Standard of Learning 6.8

6.8 The student will investigate and understand the organization of the solar system and the interactions among the various bodies that comprise it. Key concepts include a) the sun, moon, Earth, other planets and their moons, dwarf planets, meteors, asteroids, and comets; b) relative size of and distance between planets; c) the role of gravity; d) revolution and rotation; e) the mechanics of day and night and the phases of the moon; f) the unique properties of Earth as a planet; g) the relationship of Earth’s tilt and the seasons; h) the cause of tides; and i) the history and technology of space exploration. Standard of Learning 6.8

Essential Knowledge The solar system consists of the sun, moon, Earth, other planets and their moons, meteors, asteroids, and comets. Each body has its own characteristics and features. The distance between planets and sizes of the planets vary greatly. The outer, “gas” planets are very large, and the four inner planets are comparatively small and rocky. Gravity is a force that keeps the planets in motion around the sun. Gravity acts everywhere in the universe. Planets revolve around the sun, and moons revolve around planets. A planet rotates upon an axis. A dwarf planet revolves around the sun, and can maintain a nearly round shape as planets do, but it cannot move other objects away from its orbital neighborhood

Interactive Textbook: Chapter 14 Review Movement of objects in the Sky: Stars are stationary and appear to move only due to Earth’s movement Planets move in orbital paths around the Sun Moons move in orbital paths around planets Earth’s moon revolves around Earth approximately every 27 Days. Earth revolves around the sun every days of one year.

Chapter 14 Review Cont.  Earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours (day)  Earth’s Axis is tilted at an angle of 23.5°  This tilt is the reason we have seasons.  Earth rotates east to west which causes objects in the sky to appear to move west to east.  Gravity and inertia keep the earth in orbit around the Sun and the moon in orbit around the Earth.  Gravity depends upon the mass of the objects and the distance between them.

Earth Special Characteristics What causes our day and night, our year? What makes Earth so different from the other planets? How does Earth have seasons? o Earth’s rotation on it axis gives us day and night. Earth’s revolution around the sun gives us our year. o Earth is different because it has liquid water. o Earth is tilted on its axis and it is always tilted toward the north star (polaris) in the little dipper constellation.

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Seasons on Earth The Earth has seasons because the axis is tilted at 23.5⁰. When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun it has summer and the Southern hemisphere has winter. navigation/visualization.cfm navigation/visualization.cfm

Seasons: Solstices and Equinoxes SummerSolstice: Late JuneNorthern Hemispheres FallEquinox: Late SeptemberEqual/ north and south WinterSolstice: Late DecemberSouthern Hemisphere SpringEquinox: Late MarchEqual/ North and South

Earth’s Moon  How did it form?  It is believed that the moon formed when a large asteroid hit Earth and broke off a large piece that became caught in Earth’s gravitational field and became our moon.  How does it affect Tides?  Phases of the moon and how they occur?

Earth’s Moon Earth’s Moon revolves around the earth every 27.3 days. It rotates on it’s own axis at about the same rate. For this reason, the same side of the moon faces the earth all of the time. The phases of the moon are determined by the amount of the sunlit side that can be seen from earth. The moon’s gravity affects the water on earth by causing tides.

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Why did we go to the moon? President John F. Kennedy

The Goal is set… We Did it!! “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” President John F. Kennedy

THE SCIENTISTS THE GREEKS: the believed the earth was the center of the solar system. Geocentric system. PTOLEMY: AD 140; Believed that the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn all revolved around the earth. He believed that the planets moved in little circles and those traveled in larger circles. COPERNICUS: he changed the earlier beliefs by claiming the sun was the center.

The Scientists GALILEO: : He still believed like the early Greeks. He observed the phases of Venus and changed his belief.. Tacho Brahe was a mathematician. Johannes Kepler used his calculations to prove the Sun Centric system and he said the planets orbit in ellipses. Sir Isaac Newton: used his theories of gravity and inertia to prove how planets remain in orbit.

The beginning:  The Chinese made the first rockets.  Russian: Tsiolkovsky and American: Robert Goddard made the first modern rockets.  After world War II: German Wernher von Braun came to America and helped develop rockets for the American space program.  The Russian Satelite Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite.  The US then launched their own satelite Explorer 1 in 1958  1961: Russian: Yuri Gregarin was the first human in space  1962: American John Glen orbited Earth in Friendship 7

The beginning of NASA had these main missions and the Goals Mercury Missions: Orbital Flight Gemini Missions: Lunar Landing Apollo Mission: Man and exploration of the moon Space Shuttles: Build a space station in orbit around earth, satellite deployment, repair and recovery.

Other Space objects: Space Stations: a Large artificial satellite where people can live and work for long periods. Mir: First Russian space station Skylab: First American Space station International Space station: Currently in use by many countries. Space probes: Spacecraft that carries instruments but no human crew. Rovers (land on the surface and move around) Landers (just land and take pictures and samples) Orbiters (orbit and take pictures)

Our Solar System Sun the center of the solar system: The sun is a star. Mercury- Planet closest to the sun Venus- second planet from the sun Earth-third Planet from the sun Mars –fourth These four planets are known as the terrestrial planets.

Other Space objects Asteroids: Distance from the sun and Geological makeup. Describe the Asteroid Belt and Kuiper Belt. Comets: Description of the Oort Cloud, How comets form, travel and change as they go around the sun. Meteors: Describe the difference between meteors and meteoroids and meteorites. Where do they come from? The Sun. Age, Distance to earth, Composition, Surface temperature.

The Gas giants Jupiter: follows Mars and is a gas planet Saturn: is after Jupiter and is also a gas planet, it has the most visible rings. Uranus: is also a gas planet Neptune is the last planet in the solar system and is also a gas planet. Pluto was designated a dwarf planet last year. It is mostly rock and ice. Remember: my very eager mother just served us nine pizza’s: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.

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