Download Earth`s rotation and revolution - E

Name:
Every planet has its own axis. The axis is the imaginary line through the centre of the
planet. The planet spins around this imaginary line. This is ROTATION – when a body
in space (e.g. a planet or moon) spins on its axis.
Earth rotates in an anticlockwise direction, if you look at it directly from the top or
the North Pole. (It spins in a clockwise direction if you look at it directly from the
bottom or South Pole.)
HELPFUL TIP
Try this with a ball of some sort. Draw a dot on the top of the ball to
mark the North Pole and draw a dot on the bottom, directly opposite
your North Pole, to mark the South Pole. Hold the ball between your
index fingers and look at the North Pole. Turn it in an anticlockwise
direction. Now keep turning it in that direction as you lift it up and look
underneath it at the South Pole. You will see that it is actually turning
in a clockwise direction. Draw the arrows into these diagrams to show
the direction of rotation.
One rotation takes one Earth day, or 24 hours. This includes hours of day and night.
Exposure to the Sun determines which part of the Earth will experience day and
which parts will experience night. Half of the Earth facing the Sun has day and the
other half facing away from the Sun has night.
© e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za
GRADE 6
Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Movement of the Earth and Planets: Earth’s Rotation and Revolution
Earth’s rotation and revolution
GRADE 6
Label this diagram using the labels in the block.
Day
Night
Axis
North Pole (NP)
South Pole (SP)
Activity 2
Make a model (Work in pairs for this activity.)
You will need the following: a polystyrene ball, a skewer stick,
torch and permanent marker.
Instructions:
1) Mark the top and bottom of the ball.
2) Push the skewer stick through at an angle to the top-bottom “line”.
3) Label the top entry point NP for North Pole and the bottom entry point SP for South Pole.
4) Hold the stick in the same position and spin it around in your fingers. Observe the rotation from the NP and from the SP.
5) Hold the ball still and shine the torch onto it. Part of the ball will have light on it and part will not.
© e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za
Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Movement of the Earth and Planets: Earth’s Rotation and Revolution
Activity 1
7) Turn the ball gently on the spot and observe how the parts exposed to the sun (torch) change.
Answer these questions, in your class workbook:
1) What did you notice about the rotation direction when you looked at it from the:
a.North Pole
b.South Pole
2) What did you notice when the torch shone on the ball?
3) Describe what happened when you rotated the ball in the torch light.
EARTH’S REVOLUTION
Every planet orbits around the Earth. An orbit is the pathway a planet takes around
the Sun. We also call this a revolution. When the planet orbits around the Sun once, it
completes 1 revolution.
1 orbit / revolution = 1 year.
Each planet has its own pathway so that they do not collide or crash into one another.
Activity 3:
Look at the table below of the planets and the length of time (in Earth days or years)
it takes for each planet to orbit the Sun.
Fill in the last column by deciding, based on the other information, how long a year is
for each of the planets.
Planet
Orbit around Sun
Mercury
88 Earth days
Venus
225 Earth days
Earth
365 Earth days
Mars
687 Earth days
Jupiter
12 Earth years
Saturn
29,5 Earth years
Uranus
84 Earth years
Neptune
165 Earth years
Length of Year (in Earth
days or Earth years)
Earth actually orbits the Sun every 365 ¼ days. Every 4 years these quarters add up
to make an extra day which we include in February, the 29 of February. The year in
© e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za
GRADE 6
Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Movement of the Earth and Planets: Earth’s Rotation and Revolution
6) Use the marker to draw a dotted line where the light ends and where the shadow begins.
GRADE 6
Class Activity:
1) You will need to be in a group of nine children.
2) Pick a planet or the Sun – You will be a planet or the Sun for this activity.
3) Have the person who is the Sun stand in the middle of an area such as a car park or tennis court or open piece of land.
4) Draw or create circles for each planet that go around the Sun. These must be in the correct order.
5) Each person should find their orbit (line) and stand somewhere on it.
6) Each person must then walk around the Sun at about the same speed, walking only on their line or orbit.
Answer these questions:
1) Who orbited the Sun the fastest?
2) Who orbited the Sun the slowest?
3) Did anyone crash into anyone else?
(Note: Although represented in
this diagram,
Pluto is
no longer
considered a major planet
in our Solar
System.
© e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za
Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Movement of the Earth and Planets: Earth’s Rotation and Revolution
which we do this is called a Leap Year.
GRADE 6
Activity 1
Activity 2
Make a model (Work in pairs for this activity.)
Answer these questions, in your book:
1) What did you notice about the rotation direction when you looked at it from the:
a.North Pole
It rotated in an anticlockwise direction.
b.South Pole
It rotated in the opposite direction – in a clockwise direction.
2) What did you notice when the torch shone on the ball? Half of the ball was lit and the other half was not lit.
3) Describe what happened when you rotated the ball in the torchlight.
The part that exposed to the light changes as the ball turns around.
© e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za
Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Movement of the Earth and Planets: Earth’s Rotation and Revolution
Answer sheet
GRADE 6
Look at the table below of the planets and the length of time (in Earth days or years)
it takes for each planet to orbit the Sun.
Fill in the last column by deciding, based on the other information, how long a year
is for each of the planets.
Planet
Orbit around Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
88 Earth days
225 Earth days
365 Earth days
687 Earth days
12 Earth years
29,5 Earth years
84 Earth years
165 Earth years
Length of Year (in Earth days
or Earth years)
88 Earth days
225 Earth days
365 Earth days
687 Earth days
12 Earth years
29,5 Earth years
84 Earth years
165 Earth years
Class Activity:
Answer these questions
1) Who orbited the Sun the fastest? The child playing Mercury.
2) Who orbited the Sun the slowest? The child playing Neptune.
3) Did anyone crash into anyone else? No
© e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za
Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Movement of the Earth and Planets: Earth’s Rotation and Revolution
Activity 3