Two Astronomy Games Cherilynn Morrow, PhD "Small and LARGE" "Near and Far" Instructions for “TWO ASTRONOMY GAMES” [Field test version – May 2004] Cherilynn Morrow, PhD camorrow@spacescience.org Thanks to: Lise Roussin for reviewing the French translation Preston Dyches for researching the distances between objects and Earth Michael Zawaski and Preston Dyches for help with formatting the images We are going to play two astronomy games, one that is called “Small and Large”, and another called “Near and Far”. You can use these games with a large group, a few students or with just one other person. Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow [camorrow@spacescience.org] Two Astronomy Games Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow camorrow@colorado.edu

“Small and Large” “Near and Far” 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. On a sheet of paper, make two columns like the ones below: “Small and Large” “Near and Far” 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Smallest Closest Please take out a sheet of paper. On the paper make two columns. The title of the first column is “Small and Large” and the title of the second column is “Near and Far”. In each column, write the numbers from “one” to “nine”. Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow [camorrow@spacescience.org] Largest Farthest Two Astronomy Games Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow camorrow@colorado.edu

SHOW THE IMAGES FOR THE GAME: “SMALL AND LARGE” [SLIDE # 4] Use the first column. Place the following images in order from the smallest object (number 1) to largest object (number 9). It would be best to write the letter as well as the name of the object in the column. This way, you will have a list that you can consult later. Are you ready? Now let’s begin the first game – “Small and Large”. I am going to show you nine images. You must put them in order from smallest to largest “Number one” corresponds to the image that contains the smallest image. “Number nine” corresponds to the image that contains the largest image. ARE YOU READY? SHOW THE IMAGES FOR THE GAME: “SMALL AND LARGE” [SLIDE # 4] Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow [camorrow@spacescience.org] Two Astronomy Games Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow camorrow@colorado.edu

Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow [camorrow@spacescience.org] A. THE SUN B. EARTH C. SPACE SHUTTLE D. THE MOON E. THE SOLAR SYSTEM F. BEARS It would be best to write the letter as well as the name of the object in the column. This way, you will have a list that you can consult later. Remember: “Number one” must be the smallest object in reality and “number nine”, the largest. HINTS Ask the students to respond before showing the solution. You can give one or more hints as needed. The letters below correspond to the letters representing the images. A. The distance between the Sun and Earth is 400 times greater than the distance between the Moon and Earth. C. The length of the Space Shuttle is 37 meters (121 feet). G. The diameter of Mars is around half that of Earth. H. The galaxy in this image cannot be our Milky Way because we are able to see the entire galaxy. It is not possible to travel outside of our galaxy to obtain an image like this one. Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow [camorrow@spacescience.org] G. MARS H. A GALAXY I. JUPITER

The Solution "small and LARGE" Ask students to respond before showing the solution. SHOW THE SOLUTION [SLIDE # 6] Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow [camorrow@spacescience.org] Two Astronomy Games Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow camorrow@colorado.edu

SUMMARY NOTES and FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1F. BEARS 2C. SPACE SHUTTLE 3D. THE MOON 4G. MARS 5B. EARTH 6I. JUPITER SUMMARY NOTES and FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Consider the diameter of Earth. You can compare it to the other objects in the pictures above. For example: The diameter of the Moon is one-quarter that of Earth. The diameter of Mars is half that of Earth. The diameter of Jupiter (the largest planet in the solar system) is ten times that of Earth. The Sun is the star at the center of our solar system. The diameter of the Sun is about one hundred times that of Earth. Why do the Sun and the Moon appear to be the same size in the sky? The diameter of the Sun is 400 times greater than the diameter of the Moon. But the Sun is 400 times farther from Earth. What are the differences between a planet and a star? - A star is much bigger and more massive. - A star shines with its own light; a planet reflects the light from a star. - Planets orbit around stars. What is the difference between our solar system and a galaxy? Our solar system has a star at its center called the Sun. There are nine planets that orbit around the Sun. The Sun is the only star in our solar system. On the other hand, there are more than a hundred billion suns (stars) in a galaxy like the one pictured. Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow [camorrow@spacescience.org] 8E. THE SOLAR SYSTEM 9H. A GALAXY 7A. THE SUN

SHOW THE IMAGES FOR THE GAME: “NEAR AND FAR” [SLIDE # 8] Use the second column. Put the objects in these images in order from nearest to the surface of Earth (number 1) to farthest from the surface of Earth (number 9). It would be best to write the letter as well as the name of the object in the column. This way, you will have a list that you can consult later. Are you ready? Now, the second game – “Near and Far”. I am going to show you nine images. You must put the objects in these images in order from nearest to the surface of Earth (number 1) to farthest from the surface of Earth (number 9). Use the second column. “Number one” corresponds to the object that is closest. “Number nine” corresponds to the object that is farthest. ARE YOU READY? SHOW THE IMAGES FOR THE GAME: “NEAR AND FAR” [SLIDE # 8] Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow [camorrow@spacescience.org] Two Astronomy Games Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow camorrow@colorado.edu

H. STARS OF THE BIG DIPPER A. THE SUN B. A GALAXY C. AURORAS D. THE MOON E. JET AIRPLANE F. HUBBLE TELESCOPE It would be best to write the letter as well as the name of the object in the column. This way, you will have a list that you can consult later. Remember: “Number one” must be the object that is closest to the surface of Earth. “Number nine” must be the object that is farthest from the surface of Earth. HINTS Ask the students to respond before showing the solution. You can give one or more hints as needed. The letters below correspond to the letters representing the images. A. The distance between the Sun and Earth is 400 times greater than the distance between the Moon and Earth. B. This galaxy cannot be our galaxy (the Milky Way) because we are able to see the entire galaxy. It is not possible to travel outside of our galaxy to obtain an image like this one. If you can see the spiral structure of a galaxy, it is certain to be outside of our own galaxy. C. Auroras are found in the highest regions of the atmosphere. E. Usually, jet airplanes fly in the stratosphere, at more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) above the surface of Earth. F. The Space Shuttle can visit the Hubble telescope to do maintenance or make repairs. The Space Shuttle cannot visit the Moon. H. The stars of the constellations that we can see in the sky are located in our galaxy (the Milky Way). I. Earth orbits the Sun at a distance of 1 AU (Astronomical Unit). Saturn orbits the Sun at a distance of 10 AU. Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow [camorrow@spacescience.org] G. AN EAGLE I. SATURN H. STARS OF THE BIG DIPPER

The Solution “Near and Far” Ask students to respond before showing them the solution. SHOW THE SOLUTION: SLIDE # 10 Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow [camorrow@spacescience.org] Two Astronomy Games Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow camorrow@colorado.edu

SUMMARY NOTES and FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS G. AN EAGLE E. JET AIRPLANE C. AURORAS D. THE MOON A. THE SUN F. HUBBLE TELESCOPE SUMMARY NOTES and FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Why do the Sun and the Moon appear to be the same size in the sky? The diameter of the Sun is 400 times greater than that of the Moon, but the Sun is 400 times farther from Earth than the Moon. That is why you can see a total eclipse of the Sun, during which the Moon blocks the light from the Sun. How far from Earth’s surface are auroras? Auroras are found from 95 to 190 kilometers (about 60-120 miles) above the Earth’s surface. How far from Earth’s surface is the Hubble telescope? The Hubble telescope orbits around Earth at a distance of 600 kilometers (373 miles). How far from Earth is the Moon? The Moon is about 400,000 kilometers (250,000 miles) from Earth. How far from Earth is the Sun? The Sun is 1 Astronomical Unit = 150,000,000 kilometers (93 million miles) from Earth. How far from Earth is Saturn? From 9 AU to 11 AU. It depends on which side of the Sun that Saturn is on, relative to Earth. How far is the Big Dipper from Earth? That depends on the star. The brightest stars of this constellation are between 70 and 100 light-years from Earth. A light year is about 10 trillion kilometers (6 trillion miles). 10 trillion = 10,000,000,000,000 How far is the galaxy in the image from Earth? This galaxy, NGC 4414, is 60 million light years from Earth. Copyright 2004 Cherilynn Morrow [camorrow@spacescience.org] I. SATURN H. STARS OF THE BIG DIPPER B. A GALAXY