Author: Tina Griep Understanding Science Series Our Copyright 2007 New Learning Publishing All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act, no portion of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher other than is necessary for classroom use. Printed in the United States of America PRODUCT #: NLP9743 2008 New Learning Publishing 2
Abstract The following unit was developed to discover the five states of matter. Upon completion of this unit students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the five states of matter. The contents of this unit cover National Science Standards researched and located at http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/6d.html. Earth and Space Science CONTENT STANDARD D: As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of Earth in the solar system Each section devoted on a specific area of the solar system and is followed by a quiz on material covered. Each quiz is developed with the section reading in mind in order to gauge student s reading comprehension. Student learning enhancement is brought to this unit through the use of a crossword puzzle, word search, research-writing project, model building project, and technology interaction. Technology plays an important part in this unit through the use of Website links to further student comprehension. (Please be advised that if your computer programs display misspelled or incorrectly spelled words the reason for this is because of scientific terminology, spelling of foreign names, and terminology in the naming of solar bodies.) 2008 New Learning Publishing 3
Table of Contents Subject Page Numbers Abstract and Table of Contents 3 4 History and Developments in Astronomy 5 7 Sciences used in studying Planets 7 8 Quiz #1 9 10 What is a Classical Planet and what is not? 11 12 Quiz #2 13 Universes/Galaxies/s 14 15 The Sun 16 20 Quiz #3 21 22 Make your own Sundial 23 Mercury 24 26 Quiz #4 27 Venus 28 32 Quiz #5 33 34 Greenhouse Effect Writing Assignment 35 The Earth 36 40 Quiz #6 41 43 The Moon 44 47 Lunar Landing Writing Assignment 48 Mars 49 52 Quiz #7 53 Jupiter 54 59 Quiz #8 60 Saturn 61 65 Quiz #9 66 Uranus 67 70 Quiz #10 71 Neptune 72 75 Quiz #11 76 Pluto 77 79 Quiz #12 80 Vocabulary List 81 85 Vocabulary Builder and Clues #1 86 88 Vocabulary Builder and Clues #2 89 91 Word Search and Word List 92 93 Make your own Model of the 94 96 Websites and References 97 Answer Keys 98 113 Internet Usage Log and Grading Rubrics 114 166 2008 New Learning Publishing 4
History and Developments in Astronomy The study of the solar system and space is known as Astronomy. Modern planetary science originated during the Copernican revolution in the 15 th and 16 th centuries. The astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus from Poland and the philosopher from Italy Galileo were the first to demonstrate that the Earth was not the center of the universe and that our planet followed an orbit around the Sun as well as the other planets of our solar system. Today the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that was founded in 1919 maintains a mission to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation. The IAU is members that are professional astronomers that have reached the PhD (Doctorate level of education) or above and their members are located worldwide. Their members are active in both research and education in the field of Astronomy. Copernicus Galileo Up until there were technological advances enough to ensure safety to scientists the study of the Sun was impossible. The main invention that allowed scientist to begin studying the Sun was the telescope. With the use of the telescope Astronomers could study the Sun indirectly. To view some of the astronomical plates (drawings) from the era where astronomy began visit this site http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/cellarius/cellarius_plates.htm#top. This possibly could be the type of telescope that Galileo used in 1609 to begin the science of Astronomy. With a small telescope like this one he was able to see the topography (the features on the surface of an area of land) of the moon, he was also able to make out a ribbon of light across the sky that was later defined as the Milky Way Galaxy. 2008 New Learning Publishing 5
The telescope that NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) utilizes today to study our universe is the Hubble Space telescope. This telescope was named after the first American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble and is the world s first space-based optical telescope. Another technological advancement as the development of spectroscopy and the discovery of elementary particles and nuclear fusion that are used especially to determine the chemical composition of substances and the physical properties of atoms, ions, and molecules that make up the Sun. Atoms are the smallest portions into which an element can be divided and still retain its properties. Atoms are composed of protons that have a positive (+) charge, neutrons that have neither a positive charge or negative charge therefore they are neutral, and electrons that have a negative (-) charge. The protons and neutrons are located very tightly packed together and the electrons circle in an orbit or cloud structure around the protons and neutrons. This is an example of the structure of an atom. Molecules are smallest physical unit of a substance that can exist independently, consisting of one or more atoms held together by chemical forces. This is an example of the structure of a water molecule. As you can see it is composed of two atoms (elements), one of Oxygen and two atoms of Hydrogen. An Ion is an atom or group of atoms that has acquired an electric charge. An electric charge can either be positive (+) or negative (-). Spectroscopy is a division of physics that studies the distribution of a characteristic (a feature or quality that makes something recognizable) of a physical system, the universe, in reference to the distribution of energy given off by a radiant source that is arranged in order of wavelengths. 2008 New Learning Publishing 6
It is also studies the distribution of atomic or subatomic particle in a system that is arranged in order of masses. Mass in science is understood as the property of an object that is a measure of its inertia, the amount of matter it contains, and its influence in a gravitational field. These developments encouraged revolutionary scientific discoveries. The last development was the invention of artificial satellites along with other spacecraft that finally allowed scientists to study the Sun from space. By utilizing these advancements scientists are allowed a full view of all of the emitted radiation of the Sun along with on going study. If we didn t have astronomy, then we d probably not have any kind of scientific inquiry, and then innovation and discovery would have been stifled, so we d probably not have any modern technology such as electricity, phones, television, cars, and modern hospitals. Sciences used in studying Planets The galaxy in which we find Earth and its corresponding Planets and Stars is known as the Milky Way. The Milky Way is just one of the 100 billion galaxies within the observable universe. There are several types of sciences that are utilized in the study of our. Scientists utilize physics, chemistry, geology and biology. Physics is one of the major sciences that deal with the essential elements of the universe and the forces they exert on one another and the results produced by these forces. Chemistry is the science that studies the composition, structure, properties, and interactions of matter. Matter is science is a general term that is applied to anything that has the property of occupying space and the attributes of gravity and 2008 New Learning Publishing 7