* Pre-Unit Assessment Solar System 5-PS2-1, MS-ESS1-2, MS-ESS1-3 Reading and Map Solar System Chart Solar System Size Comparison Model Earth, Moon, Sun System K-PS3-1, 1-ESS1-1, 1-ESS1-2 Reading and Diagram Star, Sun, and Gravity 3-PS2-1, 3-PS2-2, 5-PS2-1, 5-ESS1-1, 5-ESS1-2 Star, Sun, and Gravity Reading Star Lifecycle Comic The Moon 1-ESS1-1, 1-ESS1-2 Earth and Moon Environments (Venn Diagram) What Life Needs (I) K-2 ETS1-1 What Life Needs: Brainstorm and Top Ten List Plants Parts We Eat 2-LS2-1, 2-LS2-2, 2-LS4-1 Reading and Brainstorm What Life Needs (II) K-2 ETS1-1, K-2 ETS1-2, K-2 ETS1-3 Designing a Human Habitat on the Moon ** Post-Unit Assessment Poetic Empiricist's Space Trip. 2012
Background Knowledge Inventory : Space Trip 1..) What makes up the Solar System? 2.) What would humans need to live on another planet? 3.) Can humans start to grow plants on the moon? Why or why not? Poetic Empiricist's Space Trip. 2012
Solar System: Mercury is the planet closest to the sun. It is a very small, reddish planet made of rock, those are called terrestrial planets. Mercury has no satellite moons. Mercury is very hot during the day and very cold at night. Temperatures range from -170 C to 350 C (-274 F to 662 F). It will take you almost half a year to get to Mercury from Earth. When you get there check out the huge hole where something large smashed into Mercury. It was such a large collision that the rock on the other side of the planet rippled up like a mountain range. Venus is the second planet from the sun. It's covered in thick clouds of toxic gas that cause the temperatures to rise higher than Mercury at 464 C (867 F)! It would take about four months to reach Venus from Earth. Venus is a terrestrial planet and has humongous volcanoes. Venus has no satellites, but we can see it from Earth as if it were a distant moon. Venus is our closest planetary neighbor, shining a cloudy yellow light. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and you probably remember it's red. Mars has two satellites. It has some of the solar system's largest canyons, dust storms, volcanoes, and tornados. It'd take over 5 months to get to Mars. Mars has a very large temperature range. At night it reaches down to -87 C (-124 F) and days heat to 27 C (80 F). Mars is the last terrestrial planet ; beyond Mars, planets are composed of gas. Jupiter is a gas giant, all the other planets could fit inside of it! Jupiter could have been another sun (star). Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun and it would take over a year and a half to get there from Earth. It is very bright, with bands of creamy white and pinkish-brown. Poetic Empiricist's Space Trip. 2012
Jupiter has an awesome display of satellites. It has over 60 in total, some are very large. The large satellites orbit Jupiter in one direction and the small satellites move in an opposite direction! Jupiter has a ring system that is not as famous as Saturn's, because they're not as easy for our eyes to see. It also has poisonous clouds, raging winds, and ancient storms. The next planet, Saturn, is 6th from the sun. This yellowish colored, gas giant has a few dark stripes and a beautiful ring system. The rings are made of bands of smaller pieces, which change over time. Saturn also has 60 or more orbiting satellites. These moons provide new material to he rings when parts are lost to space. It will take 2 1/2 years to get to Saturn from Earth. The next gas planet, and 7th from the sun, is Uranus. Uranus is a vibrant blue planet rolling on its side. Uranus also has a ring system that is difficult to see, but it has 27 satellite moons. It can take almost 9 years to get to Uranus from Earth. Our solar system's 8th planet is the gas giant Neptune. Neptune is also a pretty blue color. Like the other gas giants, Neptune has a ring system and many satellites. It has 13 satellite moons. The journey to Neptune from Earth will take 12 years one way! Poetic Empiricist's Space Trip. 2012
Terrestrial or Gas Giant Length of Travel (Time) Temperatures Day and Night Satellite (moon) number Highlights of the Planet Mercury Venus Earth Terrestrial Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
Solar System Size Comparison Model Materials/Student: 3 Paper Plates 28" Ribbon 1/2 Sheet Copy of 6 Planets Colored Pencils, Crayons, or Markers Scissors Hole Punch Procedure: - With the first paper plate, move one inch in from edge and punch four (4) holes in a North, South, East, and West direction. In between each of those four (4) holes, make another hole. You should now have eight (8) evenly spaced holes. - Cut out center circle from the second paper plate. This will be Saturn. Color it like Saturn. - The largest planet, Jupiter, will be the size of a whole paper plate. Color the whole third plate like Jupiter. - Color the six (6) other planets on the following sheet before cutting them out. - Carefully punch holes in each of the planets. The hole should be a little bit in from the edge. You may need a different hole maker for the smaller planets Mars and Mercury. (A dull pencil maybe? Careful!) - Cut a 7" piece of ribbon, a 6" piece of ribbon, a 5" piece of ribbon, a 4" piece of ribbon, a 3" piece of ribbon, and a 2" piece of ribbon; you should be left with a 1" piece. - Using your Solar System map, tie the longest ribbon (7") through the hole of the furthest planet from the sun. You will use the 6" ribbon for the second furthest planet. Continue in this way until the closest planet is on the 1" ribbon. Poetic Empiricist's Space Trip. 2012
Earth, Moon, Sun System: Use the underlined words in the paragraph to label the diagram. One = One The The One = One The The Earth, Moon, and Sun are a system that results in day and night and the seasons. The Earth has two motions. First, it orbits or revolves around the sun, which means it travels completely around the sun. For Earth, one orbit around the sun takes 365 days, which is what we call one year. The Earth also rotates on its axis. One rotation around the axis takes 24 hours, or what we call one day. The Earth's axis has changed many times over Earth's history due to impacts and other outside forces. Earth is now on an axis that is tipped on a slight angle. This angle results in the different amounts of daylight the Earth receives throughout the year, the seasons.
Star, Sun, and Gravity: You are connected to stars in the night sky; we all are. The cells of our bodies are made up of elements that have been originally formed in a star. Stars are huge, burning balls of gas. Stars undergo reactions that send out energy in many forms. A star is born from huge clouds of gas and dust, which are called nebula. The nebula starts to compact into a smaller and smaller sphere. Eventually, the heavier elements settle in the center to form a core, while the lighter gases build in the atmosphere. Over time, the temperature can build until the gasses ignite, start on fire. We can see many distant stars from Earth and their appearance give us clues about their properties. We can see how massive they are or how bright they are. Also, a star's color will tell us how hot it is. The hottest stars burn blue and the coldest stars burn red. In between, medium temperature stars burn yellow, like our sun. A star will burn as long as it has fuel. This means stars burn for many billions of years. Stars running out of fuel become redder, since they are cooling. They also grow larger. When a massive star runs out of fuel, it can explode in what's called a super nova. After a star goes super nova, there is a cloud of debris and dust, as well as the core of the star. This core is very dense. It is called a white dwarf. Sometimes, a white dwarf can continue to compact until it forms a black hole. Our sun is the star of our solar system. As such, it contains more than 99% of the matter in the solar system! That means all the planets, their satellite moons, the tons of space debris and dwarf planets, all make up less than 1% of the matter! So the sun is HUGE! Over a million Earth's can fit inside the sun. Gravity is the attractive force of objects to a larger object, like humans are pulled down to Earth's surface. Massive objects create a larger amount of gravity, and this is why objects in the solar system orbit the sun. Did you know that the sun is under the influence of gravity too? The sun is orbiting the Milky Way, the galaxy we belong to. Please Write the Steps of the Star Life Cycle: Poetic Empiricist's Space Trip. 2012
Life Cycle of a Star Comic: Illustrate and Narrate the Life Cycle of a Star. Use Reading and Steps You Wrote.
The Moon: Earth only has one moon, but it is big enough to affect the Earth. At 1/6th the size of Earth, the moon's gravity is responsible for the ocean tides. The Earth and moon have some similarities and some differences. The moon is thought to have been created early in Earth's history when there was no atmosphere, so it was commonly pummeled by debris. It's theorized that a piece of the early Earth was knocked off after a collision, and it became stuck in orbit as our moon. Moon rock has the same composition as Earth rock. The moon has no atmosphere, so there is no breathable air or oxygen. There is also no water on the moon. Without an atmosphere, the moon has a vast temperature range, - 190 C to 110 C (-315 F to 230 F). Compare and Contrast the Earth and Moon Environments: Poetic Empiricist's Space Trip. 2012
What Life Needs and How to Live on the Moon: Use the space below to brainstorm what living things need to survive... Now, go back over this list and circle anything that is freely available on the moon. Eliminate anything that is not essential and write a list below of the top ten things life needs to survive. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Poetic Empiricist's Space Trip. 2012
Plant Parts We Eat: Plants are amazing and essential to animal life. Plants produce oxygen for us to breathe and food for us to eat. Through a process called photosynthesis plants take in sunlight and carbon dioxide. In return, they give us oxygen and a food supply. Can you identify the following plant parts? Stem Leaves Roots Plants want to reproduce. Most plants do this with seeds. Plants protect their seeds in a cone or by forming a flower, which will turn to a fruit. The seeds stay safely in the fruit until both the fruit and seed are completely formed. STEMS: Can you brainstorm plant parts we eat? LEAVES: ROOTS: FLOWERS: FRUIT:
Design a Human Habitat for the Moon. Include Your Top Ten List of Things Life Needs.
Post Unit Knowledge Inventory : Space Trip 1..) What makes up the Solar System? 2.) What would humans need to live on another planet? 3.) Can humans start to grow plants on the moon? Why or why not?