Thinking About Science Series Our Solar System Our Solar System Written by Rebecca Stark Illustrated by Karen Birchak
Books by Rebecca Stark: Creative Ventures Series Ancient Civilizations The Future The Media Mysteries and UFO s Discovering Maps and Globes Figurative Language From the First Day of School to the Last Series September October November December January February March April May and June I ve Got Another Idea Not Just Openers - Ologies Series Anthropology Archaeology Mythology Psychology Our Environment he Middle Ages Native American Cultures Weather Solving Logic Mysteries Story Elements Thinking about Science Series The Human Body Our Ever-Changing Earth Ecology Our Solar System What Would You Do? The purchase of this book entitles the buyer to exclusive reproduction rights of the student activity pages for his or her class only. The reproduction of any part of the work for an entire school or school system or for commercial use is prohibited. ISBN 978-1-56644-050-9 2000 Educational Impressions, Inc. Revised 2008 Printed in the U.S.A. EDUCATIONAL IMPRESSIONS, INC. Hawthorne, New Jersey 07507
Table of Contents TO THE TEACHER...5 OUR SOLAR SYSTEM...7 10 Our Solar System: What Is It?...7 Ancient Views...8 Astronomical Match-up...9 Create an Astronomy Time Line...10 THE SUN: JUST AN AVERAGE STAR!...11 12 THE PLANETS...13 25 About the Planets...13 15 Mercury...16 Venus...17 Earth...18 19 Mars...20 Jupiter...21 Saturn...22 Uranus...23 Neptune...24 Pluto: A Dwarf Planet...25 OUR MOON...26 30 About Our Moon...26 27 A One-sided Point of View...28 Tides...29 Historic Words...30 ASTEROIDS...31 COMETS...32 METEOROIDS, METEORS, AND METEORITES...33 THE MILKY WAY...34 CRITICAL- AND CREATIVE-THINKING ACTIVITIES...35 43 Exploring Space (Scrambled Answers)...35 Planetary Syllogisms...36 37 Create Math Problems...38 What s the Question?...39 41 Solar System Crossword Puzzle...42 ANSWERS AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION...43 47 BIBLIOGRAPHY...48 Our Solar System 3
Venus Venus is the second planet from the sun. It is one of the four inner planets, called the terrestrial planets. Venus has about the same diameter, mass, and rock composition as Earth; however, Venus has no plate tectonics. Temperatures on the surface of Venus are much, much higher than those on Earth. They are even higher than temperatures on the daytime side of Mercury, which is closer to the sun! Temperatures on Venus reach 900 F (480 C). The extremely high temperatures are because of it has a very dense atmosphere. Because Venus is tilted on its axis at a 177.3 angle, (Earth is tilted at 23.45 ), the planet rotates in a backward direction compared to Earth and the other planets. Activities Use a Venn diagram to chart the similarities and differences between Earth and Venus. Use the greenhouse effect to explain the very high surface temperatures on Venus. Define plate tectonics. Review the list of rotation times and revolution times on the Planets Fact Sheet. In what way is Venus unique? On Earth the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Explain why it is opposite on Venus. Judge the choice of the name Venus for this planet. Our Solar System 17
Earth The third planet from the sun and to those of us who live here, the most important planet in the solar system is Earth! To the best of our knowledge, it is, in fact, the only planet that has life. Earth is one of the terrestrial planets. In fact, the term terrestrial comes from the Latin terra, meaning earth. Like the other terrestrial planets, Earth has different layers of rocky materials. The top layer, or crust, is very thin. Most of the internal activity occurs in the next layer down, called the mantle, which is 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) thick. Beneath the mantle is a liquid core and then an inner, solid core. More than seventy percent of Earth s surface is covered with water. Earth s solid outer layer, the lithosphere, comprises the crust and the very top part of the mantle. It is divided into twelve large, rigid plates. All the plates contain a continent and a segment of ocean floor with the exception of the Pacific plate, which has no continent. The plates drift. When they collide or move apart, earthquakes or volcanoes may occur. Earth has one satellite, or moon, orbiting it. Although Earth s moon is smaller than Earth about one quarter its size it is large enough to cause some astronomers to consider Earth and its moon a double planet. Activities Pretend that you are an astronaut. Describe in a letter to your family how Earth appeared from space. Demonstrate with a globe and a flashlight how the tilt of Earth s axis causes the seasons. Make a cutaway drawing of Earth. Show the crust, mantle, and core. Find out what is meant by Pangaea. Draw a picture that shows why Earth is unique in the solar system. 18 Our Solar System
What a Planet! When Voyager space probes were launched in 1977, scientists attached gold-coated photograph records to them. This was done because of the very remote possibility that an extraterrestrial civilization would ever recover them. Included are encoded pictures of Earth and human beings, greetings in 54 languages, sounds of Earth, and several musical selections. Write a description of Earth from the point of view of an extraterrestrial being who has decoded the phonograph recording. A Planet Called Earth Our Solar System 19