FALCON FOCUS The news has just broke that Earth is going to be destroyed in the next 2 months!! It is YOUR job to find which planet humans need to move to. Using what you know about the planets already, decide: Which planet can we go to?? Why do you think that?
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Magic School Bus Watch the video and fill out the front page of your notes. For each planet, you must 1.List them in the correct order 2.Write one thing about that planet
Why does everything orbit the Sun? Everything in the Solar System revolves around the Sun. Because the Sun is so large, its powerful gravity attracts all the other objects in the Solar System towards it. The planets at the same time are trying to pull away from the sun. What happens is that the planets become trapped in between the motions- balanced eternally orbiting around the sun.
Explain: Planets An object in orbit around a star but does not give off its own light, rather it shines by reflecting sunlight. Inner Planets- Terrestrial (orbit close to the sun): Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth Outer Planets- Gaseous (orbit far from the sun) :Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Our Solar System
The Inner Planets Terrestrial Type of surface: ROCKY Size: SMALLER Rings? NO.
Mercury- “My” Closest to the Sun Only 88 days to orbit Many craters Temperature extremes – 400C during day, -180 at night Basically no atmosphere
Venus- “Very” Earth’s sister planet Morning and evening star Thick atmosphere of CO2 and Sulfur Longer day than year Spins opposite than other planets Over 500C all the time
Earth- “Educated” Home sweet home Only planet with sustained life Hydrosphere (water) Atmosphere made up of N, O, CO2 Comfy temps
Mars- “Mother” Frozen polar CO2 caps Smaller than Earth Slightly longer day and year Very cold Largest mountain in solar system – Olympus Mons Thin atmosphere
Asteroid Belt Separates the inner and outer planets Possibly an annihilated planet Most asteroids hang out here
Outer Planets Gaseous Surface: Not solid, just thick atmosphere Size: Large Rings: YES! All have rings
Jupiter- “Just” Could hold 1300 Earths Almost big enough to be a star 12 EY = 1 Jovian year 1 Jovian day = 12 EH Huge storms – Great red spot “hurricane” larger than Earth Some moons may have water
Saturn- “Served” 29 years to orbit Large rings made of ice and dust 10 hour day Possibly still forming Tilts itself
Uranus- “Us” Blue in color due to methane gas 84 years to orbit Rotates sideways Very cold – -250C
Neptune- “Nachos” Methane atomosphere 164 years to orbit -250c temps 30 times farther from the sun than Earth
What happened to Pluto? Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet.
FYI *Some planets have a unique surface characteristic, for example color or an atmospheric storm. *Movement of planets is based on revolution around the Sun and rotation on the planet’s axis.
Moons Moons orbit (go around) planets NOT all planets have moons. Most moons are rocky and covered with craters (big holes) Movement is caused by the planet they orbit.
Moons There are over 140 moons in the solar system Mercury and Venus do not have moons Jupiter has the most moons (62!!)
Asteroids Mostly rocky and orbit in the Asteroid Belt (between Mars and Jupiter) Many different sizes and shapes Movement caused by their orbit around the Sun.
Asteroids Some asteroids not in the asteroid belt can cross Earth’s orbit; Scientists monitor the positions of these asteroids. – Why??
Comets Comets have 1. Main body or head (ices of water, methane and ammonia and dust) 2. Tail that gets larger as the comet orbits closer to the Sun -Tail always points away from the Sun. *Comets have unique long, narrow elliptical orbit.
Meteoroids Chunks of rock that move around in the solar system. Called different things based on their location and movement: *Called a Meteor – if it burns up in a planet’s atmosphere *Called a Meteorite – if it strikes the surface of a planet or moon
Exit Ticket After learning about the planets, which planet would be the best to evacuate humans to? Give 2 reasons for your answer – You may discuss as a group first