STAAR Need to Know 1 STAAR Reporting Category 3 Earth and Space Middle School Science Science STAAR Need to Know

STAAR Need to Know 2 Eclipses

3 Solar eclipse When the moon is aligned so that its shadow falls on Earth’s surface, the sun’s light is blocked from reaching part of the Earth. Called solar eclipse because it’s the sun that is being blocked from our view.

STAAR Need to Know 4 A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the moon. This puts the moon in Earth’s shadow. Lunar Eclipse

STAAR Need to Know 5 Moon phase diagram

STAAR Need to Know 6 4 main Phases of the Moon

LUNAR CYCLE STAAR Need to Know 7

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9 Moon’s Revolution & Rotation

STAAR Need to Know 10 Seasons Have you ever noticed that the sun travels lower across the sky in winter than in summer? This is because Earth is tilted on its axis at a 23.5 o angle. During winter part of Earth tilts away from the sun. This causes the sun’s rays to strike that part of Earth at a lower angle than in the summer.

EARTH’S REVOLUTION It takes 365 ¼ days for Earth to complete 1 revolution around the sun STAAR Need to Know 11

STAAR Need to Know 12 Seasons- Remember it’s the TILT of the Earth that causes the seasons

STAAR Need to Know 13 Winter Solstice- shortest day of the year Days are shorter & nights are longer during winter. This occurs in December in the Northern Hemisphere & in June in the Southern Hemisphere. Each hemisphere receives less sunlight & therefore less heat energy during the winter. This is why temperatures are colder during winter.

STAAR Need to Know 14 Summer Solstice- longest day of the year This occurs in June in the Northern Hemisphere and in December in the Southern Hemisphere. Earth’s revolution around the sun causes part of the Earth to tilt toward the sun at different times of the year. This causes that part of the Earth to receive more sunlight at a more direct angle. This is why days are longer and nights are shorter.

STAAR Need to Know 15 Equinox Equinox- means “Equal Night” Daytime lasts exactly as long as nighttime on the first day of autumn – the Autumnal Equinox (about September 21) and the first day of spring - the Vernal Equinox (about March 21).

TYPES OF TELESCOPES TelescopesType of RadiationSources of RadiationSome Uses OpticalVisible lightStars, planets, moons To study the size, composition, & movement of starts & galaxies RadioRadio waves Galaxies, stars, black holes To find black holes & map galaxies UltravioletUltraviolet light Distant stars, clouds of dust & gas To map sources & analyze their composition InfraredInfrared lightStars & galaxies To study planets around other stars X-Ray Hot gases & exploding stars To study gas clouds between galaxies STAAR Need to Know 16

DISTANCES & PROPERTIES IN THE UNIVERSE STAAR Need to Know 17

DISTANCES & PROPERTIES IN THE UNIVERSE STAAR Need to Know 18 Red Shift: moving away & Blue Shift: coming closer

STAAR Need to Know 19 Galaxies are groups of millions or billions of stars. The galaxy we live in is the Milky Way galaxy and has over 100 billion stars. It would take 100,000 light years to travel across it!

STAAR Need to Know ,000,000 meters per second is the same as 300,000 kilometers per second. That’s the Speed of Light!

STAAR Need to Know 21

STAAR Need to Know 22 8 Planets 8 Planets

STAAR Need to Know 23 The Sun is a Star Our sun is a medium-size yellow star. It is 4.6 billion years old. In the sun, hydrogen undergoes nuclear fusion, a process that releases vast amounts of energy. During fusion hydrogen atoms join to form helium atoms. Hydrogen fusion is the source of light, heat, and other radiation from the sun.

STAAR Need to Know 24 The Sun & Gravity

THE BIG BANG THEORY The most widely accepted theory for the formation of the universe. The most widely accepted theory for the formation of the universe. It states that all matter & energy were once packed into a tiny particles smaller than speck of dust. It states that all matter & energy were once packed into a tiny particles smaller than speck of dust. This particle was incredibly hot & dense which suddenly began to expand. This particle was incredibly hot & dense which suddenly began to expand. Overtime universe cooled & continued to expand. Overtime universe cooled & continued to expand. Evidence suggest that big bang took place about 13.7 billions years ago. Evidence suggest that big bang took place about 13.7 billions years ago. STAAR Need to Know 25

STAAR Need to Know 26 Comets Comets are made of various solids (like dirt & dust) and ice crystals. When their orbits take them close to the sun, dust and ice heat up to produce a “tail” behind the comet. Larger comets may even become visible without the aid of a telescope.

STAAR Need to Know 27 Asteroids Asteroids are rocky and usually follow regular orbits around the sun. Asteroid belt- the area between Mars and Jupiter that contains many asteroids orbiting the sun.

STAAR Need to Know 28 Nebulae Nebulae are huge clouds of dust and gas. Some scientists think that our solar system was formed from nebula.

LIFE CYCLE OF A STAR Nebula Nuclear Fusion Protostar Main Sequence Red Giant White Dwarf Supernova Neutron Star Black Dwarf Black Hole STAAR Need to Know 29

STAAR Need to Know 30 Closest star to Earth (besides the Sun) Proxima Centauri is the nearest star to our Solar System. Traveling at the speed of light, it would take about 4 years & 3 months to reach it from Earth. (That makes it about 280,000 times farther away from Earth than our sun!)

STAAR Need to Know 31 H-R Diagram In the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram each star is represented by a dot. Stars are plotted by their luminosity (brightness) and surface temperature.