C:\Fakepath\Earth&Space Standards

Earth and Space Standards

By: Marissa Powers

Recognize that there are enormous distances between objects in space and apply our knowledge of light and space

travel to understand this distance.

Planets Mean Distance From Sun

(millions of miles) Mercury 36.0Venus 67.1Earth 92.9Mars 141.5Jupiter 483.4Saturn 886.7Neptune 1782.7Uranus 2794.3

Recognize that the universe contains many billions of galaxies and that each galaxy contains many billions of stars.

Galaxies are large systems of stars and interstellar matter, typically containing several million to some trillion stars, of masses between several million and several trillion times that of our Sun, of an extension of a few thousands to several 100,000s light years, typically separated by millions of light years distance.

http://seds.org/messier/galaxy.html

Distinguish the hierarchical relationships between planets and other astronomical bodies relative to solar system, galaxy, and universe,

including distance, size, and composition.Our solar system consists of an average star we call the Sun, the planets Mercury,

Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. It includes: the satellites of the planets; numerous comets, asteroids, and meteoroids; and the interplanetary medium.

The Sun's nearest known stellar neighbor is a red dwarf star called Proxima Centauri, at a distance of 4.3 light years away.

Our Solar System lies at the inner edge, in the middle of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. When we look at Orion, we are looking outward through the stars of our own galactic arm (toward Polaris and Betelgeuse) and the Galaxy's edge.  If we look in the opposite direction, out beyond the constellation Sagittarius, we are looking toward the Galactic Centre (26 Sagittarius 57').  The Milky Way Galaxy is part of a set of galaxies known as the Local Group, which includes several dozen different galaxies within 3 million light-years.  This Local Group is part of a super cluster, known as the Virgo super cluster, which has at least 5,000 member galaxies and is roughly 100 million light-years across. Beyond this level of organization, not much is known about our position in the universe. 

The Milky Way has two small galaxies orbiting it nearby, which are visible from the southern hemisphere. They are called the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud. The nearest large galaxy is the Andromeda Galaxy. It is a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way but is 4 times as massive and is 2 million light years away.

http://www.shamballaschool.org/Aquarian/Leo07/Hierarchy%20of%20Space.htm

http://www.solarviews.com/eng/solarsys.htm

Explore the Law of Universal Gravitation by explaining the role that gravity plays in the formation of planets, stars, and solar systems and

in determining their motions.

Gravitation causes dispersed matter to coalesce, thus accounting for the existence of the Earth, the Sun, and most of the macroscopic objects in the universe. It is responsible for keeping the Earth and the other planets in their orbits around the Sun; for keeping the Moon in its orbit around the Earth; for the formation of tides; for convection, by which fluid flow occurs under the influence of a density gradient and gravity; for heating the interiors of forming stars and planets to very high temperatures; and for various other phenomena observed on Earth.

Describe and classify specific physical properties of stars: apparent magnitude (brightness), temperature (color), size, and luminosity

(absolute brightness).

The apparent brightness of a star observed from the Earth is called the apparent magnitude. The apparent magnitude is a measure of the star's flux received by us.

The absolute magnitude is a measure of the star's luminosity---the total amount of energy radiated by the star every second.

The coolest stars will look red, while the hottest stars will appear blue.

http://www.astronomynotes.com/starprop/s4.htm

Create models of solar properties including: rotation, structure of the Sun, convection, sunspots, solar flares, and prominences.

http://s131.cullins.edu.glogster.com/sun-project

Compare and contrast the properties of objects in the Solar System including the Sun, planets, and moons to

those of Earth, such as gravitational force, distance from the Sun, speed, movement, temperature, and atmospheric

conditions.

Mercury-

• Distance from the Sun: 57 million kilometers (36 million miles)

• Atmosphere- Hydrogen, Helium

• Maximum-Minimum Temperature: 465°C (870° F)-184°C -300° F

Venus-

• Distance from the Sun: 107 million kilometers (67 million miles)

• Atmosphere: carbon dioxide, nitrogen

• Maximum-Minimum Temperature: 449°C (850° F)

Earth:

• Distance from the Sun: 150 million kilometers  (93 million miles)

• Atmosphere: nitrogen, oxygen, argon

• Maximum-Minimum Temperature: 7.2°C  (45° F)

Mars:

• Distance from the Sun: 229 million kilometers (142 million miles)

• Atmosphere: carbon dioxide, nitrogen, argon

• Maximum-Minimum Temperature: -123°C (-190° F)

Jupiter:

• Distance from the Sun: 777 million kilometers (483 million miles)

• Atmosphere: hydrogen, helium, methane

• Maximum-Minimum Temperature: -153°C (-244° F)

Saturn:

• Distance from the Sun: 1,429 million kilometers (888 million miles)

• Atmosphere: hydrogen, helium, methane

• Maximum-Minimum Temperature: -184°C (-300° F)

Uranus:

• Distance from the Sun: 2,871 million kilometers (1,784  million miles)

• Atmosphere: hydrogen, helium, methane

• Maximum-Minimum Temperature: -184°C (-300° F)

Neptune:

• Distance from the Sun: 4,496 million kilometers (2,794 million miles)

• Atmosphere: hydrogen, helium, methane

• Maximum-Minimum Temperature: -223°C (-370° F)

Compare various historical models of the Solar System, including geocentric and heliocentric.

Geocentric- From their observations, the Greeks believed the Earth was the center of the moon, Sun, and the only known planets at that time, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. These planets were said to be moving around Earth in a clockwise direction. They believed the Earth was motionless, because no one felt the Earth moving. The stars appeared to move around the Earth daily, further convincing them of this theory, which became known as geocentric or Earth-centered. The Greeks had a basic understanding of geometry and trigonometry, which lead them to conclude that fast moving objects were closer to the Earth than slower moving objects.

Heliocentric- This theory was first proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus. Copernicus was a Polish astronomer. He first published the heliocentric system in his book: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, "On the revolutions of the heavenly bodies," which appeared in 1543. Copernicus died the same year his book was published. After 1,400 years, Copernicus was the first to propose a theory which differed from Ptolemy's geocentric system, according to which the earth is at rest in the center with the rest of the planets revolving around it. The claim that all planets revolve around the sun had been raised in ancient times, but Copernicus was the first to succeed in describing the movements of the planets using an astronomical theory which placed the sun at the center.

Explain the impact of objects in space on each other including:

the Sun on the Earth including seasons and gravitational attraction the Moon on the Earth, including phases, tides, and eclipses, and the relative

position of each body.Seasons are caused by the Earth axis which is tilted by 23.5° with respect

to the ecliptic and due to the fact that the axis is always pointed to the same direction. When the northern axis is pointing to the direction of the Sun, it will be winter in the southern hemisphere and summer in the northern hemisphere. Northern hemisphere will experience summer because the Sun’s ray reached that part of the surface directly and more concentrated hence enabling that area to heat up more quickly. The southern hemisphere will receive the same amount of light ray at a more glancing angle, hence spreading out the light ray therefore is less concentrated and colder. The converse holds true when the Earth southern axis is pointing towards the Sun.

Tides are created because the Earth and the moon are attracted to each other, just like magnets are attracted to each other. The moon tries to pull at anything on the Earth to bring it closer. But, the Earth is able to hold onto everything except the water. Since the water is always moving, the Earth cannot hold onto it, and the moon is able to pull at it. Each day, there are two high tides and two low tides. The ocean is constantly moving from high tide to low tide, and then back to high tide. There is about 12 hours and 25 minutes between the two high tides.

http://www.learn.londonmet.ac.uk/packages/clear/thermal/climate/sun/relationship.htmlhttp://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moontides/

Assess how technology is essential to science for such purposes as access to outer space and other remote locations, sample collection,

measurement, data collection and storage, computation, and communication of information.

Identify and compare characteristics of the electromagnetic spectrum such as wavelength, frequency, use, and hazards and recognize its application to an understanding of planetary images and satellite

photographs.

The electromagnetic spectrum is a continuum of all electromagnetic waves arranged according to frequency and wavelength. The sun, earth, and other bodies radiate electromagnetic energy of varying wavelengths. Electromagnetic energy passes through space at the speed of light in the form of sinusoidal waves. The wavelength is the distance from wave crest to wave crest.

Summarize the effects of space exploration on the economy and culture of Florida.