The Wonders of Space

Goal I will be able to distinguish among the inner planets according to their known characteristics such as appearance, location, composition and apparent motion

Materials needed Science Journal Pencil Science Workbook

Journal Entry: 12/1 Space: Inner Planets

A look into the solar system: Inner Planets A look into the solar system: https://www.brainpop.com/science/space/solarsystem/

What is in our Solar System? The solar system includes the Sun and all the bodies that travel, or revolve, around it.

Orbiting Bodies The Earth is one of eight planets, or large bodies that revolve around the Sun. Many plants, including Earth, have one or more moons. It is important to note that plantes cannot make their own light, they shine by reflecting the Sun’s light.

Why do we need the Sun? The Sun provides all planets their light. The Sun’s gravity holds the other parts of the solar system in their orbits.

Smaller bodies Smaller members of the solar system include dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids.

How did it all begin? Scientists believe that the solar system is around 4.6 billion years old. Scientists also believe that our solar system formed from a hot, spinning cloud of gas and dust.

How did it all begin? Over time, gravity pulled the gases and the dust to the center of the cloud and this process caused the cloud to collapse. The cloud continued to spin and this motion caused the temperature to rise. The high temperature caused a nuclear reaction which formed the sun.

What about the planets? The air was cooler away from the Sun. Matter in this cooler part of the cloud began to come together and formed the planets and the moon.

The planets are not the same! Planets closer to the Sun formed from heavy rock materials. Further from the Sun the planets were able to hold on to some of the gases and formed larger planets called gasious giants.

Inner planets The first four planets nearest to the sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. These planets are rocky and smaller than other planets.

Mercury Smallest of the inner planets Closest to the sun Surface temperatures vary widely between day and night Facing the sun it is extremely hot Facing away from the sun it is extremely cold Has many craters, some of these may contain frozen water.

Mercury

Venus Second planet from the Sun Hidden below a thick layer of clouds made up of sulfuric acid Temperatures are the surface are hot enough to melt lead The pressure exerted by the atmosphere is bone crushing, about same as that found 1km beneath the ocean’s surface.

Venus

Earth Third planet from the Sun Only planet known to have liquid water Earth’s atmosphere and oceans help keep its surface temperature within a range that could sustain life.

Earth

Mars The red planet, smaller than Earth, has about the same amount of land area Mars rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) have recently visited the surface of Mars and sent information back to Earth.

Mars Shows signs of water erosion, indicating that it may have once have been more like Earth. Surface is flat and rocky Deep canyons and the highest volcanic mountain known in our solar system are found on Mars Olympus Mons stands 24 km or 80,000 feet above the Martian surface.

Mars

Order of all Planets Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

Can you think of a pneumonic device?

Pneumonic My very excited mother just served us noodles!

12/2 Outer Planets: Goal: I will be able to distinguish among the outer planets according to their known characteristics such as appearance, location, composition and apparent motion.

Materials needed Science Journal Pencil Science Workbook

Outer Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune These planets are larger than the inner planets, and their volume consists mostely of gases.

Jupiter One of the brightest objects in the night sky takes about 10 hours to rotate on its axis Famous for its Great Red Spot In addition to its many moons, Jupiter also has rings.

Jupiter The rings are made up of small particles that were produced by meteor collisions with Jupiter’s moons

Jupiter Great Red Spot Storm

Saturn This planet is known for its rings The rings are 250,000 km wide but only 1 km thick. The rings consist mostly of ice particles Saturn is the least dense of any planet Least dense of any planet, if you put Saturn in water, it would float! Saturn is as large as 95 Earths!

Saturn

Uranus Once called Herschel after the astronomer who discovered it. Its axis is tilte so much that it is nearly parallel to the plane of its orbit. Uranus is considered to be lying on its side. Consists mostly of gases with a core of rock and ice. Has at least 27 moons and a system of 11 rings

Uranus

Neptune Has over 11 moons Scientists predicted its existance based on observation of the motion of Uranus, but it was not discovered until 1846. Considered a windy planet Winds reach speeds of 2,700 km/hr (1,500 mph)

Neptune: Fun Fact Neptune and its largest moon, Triton, are getting closer to each other. Within the next 100 million years they will probably collide.

Neptune Cloud Surface

Pluto In 2006 scientists met to form a new definition of planet. Pluto did not have a clear orbit, so it was classified as a dwarf planet. Pluto is small, icy and rocky. It is very cold. Pluto has at least 3 moons

Pluto

Dwarf Planets Other dwarf planets include: Ceres Eris Both of these asteroids now called dwarf planets orbit beyond Pluto

12/3 Asteroids and Moons

Asteroids A relatively small, rocky object that orbits the Sun. Most orbit in a band called the Asteroid belt (which is located between Mars and Jupiter) https://www.brainpop.com/science/space/asteroids/

Asteroids Theory: Jupitor’s strong pull of gravity prevented them from forming a planet Theory: asteroids are remnants of several planets that collided and broke apart

Moons The moon is considered a natural satallite that orbits Earth. All moons are held in their orbits by the gravitational attraction of their planets. Some moons have atmospheres surrounding them One moon actually has an active volcanoes and another has geysers!

12/4 Comets and Meteors

Comets A comet is a small, orbiting body made of dust, ice and frozen gases. The solid center is called its nucleus Comets orbit the Sun When a comet approaches the Sun gas and dust are released: (Coma)

Comets Some comets make one complete trip around the Sun in fewer than 200 years. Halley’s comet: is a short period comet that orbits the Sun about once every 76 years. It will appear again in 2061

Comets Long Period Comets: Some comets orbits extend beyond Pluto As many as a trillion comets may exist in this region. These comets take up to 30 million years to orbit the Sun Hale-Bopp identified in 1995 takes nearly 2,500 years to orbit the Sun.

Meteors Have you ever seen a shooting star? Shooting stars are actually meteors! A meteor is a streak if light caused by a chunk of matter that enters Earth’s atmosphere and is heated by friction with the air.

Meteors These chunks of matter are called Meteoroids. These meteoroids burn as they fall and appear as streaks of light against the night.

Meteors Meteor Showers: can last a few hours or days. An average of 50 meteors can be seen an hour. When the falling rocks hit the ground they are called meteorites. Most meteorites are believed to come from the asteroid belt.

Meteors Impact Craters: These are formed when meteorites hit the ground. They are bowl shaped depressions Barringer Crater is a famous one created in Arizona about 20,000- 50,000 years ago.

12/5 Solar System Display

Solar System Display We will be creating a display of all of the planets. Use your science notes to write two interesting facts about each planet.