1. Today’s Objectives 1. Collect HW 2. Question of the Day 3. Inner Planets Activity 3. Discussion on Observing the Solar System Part 2 4. The Universe: The Inner Planets

2. Question of the Day 4/28/10 If the sun makes up 99.8% of the solar system and the more massive an object is the more gravity it has, why aren’t Mercury and Venus pulled into the sun? The Law of Universal Gravitation states that all objects in the universe have a gravitational attraction towards each other. Therefore, the other planets’ gravity would be acting on Mercury and Venus in the opposite direction to prevent them from being pulled into the sun.

3. Get HW out but do not turn it in. On your paper, write down as many facts about the planets as you can. Today’s Schedule 1. Go over HW 2. The Planets 3. Planet Packet Activity

4. What do you know about the planets?

5. Olympus Mons Olympus Mons is the largest Volcanic mountain in the Solar System. It is 600 km across and 27 km high! And you thought Mount Everest was tall!

6. Saturn That Saturn has such a low density that it would float if put in water!

7. Space Volcanoes That some volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io eject material at speeds of up to 1km/second! This is about 20 times faster than the volcanoes here on Earth!

8. The Great Red Spot The Great Red Spot. This is a huge, high storm that has been swirling around Jupiter for hundreds of years. It’s easily visible from telescopes here on Earth, and even in larger backyard telescopes. Great Red SpottelescopesEarth

9. Poor Pluto Pluto which is a dwarf planet takes 248 years to orbit the sun.

10. Planets Packet Objective: To discover new information about the planets using books and the internet. Packet is due on Friday, Dec. 10. Solar System, Solar System Information, Facts, News, Photos -- National GeographicSolar System, Solar System Information, Facts, News, Photos -- National Geographic The Solar System - Astronomy For Kids - KidsAstronomy.comThe Solar System - Astronomy For Kids - KidsAstronomy.com

12. The Inner Planets 4 Planets closest to the sun. Terrestrial planets- Small, dense, and have rocky surfaces like Earth

13. The Inner Planets Mercury Planet closest to the sun. About the size of our moon. Heavily cratered surface. Virtually no atmosphere 430 degrees C at day, -170 degrees C at night

14. The Inner Planets Venus The inner planets, Mercury and Venus The inner planets, Mercury and Venus “Earth’s Twin” size and mass are similar A day is longer than a year Sun rises in the west & sets in the east. Atmospheric pressure is 90 times greater than Earth’s Hottest planet- 460 degrees C. Melt lead

15. The Inner Planets Earth Only planet to have liquid water at the surface. Only planet to have an atmosphere rich in oxygen. Only planet that life has been discovered on.

16. The Inner Planets Mars Polar Ice Cap “red planet” made up of iron rich rocks Atmosphere = 95% carbon dioxide -140 degrees C to 20 degrees C. Scientists think liquid water once flowed over the surface The universe: (S1): 2- Mars, the red planet The universe: (S1): 2- Mars, the red planet

17. The Outer Planets The 4 planets farthest from the sun. Much larger more massive than the inner planets. They do not have solid surfaces “Gas Giants”

18. The Outer Planets All gas giants have moons. All gas giants have rings. If they are made of gas why doesn’t the gas drift into space?

19. Jupiter The largest and most massive planet. Great Red Spot- Storm larger than the entire Earth. Dozens of moons. The universe: (S1): 4- Jupiter, the giant planet

20. Saturn Second largest planet. Gives off more energy than it receives from the sun. Avg. density is less than water. Ice and rock make up Saturn’s rings.

21. Uranus (Yoor uh nus) 1. Methane gas in the atmosphere 2. 90 degree tilt caused by massive collision. 3. At least 25 moons

22. Neptune Cold, blue planet Slowly shrinking Clouds and storms that come and go outer planets - Google Video The universe: (S1): 11- The outer planets

23. Pluto the Outcast Only outer “planet” to have a solid surface. Smallest Planet (Smaller than our moon) Pluto’s moon, Charon, is about half the size of Pluto. Its lack of size have led many scientists to question if it should really be considered a planet.

24. Planet Acronym M V E M J S U N P y e x o u e s I i r c t s n n z y e h t t e z l e a l r s e n t Hulu - The Universe: Mercury and Venus - The Inner Planets - Watch the full episode now.

25. The Inner Planets inner planets - Google Video

26. Today’s Objectives 4/30/10 1. Question of the Day 2. Solar System Activity 3. Continue Research on Projects

27. Question of the Day Observe the image below. What happened to Pluto in 1989? Pluto and Neptune’s orbit crossed paths and Neptune became the furthest planet from the sun.

28. Solar System Activity Solar System Activity WS 1.Identify each planet. Describe the planet’s size, rotation, revolution, number of moons, and atmosphere. 2.Accurately color the planets and the sun. Add any characteristics to a planet such as moons or rings. 3.Answer the questions on the back of the sheet and fill in the charts. Solar System Activity PPT 1. Create a 9 slide PPT presentation. Start with the planet closest to the Sun. On each slide you need a picture of the planet. Describe the planet’s size, rotation, revolution, distance from the sun, number of moons, and atmosphere. 2. Create an additional 4 slides in which you answer the questions on the back of the WS.

29. Earth Earth is the 3 rd planet from the sun and the 5 th largest planet. A rotation takes 24 hours and a revolution is 365 days. Earth has 1 moon and the atmosphere is 79% Nitrogen and 20% Oxygen. Its avg. distance from the sun is 93 million miles

30. Outer Planets Activity 1. You will work in a group of 3 people. 2. Assignments: writer, internet researcher, book researcher. 3. There are 6 stations. One for each outer planet and one for the moons of the outer planet. 4. Your group will start at one station and will have 1-2 min. to list 3 facts about that planet. 5. After the time is up all groups will rotate to the next station. 6. A point will be awarded for each correct fact that your group writes.