Solar System Quiz #1

Roadrunner's Dance Quiz #1

Earth and Sun Quiz #1

Changes Caused by Weather Quiz #1

Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning Quiz #1

Stars and Constellations

• star-sphere of hot gasses gives off light and heat
• only star you can see in daytime is the sun
• sun is average size star, closest star to earth

 

• cooler stars are red or orange, hotter stars are white or blue
• sun is 5 billion years old
• light year-distance light travels in 1 year (10 trillion km)
• a star you see today may have stopped glowing many years ago, but the light is still traveling to earth
• galaxies-stars found in large groups
• our galaxy is the Milky Way

 

• many galaxies may be undiscovered
• our closest neighbor galaxy is Andromeda
• constellation-group of stars that make a pattern in the sky
• some stars and constellations only appear in the northern or southern hemisphere of earth, it depends on where you look at the constellation from on earth
• as the earth travel in it's orbit, you see different constellations
• before clocks and satellites, farmers used the stars to tell seasons
• the north star is always in the northern sky
• an observatory is a place you can go to watch and study stars
• sun is made of layers also 
• much of the suns energy is released as heat and light
• producers use the sun's energy to make food for themselves and consumers
• sun's heat makes water evaporate (turn into gas or vapor)
• sun drives winds, ocean currents, storms
• sun's light and energy can cause damage to the eyes and skin, even on cloudy days

The Solar System

• The Moon is a satellite, an object that moves in an orbit around a large object
• The Sun has many satellites
• Sun and all objects in it's orbit make up the solar system, the center is the sun

 

• Planets-round objects in space that are satellites of the sun, 8 planets, smaller and cooler than stars, reflect the light of Sun
• Planets circle the sun in an ellipse, flattened circle or oval
• Gravity-attraction between objects
• Inertia-object wants to keep moving in a straight line
• Lenses-curved pieces of glass that are used to see far away
• Telescopes-make far away objects seem closer
• NASA-National Aeronautic and Space Administration, 1960's launched rockets that took astronauts into space

 

• Probe-machine with no people that explores outer space
• Rocky Planets-mostly rock, cores of iron (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars)

 

 

• Mercury-closest to sun, very hot, little water and air, many craters, smallest rocky planet, no moon
• Venus-second closest to sun, thick CO2 atmosphere does not allow heat to escape, very hot, volcanoes, no moon
• Earth-oxygen, liquid water, atmosphere good for life, only planet with life
• Mars-most like Earth, 2 moons, thin atmosphere, inactive volcanoes, frozen ice caps at poles
• Gas giants-planets made mostly of gasses, not solid surfaces, mostly hydrogen and helium, may have rock or ice at core, have rings and many moons

 

 

• Jupiter-largest planet, 63 moons, winds in atmosphere blow in opposite directions, giant "red storm" for 300 years
• Saturn-2nd largest planet, large rings of ice and rock, 34 moons
• Uranus-rotates on it's side, 27 moons, atmosphere gasses give unusual color
• Neptune-winds of 2000km/hr, 13 moons, volcanoes
• Dwarf Planets-small, rock and ice, cross orbits of other planets, pluto
• Comet-mostly ice mixed with rocvk and dust, heats up quickly next to sun leaving a trail of gas and dust

 

• Asteroids-large chunks of rock and metal in space, most betwen Mars and Jupiter

 

• Meteoroids-Asteroids collide and break off into smaller pieces.  
• Meteor-when a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere
• Meteorite-meteor crashes to Earth's surface