Download How Big is Big? Integrated Science 2 Name: Date: Pd: Select items

HowBigisBig?
IntegratedScience2 Name:
Date: Pd:
A billion is 109 or 1,000,000,000. And it is a BIG number! There are many cases in which numbers like a billion are
used to describe topics in science, such as the age of the universe, the length of a galaxy, or number of stars in a
galaxy. Before we begin to look at our Origins unit, which covers times and distances in the billions—and more,
we want you to take a minute to just think about how big our universe is. Using the numbers below we will start to
think about how big, and how old, the universe really is. It is important to have some sense of large numbers as
they are used in all fields of science.
Select items from Table 1 to match into Table 2.
Table 1: How Big Is….?
Distance from the Sun to Saturn
Length of a Classroom
Distance from the Sun to the Earth
Width of a doorway
Diameter of Jupiter
Diameter of the Milky Way Galaxy
Depth of the Grand Canyon
Distance from the Earth to Moon
Diameter of a Softball
Diameter of the Sun
Length of California
Deepest Depth of the Pacific Ocean
Width of a Light Switch Lever
Distance to the Nearest Star
Diameter of the School
Diameter of the Earth
Appx.SizeInWords
MatchingObject
10cm
1m
10m
100m
1km
10km
1,000km
OneThousandkm
LengthofCalifornia
10,000km
100,000km
1,000,000km
10,000,000km
100,000,000km
1,000,000,000km
10,000,000,000,000km
1,000,000,000,000,000km
Table2:
ApproximateSize
1cm
How Big are THESE?
Applying the ideas of millions, billions, and beyond, see if you can attach some numbers to the
events below. How big do you think they are?
Time:
First Hominids Appeared = ______________________________
Age of the Universe = ______________________________
Age of Earth = ______________________________
First Cells (Life) Appeared = ______________________________
Years that Single Celled Organisms Were the Only Life on Earth = ______________________________
Distance:
Distance to the Moon = ______________________________
Distance to the Sun = ______________________________
Distance to the Nearest Star, Proxima Centauri = ______________________________
Distance to Mars = ______________________________
Distance to the Nearest Galaxy, Andromeda = ______________________________
Numbers:
Number of Species of Animals on Earth = ______________________________
Number of Stars in the Milky Way Galaxy = ______________________________
Number of Carbon-14 Atoms in the Average Newborn Baby = ______________________________
Number of Galaxies in the Observable Universe = ______________________________