body. The material blasted into orbit around the Earth accreted into the Moon.
The dark lunar plains which can be easily seen with the naked eye are called maria (Latin for seas) these are vast solidified pools of ancient lava which filled the impact craters on the surface. (Think – why were they called seas?)
More dark maria on the near side of the Moon possibly because there are more heat producing elements under the crust on the near side.
Observing: it is easier to pick out features along the terminator at quarter Moon
Other FeaturesThe lighter coloured regions of the Moon are called
highlands as they are higher than the maria. Again very obvious to the naked eye.
The lunar impact craters formed when asteroids and comets hit the surface, they are well preserved – why do you think this is?
Ans: lack of atmosphere, weather and recent geological processes.
How does this compare to Earth’s surface and cratering and why?
Tycho crater is famous for its ‘rays’ of debris from when it was formed, some of which stretch for 1,500km.
Cratering historyImpact-melted rocks gathered by Apollo missions
have been radiometrically dated to being between 3.8 and 4.1 billion years old. This has been used to propose the Late Heavy Bombardment of impacts.
There are estimated to be approximately 300,000 craters wider than 1km on the near side of the Moon alone.
Some named after scientists, scholars, artists and explorers – student research potential!
Formed by the impacts; a finer, broken down layer called regolith blankets the Moon’s crust.
You may remember that the Earth tilts on its axis at 23.4 degrees to its orbit around the Sun - the Moon’s is 6.68 degrees to its orbit.
The Moon’s distance from Earth increases by 38mm per year, this is confirmed by measurements with laser reflectors left during the Apollo missions to the Moon.
Gravitational coupling between the Moon and Earth drains the rotational kinetic energy from Earth’s spin, in turn angular momentum is added to the Moon’s orbit, accelerating it and lifting it into a higher orbit with a longer period, thus distance increases between the two bodies, as above and Earth’s spin is slowing down.
Phases of the MoonThese repeat over the (29.5 day) month; “quarter” indicates
the part of the cycle, not the shape at that time!
New Moon (dark)Waxing Crescent
First quarter D – shape (N Hemisphere)Waxing Gibbous
Full Moon (bright)Waning Gibbous
Last quarter C – shape (N Hemisphere)Waning Crescent
The Moon is the farthest that humans have travelled so far!
Lets do an activity to gain confidence in teaching phases!
Activity
http://sciencenetlinks.com/media/filer/2011/10/14/moon_worksheet.html
Space travel Students need to realise that the Moon is the f farthest that humans have travelled so far.
Discuss with students the viability of humans travelling to Mars, cost, how would they get back again etc.
Life aboard the ISS – ESA educational materials, web etc.
The Soviet Union’s Luna programme was first to reach the Moon in 1959 with unmanned spacecraft.
The US’ NASA Apollo programme achieved manned missions, beginning with manned orbiting by Apollo 8 in 1968 followed by 6 manned lunar landings between 1969 and 1972.
The iconic image above of Neil Armstrong, recently deceased, Apollo 11 1969.
Cultural relationshipsThe regular waxing and waning of the Moon
have made it the basis of many of the oldest calendars.
Notched bones, believed by some to be showing phases of the Moon, are dated back to between 20 and 30,000 years ago.
In language, taking the root Moon, led via Latin, we get the word measure showing the importance of the Moon to ancient cultures in measuring time.
Moon image is found on many flags
The Moon is the subject of countless works of art, literature and the inspiration for many others.
In Knowth, Ireland, a 5,000 year old rock carving may represent the Moon, if so this would be the earliest depiction discovered.
The physical features of the Moon, those maria and uplands have created the patterns seen by different cultures across the world.
Moon Rabbit/Jade Rabbit
This is a rabbit which in folklore lives on the moon. The story exists in many cultures, particularly in East-Asian folklore, where he is seen as pounding a mortar and pestle. In Chinese folklore the Jade rabbit is usually portrayed as the companion of the moon goddess Chang’e, pounding the elixir of life for her, In the Korean and Japanese versions it is seen as pounding the ingredients of a rice cake.
Similar legends of the rabbit occur in Mexican folklore, where people identified the markings as a rabbit. “According to an Aztec legend, the God Quetzalcoatl, then living on Earth as a man, started on a journey and, after walking for a long time, became hungry and tired. With no food or water around, he thought he would die. Then a rabbit grazing nearby offered himself as food to save his life. Quetzalcoatl, moved by the rabbit's noble offering, elevated him to the moon, then lowered him back to Earth and told him, "You may be just a rabbit, but everyone will remember you; there is your image in light, for all men and for all times."”
I wonder – did he eat the rabbit then?!!!
Moon Fun Document