Earth--Our Place in the Cosmos - Northern Stars Planetarium and

Northern Stars Planetarium, Fairfield, Maine John T. Meader, [email protected] www.northern-stars.com 207-453-7668 Page 1

Earth: Our Place in the CosmosTeacher’s Guide

This presentation was created to meet curriculum standardsfor grade 3 students throughout Maine, though it also hitsmany standards for grades 4 and 5. The emphasis of thisshow is learning about where Earth is in space, what are thefactors that make it unique and suitable for life, and how itmoves and interacts with nearby objects such as the Sun,Moon, and planets. Students gain an understanding of ourplace in the solar system, the stars and the galaxy.

Show Outline:I. The Sun

a. Its size—apparent and realb. Surface and core temperatures: core fusion as a source of powerc. Apparent motion across the sky—diurnal motion of Earth’s rotation

II. Earth’s Rotationa. Sun’s apparent motion is the same as the starsb. Day and night caused by rotation

III. Constellationsa. Point out several prominent constellations of the current skyb. Not all constellations are visible at once

i. Earth’s revolution around the Sun causes us to see differentconstellations at different times of year

ii. Polar constellations are visible year round—why?IV. Earth’s Revolution around the Sun

a. Revolution is different than rotationb. Earth is tilted 23.5°--how this, combined with revolution, creates

seasonsc. The Moon orbits Earth every 29.5 days—a “moonth” or month.

V. The Moona. Surface features: maria (seas), mountains, and cratersb. Discovering the Moon’s motion through the sky activityc. Discovering the Moon’s phases activityd. Solar eclipse

VI. Solar Systema. How planets move: revolution and rotation—just like Earth!b. Tour the planets: Mercury to Neptune and Plutoids

i. Explore the water cycle when we visit Earth on this tourVII. Our Sun and solar system’s place in the stars and the Milky Way galaxy

a. Seeing the Milky Way in the night skyb. Discovering the Milky Way as seen from outside the galaxyc. Millions of other galaxies, which are all moving away from each other


Study Questions:1. Do the stars rise and set like the Sun?2. Are there constellations in the sky during the daytime?3. What makes day and night?4. Why do we have seasons?5. Why do we see different constellations in the winter than we do in the summer?6. How long does it take Earth to rotate once?7. What’s the difference between rotation and revolution?8. Why does the Sun look bigger than all the other stars?9. Is the Sun on fire?10. How many stars are in our solar system?11. What makes the Sun shine?12. Which planet is the hottest?13. Why is Pluto no longer classified as a planet?14. Earth orbits the Sun. What orbits the Earth?15. What is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot?16. Name four planets that have rings.17. Which planet revolves around the Sun quickest? Why?18. The Curiosity Rover is exploring which planet?19. Why is it that when we see a half moon in the sky, we call it a quarter moon?20. What is the water cycle? What powers the motion of water through this cycle?21. What makes the zodiac constellations unique?22. What is the name of our galaxy?23. Galaxies come in a variety of shapes: spirals, barred spirals, elliptical, and

irregular. What type of galaxy is our Milky Way?24. Do other stars have planets?25. Without a telescope, everything you can see in the night sky is part of the Milky

Way except for one small dot in the constellation of Andromeda. What is this tinydot and why is it so special?

Answers: 1. Yes. 2. Yes there are, but you can’t see them because of the glare of the Sun. 3. The rotationof the Earth—facing the Sun makes day, facing away from the Sun makes night. 4. The seasons are causedby the tilt of the Earth 5.We see different constellations during different seasons because we are onopposite sides of the Sun at different times of the year. 6. 24 hours or 1 day. 7. Rotation is a planetspinning on its axis; revolution is a planet orbiting the Sun. 8. The Sun looks big because it’s the closeststar. 9. No, there is no fire on the Sun. 10. One, the Sun. 11. Thermonuclear fusion in the Sun’s core. 12.Venus has a surface temperature of 900° F. 13. Pluto is part of a large belt of icy objects just beyondNeptune called the Kuiper Belt, many of which are round, just like planets. 14. The Moon. 15. The GreatRed Spot is a giant storm three times the size of Earth. 16. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. 17. Mercury,because planets that are closer to the Sun have shorter orbits and they actually move faster. 18. Mars. 19.Only half the Moon’s surface faces Earth, so when we see half the Moon, it is actually only one fourth ofthe Moon’s entire surface. Also, the Moon is only one-fourth the way around its orbit at this phase. 20.Water evaporates into the atmosphere, condenses into clouds, precipitates as rain or snow, flows over thesurface filling rivers and lakes, and seeps in the ground to maintain groundwater. Eventually it all workstoward the oceans where it evaporates again. The power source is the Sun. 21. The zodiac constellationsare the constellations that the Sun appears to travel through in a year’s time. 22. Milky Way. 23. Barredspiral. 24. Yes, scientists have discovered hundreds of stars that have planets. 25. The AndromedaGalaxy, our nearest large galactic neighbor.


North

South

Sea of Serenity

Sea ofTranquility

Sea ofFertility

Sea of Crises

Sea ofNectar

Sea of Showers

Sea ofClouds

Sea of Humours

Sea of Cold

Sea ofVapoursOc

ean

of S

torm

s

The Southern Sea

Sea of the Margins

Clavius

Tycho

Ptolemaeus

Copernicus

Eratosthenes

Archimedes

Kepler

AristotlePlato

Apen

nine

s Mo

unta

insAlps Caucsus Mtns.

Langrenus

* 1 1

* 1 6

* 1 7

* 1 5

1 2 * * 1 4

The Face of the Moon Maria or Seas: Craters: Mountain

Ranges:Mare Australe The Southern Sea Archimede AlpsMare Crisium The Sea of Crises Aristotle ApenninesMare Fecunditatis The Sea of Fertility Clavius CaucasusMare Frigoris The Sea of Cold CopernicusMare Humorum The Sea of Humors EratosthenesMare Imbrium The Sea of Showers KeplerMare Marginis The Sea of Margins LangrenusMare Nectaris The Sea of Nectar PlatoMare Nubium The Sea of Clouds PtolemaeusOceanus Procellarum The Ocean of StormsMare Serenitatis The Sea of SerenityMare Tranquillitatis The Sea of TranquilityMare Vaporum The Sea of Vapours * Apollo Landing Sites

HumoursSea


Moon PhasesHave your students go out at a specific time (perhaps 6 or 7 pm) for a series of

nights and take note of where the Moon is in the sky and how it has changed. As theywatch the Moon over a series of nights, they should notice two things. First, that theMoon is in a different place each night and secondly, that its apparent shape haschanged. The changes in shape are known as the “phases of the moon.” The diagrambelow will help them to understand what is going on. Remember that only the side ofthe Moon facing the Sun is lit up—the side away from the Sun is dark (night time onthe Moon).

The circles within the orbit show what the Moon looks like from Earth at thatphase. Remember that a “waxing phase” is one that is getting bigger and a “waningphase” is one that is getting smaller.

1. What phase comes after a “first quarter moon”? ______________________________

2. What fruit most commonly resembles a crescent moon? _______________________

3. If the moon is waxing, is its phase getting: BIGGER or SMALLER ?

4. What phase comes just after the full moon? _________________________________

5. What does the Moon look like at the new moon phase? _________________________

6. Is a waning crescent getting: BIGGER or SMALLER ?

7. Which phase of the Moon reflects the most light towards Earth? _________________

8. What is the common unit of time that relates to one full set of phases? _____________


Solar System FactsInner Planets:

Photo Name Diameter Rotation Revolution Temp Gravity Atmosphere Moons Rings ProbesSun 865,000

mi1,395,161km

26 days ------------ Surface:12,000˚F6000˚CCore:27,000,000˚F15,000,000˚C

IonizedHydrogen

None SOHO

Mercury 3,031 mi4,878 km

58 days16 hrs

88 days H: 700˚ F(350˚C)L: -270˚F (-170˚C)

0.38 XEarth

None 0 None Messenger

Venus 7,541 mi12,104km

243 days 224.7 days 900˚F(480˚C)

0.9 XEarth

Carbon Dioxide(CO2)

0 None Pioneer,Venera,Magellan,Galileo

Earth 7,927 mi12,756km

1 day 365.25days

H: 130˚F(58˚C)L: -126˚F (-88˚C)

1 XEarth

Nitrogen (N)Oxygen (O)

1 None

Mars 4,197 mi6,794 km

24 hrs,37 min

1.88 yrs H: 80˚F(27˚C)L: -190˚F (-123˚C)

0.38 XEarth

Carbon Dioxide(CO2)

2 None Viking 1&2,Sojourner,Spirit,Opportunity,Curiosity,Phoenix

Outer Planets:Jupiter 88,733 mi

142,796km

9 hrs,50 min

11.86 yrs Cloud top:-140˚F (-95˚C)

3XEarth

Hydrogen (H)Helium (He)

67 1 Pioneer10&11,Voyager 1&2,Galileo,Juno

Saturn 74,600 mi120,000km

10 hrs,39 min

29.46 yrs Cloud top:-292˚F (-180˚C)

1.32 XEarth


62 1000+ Pioneer10&11,Voyager 1&2,Cassini

Uranus 31,600 mi50,800 km

17 hrs,14 min

84 yrs Cloud top:-346˚F (-210˚C)

0.93 XEarth


27 +/- 12 Voyager 2


Neptune 30,200 mi48,600 km

16 hrs 164.8 yrs Cloud top:-364˚F (-220˚C)

1.23 XEarth


13 +/- 5 Voyager 2

Pluto(dwarfPlanet)

1,900 mi3,000 km

6 days9 hrs

248 yrs -400˚F (-238˚C)

0.03 XEarth

Thin air/icysurface

5 None NewHorizons(2015)

Eris(dwarfPlanet)

? 560 yrs ? Icy surface 1 none

Sedna(dwarfPlanet)

620 mi1000 km

? 11,400 yrs -400˚F (-238˚C)

? ? none

Size of Planets1. Which planet is the largest?2. Which two planets are the closest to being the same size?3. Which planets are smaller than Jupiter’s Great Red Spot?4. If the planets are so big, why do they look small in the night sky?5. Which planets have solid surfaces?6. Why are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune referred to as gas giants?7. What object in our solar system is larger than Jupiter?8. List the planets in order from smallest to largest.


Making A Scale Model of the Solar SystemThis exercise is an excellent way for your students to gain a better understanding of theactual scale of our solar system, in terms of relative sizes, distances, and speeds. Thematerials needed are simple, inexpensive, and easily obtained. The activity is three-fold.First it deals with relative sizes. Secondly, it covers relative distances. And lastly, itdemonstrates relative speeds.Materials Needed: 1 Beach ball (preferably yellow or orange)

1 Set of Play Doh® or some other modeling clay1 String (13 meters or 40 feet long)

Preparation: Take the string and tie a loop about 5 centimeters (2”) in diameter in oneend. This is where you will place the beach ball Sun later on. Then tie an overhand knotat the appropriate distances that each succeeding planet will be from the beach ball Sun.Use the following planet scale information chart to tell you how far away from the Suneach knot should be tied.

Planet/Dwarf Planet Scale Information Chart:Planet Scaled Distance from the Sun Scaled Diameter

Mercury 13 cm (=58 million kilometers) 1.5 mm5 inches (=36 million miles) 1/16 inch

Venus 23 cm (=108 million kilometers) 6 mm9 inches (=67 million miles) 1/4 inch

Earth 31 cm (=150 million kilometers) 6 mm12 inches (=93 million miles) 1/4 inch

Mars 46 cm (=227 million kilometers) 3 mm18 inches (=141 million miles) 1/8 inch

Jupiter 155 cm (=779 million kilometers) 25 mm61 inches (=483 million miles) 1 inch

Saturn 274 cm (=1428 million kilometers) 20 mm108 inches (= 886 million miles) 3/4 inch

Uranus 572 cm (=2974 million kilometers) 14 mm225 inches (=1782 million miles) 1/2 inch

Neptune 889 cm (=4506 million kilometers) 13 mm350 inches (=2794 million miles) 1/2 inch

Pluto 1174 cm (=5913 million kilometers) 1.3 mm462 inches (=3666 million miles) 1/16 inch


Scale Model Solar System Continued....

Part One: Size ScaleHINT: You might want to make two or more model Solar Systems so that every

student can partake.

Assign each student a planet and give them a lump of clay more than big enoughto make their planet. If you are using Play Doh®, you might want to use appropriatecolors (ie. red for Mars, blue for Earth, etc.). Explain that you want them to guess howbig their planet would be if the beach ball were the size of the Sun. It is best not to havethem attempt to make rings for Saturn. Have each student make her planet out of clayaccording to how big she thinks it should be.

Almost always, everyone’s planet will be too big. Once they are done, go throughthe group and change their planets to the correct size. Correcting the students in thisfashion will make the actual size much more impressive. Every student must then beresponsible for not losing her planet. This isn’t necessarily easy, as some planets, likeMercury and Pluto, are only about the size of a grain of sand!

Part Two: Distance ScaleThis part of the model should be done either in the gymnasium, cafeteria, or

outside. In order to make the distance scale workable within a school environment, wefound it best to represent distance on a smaller scale than that used to illustrate size (seethe footnote on the previous page).

Separate your students into their various solar systems (if you have more thanone). Have each student take her clay planet and place it where she thinks theappropriate distance for that planet should be from the beach ball Sun. Once each studenthas placed her planet down where she thinks it belongs, take out the string with theproper distance scale measured out in knots. Then, one at a time, beginning withMercury, have each student move her planet to its proper position. Again, this makes thestudents aware that their perspectives are different from reality. The solar system isprobably much larger than any of them had guessed.

Part Three: Relative MotionNow that your model solar system is laid out properly, have your students pick up

their respective planets. Tell them to try to keep the same distance from the Sun and havethem walk at approximately the same speed around the Sun—in their respective orbits.Which planet goes around the Sun first? Once Mercury makes one revolution, have themall stop and examine how much of their own orbits they have covered compared toMercury’s complete orbit. (In actuality the distance is not the only factor in differentperiod orbits. Inner planets do move faster than outer planets. However, fordemonstration purposes, having the students all walk at about the same speed workswell.)

*The size scale is 1 cm=140,000 km (1”=225,000 miles) while the distance scale is about 32 times smallerwith 1 cm=4,500,000km (1”=7,000,000 miles). We found it best to represent distance on a smaller scalethan used for size. If we maintained the same scale for distance as for size, the string would have been 420meters long rather than 13 meters!


Match GameMatch the planet on the left with the features that go with it on the right.

Mercury Biggest planet

Red planet

Venus Made of ice

Planet with life

Earth Has a big red spot

Closest to the Sun

Mars Has 67 moons

Is tilted on its side

Jupiter Sometimes is fartherfrom the Sun than Pluto

Is the most distant known object in the solar system

SaturnWas hit by CometShoemaker/Levy in 1994

Uranus Rusty planet

These four planetsall have rings

NeptuneIs a dwarf planetas big as Pluto

Pluto 70% covered withwater

Rains acid and is cloudyEris

Is no longer a planet

Has been visited by fourSedna rovers—Sojourner, Spirit,

Opportunity, and Curiosity


Where are You Going When You’re Sitting Still?Have you ever wondered how many ways we

move when we’re sitting perfectly still? Consider this:You are sitting at your school desk, yeah you’rewiggling around a bit, but are you going anywhere?You don’t think so, at least not until that school bellrings. Well, think again.

Let’s start over, you’re sitting at your desk inyour school which is in North America. Did you knowthat the continent of North America is moving west atabout the same speed that your fingernails are growing?That’s about an inch a year. That’s a motion known as

continental drift. Yeah, I hear you, big deal that’s not that impressive. Let’s keep going,North America is part of the planet Earth, which moves in three basic ways. First, itrotates once per day. To rotate all the way around in one day, you and your entire schoolare traveling at about 950 miles per hour (1530 km/hr) towards the east. Secondly, theearth wobbles like a top, but this motion is slow. One wobble takes 26,000 years, so thatshouldn’t make you too dizzy. Thirdly, we revolve around the Sun like a racecar on atrack. It’s a big track called our orbit and it takes a year to make just one lap. Not soimpressive you think, well this track is 584,020,178 miles (939,889,369 km) long—that’sa long way. To accomplish this feat we have to travel 67,000 miles per hour (108,000km/hr).

Next you have to consider that the Sun is also moving. The Sun is part of a galaxycalled the Milky Way, which includes all the stars you can see in the night sky. And allthose stars have relative motions to each other. The Sun is traveling towards the brightstar Vega, which shines brightly in our sky through much of the summer and fall. TheSun (and the Earth along with it) seems anxious to visit Vega as it’s traveling 43,000miles per hour (70,000 km/hr) towards it! But Vega, the Sun and all the other stars we seeare moving together around the spinning Milky Way Galaxy. It takes the Sun about 225million years to make just one trip around the galaxy. How fast do we have to go to makethis trip? 483,000 miles per hour (792,000 km/hr). One revolution around the galaxy isknown as a galactic year. Given that scientists estimate the Earth’s age to be about 4.5billion years—give or take a few, in galactic terms, Earth is only about 20 galactic yearsold!

And as if you weren’t dizzy enough with all these different directions and speeds,the entire Milky Way Galaxy is moving (as are all galaxies) through intergalactic space.The Milky Way is headed in the general direction where you would find theconstellations Leo and Virgo at the incredible speed of 1.3 million miles per hour (2.1million km/hr)! And you thought you were sitting still.

For even more detailed information on these motions visit:http://www.astrosociety.org/edu/publications/tnl/71/howfast.html


Motions:

Motions and Speeds DiagramsContinental Drift

1 inch per year,about the same speed

your fingernails grow.

Earth’s Rotation1 rotation per day

at approx. 950 mph at mid-latitudes.

Earth’s Precession1 wobble every26,000 years.

Earth’s Revolutionaround the Sun

1 revolution per yearat 67,000 mph.


Sun’s Proper MotionWithin the galaxy the Sun is moving

toward the star Vegaat 43,000 mph.

Sun’s Revolutionaround the Milky Way Galaxy

1 revolution every 225 million yearsat 483,000 mph.

Galactic MotionThe Milky Way is moving in the

direction of Virgo and Leoat 1,300,000 mph.

Questions to Ponder when You’re Sitting Still . . .1. How many different directions are you moving in, when you’re sitting still?2. How many motions does the Earth have by itself?3. If the Sun is moving towards the star Vega, do other stars move too?4. Which moves faster, the Earth around the Sun or the Sun around the Milky Way?5. If Earth is wobbling like a top, making one wobble every 26,000 years, then in 13,000

years will the North Star still be directly above the Earth’s north pole?6. The Milky Way is not the only galaxy that moves, they all move and most galaxies are

moving away from each other. Does this imply the universe is getting bigger orsmaller?

7. Why don’t we feel the Earth moving under our feet?8. If Earth suddenly stopped rotating, what would happen?


Word SearchFind these vocabulary words hidden in the word search below.

• BIG DIPPER • CONSTELLATIONS • DAY • EARTH • ECLIPSE •• GALAXY • HORIZON • JUPITER • LIGHT • MARS •

• MILKY WAY • MOON • NEBULA • NIGHT • • ORBIT •• ORION • PLANET • PLANETARIUM • POLARIS •

PRECIPITATION • REVOLUTION • ROTATION • SATURN •• SEASONS • SKY • STAR • SUN • WATER •

S A B M O O N W C U K H I B OE V S T A R E T O R I O N I PA K T P Q U B E N T M Q M G LS G O R K L U I S W O A I D AO A R E V O L U T I O N L I NN L O C A W A T E R G T K P ES A T I D R L S L V E E Y P TE X A P U X T R L I D B W E AC Y T I R T Z H A F G A A R RL S I T J U P I T E R H Y P II A O A W M S Q I P H Y T L UP T N T H G A U O W T Q P A MS U S I D F O R N I G H T N SE R P O L A R I S A A F L E KL N T N E M H O R I Z O N T Y


Useful Astronomy Web Sites

Astronomy Magazine: http://www.astronomy.com/

Astronomical Society of the Pacific: http://astrosociety.org/

International Dark Sky Society: http://www.darksky.org/

Jet Propulsion Lab (info on Space Probes): http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/

Lick Observatory: http://www.ucolick.org/

Mars Curiosity Rover:NASA Site: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.htmlJPL Site: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/rover/

The Nine Planets: (an excellent resource on solar system information)http://nineplanets.org/

The NASA Homepage: http://www.nasa.gov/

Northern Stars Planetarium: http://www.northern-stars.com

Sky and Telescope: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/

Sky Watcher’s Page: http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/SkyWatchersPage/Index.html

Space Telescope Info: http://www.stsci.edu/top.html


Planetarium Program Evaluation

After the Northern Stars Planetarium has visited your class, please take amoment to fill out this evaluation. Your suggestions are very valuable to us!

Mail the completed evaluation to :......................Northern Stars Planetarium 15 Western Ave. Fairfield, Maine 04937

Or email to :................................................…[email protected]

1. Show Name: _______________________________________________2.Group grade/age level:___________

3. Was the material presented at an appropriate level for your class? ___________________________________________________________________

4. Was the amount of material presented: Enough Overwhelming Not Enough

5. Should any parts of the presentation be developed further? __________.If so, which parts?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Was there sufficient time for questions and answers? Yes No

7. Were you studying astronomy or another related subject at the time of theplanetarium’s visit? Yes NoIf so, was the planetarium visit helpful? _____________________________

8. Was the teacher’s guide helpful in preparing your class for theplanetarium visit? Yes NoWhich parts were most helpful? ___________________________________Which parts were least helpful? ___________________________________

9. Did the presenter present the material in a clear and understandablefashion? _______________

10. How would you rate the overall program?________________________

11. (Optional) Your name and school:______________________________

Thank you!

Earth--Our Place in the Cosmos - Northern Stars Planetarium and

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