BR: 1/23/17 Which of the five themes does The Lorax video seem to emphasize the most? Defend your answer! What would be your second choice? Why?

World Geography Ch. 1.2 The Earth in Space

The Lorax Review What do you think was Dr. Seuss’ purpose in creating the book The Lorax? Do you agree with his message, or not? Explain why: What lessons did you take away from watching the book adaptation? Reminder: If you were gone on Friday, grab the notes labeled: 1.20 Ch. 1.15: Geography Skills Handbook

The Solar System Main Idea: The Earth is one of 8 total planets in our solar “neighborhood”.

The Solar System The Earth we live on depends on the sun, or the star at the center of our solar system, for warmth and light. Along with the 7 other planets that join Earth (i.e., Mars, Jupiter, Venus, etc.), these celestial bodies form what we call the solar system. There are two different categories of planets in our solar system; major planets, and minor ones. The major planets are the larger ones, and the minor are smaller. Solar System Model. Turn & discuss #3 with a neighbor The inner 4 planets are much smaller than the outer 4, as shown:

Movement Each planet follows a path, or orbit, around the sun. These orbits range from being elliptical, or oval-shaped, to being circular, like a circle. Some move more quickly than others as well. Mercury only takes 88 Earth-days to complete its orbit, whereas Neptune takes about 165 Earth-years to go all the way around. Speed Comparison The Earth takes 365.25 days to make one revolution, or to start and then finish its path around the sun, ending where it started. We call this a year. We also make up the .25 day every four years as a leap year, with one additional day.

Earth’s Movement As the Earth circles the sun it also rotates, or spins on its axis. The axis is an imaginary line that goes all the way through the earth, and it could be imagined as having poked out either end as both the North and South Poles. This rotation takes 24 hours, and as it spins, different sides are exposed to sunlight, or left in the Earth’s shadow. This is where day and night come from. Day & Night & Seasons So why don’t we feel that movement? Its because gravity keeps the atmosphere, us, water, and everything else on the Earth’s surface, and so it looks like, to us, that the stars, sun, etc., are the things that are spinning around…but it’s actually us!

There are 4 days that are especially significant regarding the Earth’s position relative to the sun (these are for the Northern Hemisphere) June 21: the Summer Solstice. Sun hits directly at the Tropic of Cancer Dec. 22: the Winter Solstice. Sun hits directly at the Tropic of Capricorn March 21: The Spring Equinox. Sun hits equator directly; Spring begins Sept. 23: The Fall Equinox. Sun hits equator directly; Fall begins Seasons VID

Effects of Latitude One place that latitude affects Earth is in the Tropics, which is the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. These low latitude areas is where sunlight most directly hits the earth, and thus the temperatures in these areas tend to be more steady and warmer. Meanwhile, in the high latitude areas, like near the North or South poles, the suns rays hit the Earth most indirectly. Temperatures are always cooler here, leading to these areas to always be frozen, and they are known as the Polar Regions / Arctic / Antarctic Circles Between the Polar Regions / Circles and the Tropics is the Temperate Zone, or the Mid Latitudes; these areas, depending on the time of year, get differing ranges of sunlight, and so they suffer the greatest variances of temperature, weather, etc.

HW Reminders: Turn in your Lorax Video Worksheet if you haven’t already. Finish your Guided Notes on the Geography Skills Handbook, which we worked on Friday (if you aren’t already done) Start working on your 1 of 5 Themes Presentation (Due: Next Monday). See assignment for more details. We will use class time on Wednesday to work on projects, as well as a bit on Friday. We will also be reviewing the previous chapter (Wednesday), and taking a quiz (on Friday) for Ch. 1.