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Programmes in a Box w/c 17/11/2008 17/11/2008: /2008: Night Sky Ask Cubs to bring in a toilet roll with them this week. You may need to bring some spares in case anyone forgets! Time Activity 5 Welcome & Opening Ceremony Start the evening and explain to them what they will be doing that evening. 15 Game: Lunar Landings (POL 16586) - Divide the Cubs into even teams and line them up in their teams at one end of the playing area Notes Equipment: Assorted scrap paper, Blindfolds (can use scarf) - One member of each team stands at the other end of the playing area with a piece of paper placed between them, try and get different coloured pieces of paper and try to move them around - The Cub standing on their own is a lone spaceman who needs to guide the rest of the team to a safe touchdown on the planet (paper) - The first member of each team is blindfolded and is guided to the planet by the lone spaceman by shouting instructions - Each member of the team takes their turns to be guided to the planet 15 Six Activity: Constellations (POL 28101) Resources: Constellations - Use the attached resource to help recognise three constellations Badge Requirements: Astronomer – Identify three constellations - Take the Cubs outside and get them to try and spot the constellations if it is a clear night 15 Six Activity: Stars in Their Eyes - Explain to the Cubs that they won’t be able to see all of the constellations all of the time, so they are going to make Star Scopes, which means they’ll be able to see the shape of the constellations, which they can look out for each night before bed. - Using the template provided, Cubs can make their Star Scope by cutting out one of the templates (works best printed on slightly thicker card) and piercing holes in the card where the dots show. - Apply glue to the dotted tabs and fix to the toilet roll, get them to note which way up it should be held and write the name of the constellation along the tube so that when this is held towards the ceiling, the constellation appears the right way up. Equipment: Drawing pins, paper, toilet rolls, scissors, sellotape Resources: Stars in Their Eyes, Star Scope Template Notes: Don’t forget to name each one so they can take it home at the end of the night. Badge Requirements: Astronomer – Identify three constellations - The constellations can be seen most clearly when the star scope is pointed towards a source of light. 15 Six Activity: Discovering the Planets (POL 386) 1 of 2 - Give each Cub a copy of the Match the Planets resource - Give each Six a copy of the Planet Information resource - Working in small groups, they should try and identify the different planets from the descriptions - Explain the difference between a planet and a star Equipment: Assorted scrap paper, Coloured paper, Glue, Paint, Pens, Scissors, Card. Long strip of card (A3) for each Six. Badge Requirements: Astronomer – Explain the difference between a planet and a star Astronomer – Find out and present some information on two of the following:… Who Programmes in a Box 15 Six Activity: Discovering the Planets (POL 386) 2 of 2 Get Cubs to draw and colour in cut outs of the planets - On the strip of card, start with the Sun at the left hand end using either yellow paint or paper, then add each planet in order using their general characteristics - a small red circle for Mars and a huge blue one for Neptune. - Silver foil moons and stars can be added. - Teach Cubs one of the phrases to remember which order the planets are ordered: My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets! 5 Moon Diaries - Explain to the Cubs that you would like them to observe the moon every night for the next two weeks. - They should write about the shape and how it changes, or draw it in a moon diary. 5 Closing Ceremony Wrap up the evening, give out any notices for next week etc. Equipment: Pens or pencils, silver foil, scissors Resources: Match the Planets, Planet Information Notes: Before the meeting prepare long strips of black card for each group which is used to show the planets Badge Requirements: Astronomer – Make a model or draw a simple diagram of the solar system Notices: Give out any notices for the coming weeks. CSL http://www.britishcouncil.org/kidsenglish The Nine Planets LearnEnglish Kids Match the planets to their descriptions!! For help see http://kidsf9.net.uk/flash/index.html And http://kids.nineplanets.org/index.html Mercury Venus Earth This is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is cold and lifeless with permanent ice caps. It is often called the ‘Red planet’. The first spacecraft (Mariner 4) landed on it in 1965. This is the only planet supporting life and has the most varied surface. It is 4.6 billion years old. It is the densest body in the Solar System. It has one Moon. Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus This is the largest planet. It is more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined! It is a giant gas planet and the fifth planet from the Sun. It has a special feature called ‘the Great red Spot’. This is a small, rocky planet with layers of yellow clouds made of sulphuric acid. It is very hot (about 400°C) and extremely windy. It is the second planet from the Sun. Neptune This is the second largest planet. It has beautiful rings made of ice which can be seen from Earth. Its name is the root of the English word ‘Saturday’. This is the only planet not visited by a spacecraft. It is the smallest and most mysterious planet which is the farthest away from the Sun. It has one moon called ‘Charon’. This is a small rocky planet which is the closest to the Sun. It has an extreme temperature range. Some scientists think volcanoes are active on this planet. This planet was visited by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986. It is a blue-green colour and has a faint ring system. It spins differently to other planets. This is the eighth planet from the Sun and is a giant gas planet with eight moons – seven small ones and one large one called ‘Triton’. Pluto © The British Council/Sue Clarke Spring Gardens 2005 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Planets - Zoom Astronomy Page 1 of 4 The Planets Zoom Astronomy The Planets (plus the Dwarf Planet Pluto) Our solar system consists of the sun, eight planets, moons, dwarf planets, an asteroid belt, comets, meteors, and others. The sun is the center of our solar system; the planets, their moons, the asteroids, comets, and other rocks and gas all orbit the sun. The nine planets that orbit the sun are (in order from the sun): Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (a dwarf planet). A belt of asteroids (minor planets made of rock and metal) lies between Mars and Jupiter. These objects all orbit the sun in roughly circular orbits that lie in the same plane, the ecliptic (Pluto is an exception; it has an elliptical orbit tilted over 17° from the ecliptic). Easy ways to remember the order of the planets (and Pluto) are the mnemonics: "My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas" and "My Very Easy Method Just Simplifies Us Naming Planets" The first letter of each of these words represents a planet - in the correct order. The largest planet is Jupiter. It is followed by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury, and finally, tiny Pluto (a dwarf planet). Jupiter is so big that all the other planets could fit inside it. The Inner Planets vs. the Outer Planets The inner planets (those planets that orbit close to the sun) are quite different from the outer planets (those planets that orbit far from the sun). The inner planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are relatively small, composed mostly of rock, and have few or no moons. The outer planets include: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (a dwarf planet). They are mostly huge, mostly gaseous, ringed, and have many moons (again, the exception is Pluto, the dwarf planet, which is small, rocky, and has one large moon plus two tiny ones). Temperatures on the Planets Generally, the farther from the Sun, the cooler the planet. Differences occur when the greenhouse effect warms a planet (like Venus) surrounded by a thick atmosphere. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/ 13/08/2008 Planets - Zoom Astronomy Page 2 of 4 Density of the Planets The outer, gaseous planets are much less dense than the inner, rocky planets. The Earth is the densest planet. Saturn is the least dense planet; it would float on water. The Mass of the Planets Jupiter is by far the most massive planet; Saturn trails it. Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, and Pluto are orders of magnitude less massive. Gravitational Forces on the Planets The planet with the strongest gravitational attraction at its surface is Jupiter. Although Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are also very massive planets, their gravitational forces are about the same as Earth. This is because the gravitational force a planet exerts upon an object at the planet's surface is proportional to its mass and to the inverse of the planet's radius squared. A Day on Each of the Planets A day is the length of time that it takes a planet to rotate on its axis (360°). A day on Earth takes almost 24 hours. The planet with the longest day is Venus; a day on Venus takes 243 Earth days. (A day on Venus is longer than its year; a year on Venus takes only 224.7 Earth days). The planet with the shortest day is Jupiter; a day on Jupiter only takes 9.8 Earth hours! When you observe Jupiter from Earth, you can see some of its features change. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/ 13/08/2008 Planets - Zoom Astronomy Page 3 of 4 The Average Orbital Speed of the Planets As the planets orbit the Sun, they travel at different speeds. Each planet speeds up when it is nearer the Sun and travels more slowly when it is far from the Sun (this is Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion). The Planets in Our Solar System Distance from the Sun Planet Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune (Astronomical Units miles km) 0.39 AU, 36 million miles 57.9 million km 0.723 AU 67.2 million miles 108.2 million km 1 AU 93 million miles 149.6 million km 1.524 AU 141.6 million miles 227.9 million km 5.203 AU 483.6 million miles 778.3 million km 9.539 AU 886.7 million miles 1,427.0 million km 19.18 AU 1,784.0 million miles 2,871.0 million km 30.06 AU 2,794.4 million miles 4,497.1 million km Period of Revolution Around the Sun (1 planetary year) Period of Diameter Apparent Temperature Number of (K Rotation Mass size (miles Range or Moons (1 planetary (kg) km) from Earth Average) day) 87.96 Earth days 3,031 58.7 Earth 3.3 x miles 23 days 10 4,878 km 224.68 Earth days 243 Earth 4.87 x days 1024 365.26 days 5.98 x 24 hours 1024 5-13 arc seconds 100-700 K mean=452 K 0 7,521 miles 12,104 km 10-64 arc seconds 726 K 0 7,926 miles 12,756 km Not Applicable 260-310 K 1 686.98 Earth days 24.6 Earth 4,222 hours 6.42 x miles 23 =1.026 10 6,787 km Earth days 4-25 arc seconds 150-310 K 2 11.862 Earth years 88,729 9.84 Earth 1.90 x miles hours 1027 142,796 km 31-48 arc seconds 120 K (cloud tops) 18 named (plus many smaller ones) 29.456 Earth years 74,600 10.2 Earth 5.69 x miles hours 1026 120,660 km 15-21 arc seconds excluding rings 88 K 18+ 84.07 Earth years 17.9 Earth 8.68 x hours 1025 32,600 miles 51,118 km 3-4 arc seconds 59 K 15 164.81 Earth years 19.1 Earth 1.02 x hours 1026 30,200 miles 48,600 km 2.5 arc seconds 48 K 2 http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/ 13/08/2008 Planets - Zoom Astronomy Pluto (a dwarf planet) Planet 39.53 AU 3,674.5 million miles 5,913 million km Distance from the Sun (Astronomical Units miles km) Page 4 of 4 247.7 years 1,413 6.39 Earth 1.29 x miles 22 days 10 2,274 km Period of Revolution Around the Sun Period of Diameter Apparent Temperature Number of (K Rotation Mass size (miles Range or Moons (1 planetary (kg) km) from Earth Average) day) (1 planetary year) 0.04 arc seconds 37 K 1 large (plus 2 tiny) Another Planet? In 2005, a large object beyond Pluto was observed in the Kuiper belt. A few astronomers think that there might be another planet or companion star orbiting the Sun far beyond the orbit of Pluto. This distant planet/companion star may or may not exist. The hypothesized origin of this hypothetical object is that a celestial object, perhaps a hard-to-detect cool, brown dwarf star (called Nemesis), was captured by the Sun's gravitational field. This planet is hypothesized to exist because of the unexplained clumping of some long-period comet's orbits. The orbits of these far-reaching comets seem to be affected by the gravitational pull of a distant, Sun-orbiting object. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/ 13/08/2008 Part A – The Physical World Recognise three different constellations A constellation is a group of stars. The Pocket Oxford Dictionary describes a constellation as “fixed stars forming to the eye a separate group usually with respect to the outline enclosing them”. Stella is the Latin word for star. Many of the names we know stars by are figures from Greek mythology. The Greeks were great sailors and the stars were very important to help them navigate. There are many different constellations visible in the sky on a clear dark night. When you are looking at stars, try to find somewhere away from street lighting. You will find it easier to see the constellations and will see more stars if it is really dark. These are Northern Hemisphere constellations: Orion (the hunter) Orion is easy to spot because (to the naked eye) he has three bright stars close together forming his belt. Having spotted that you can then look out for the ones that mark the corners of his head and feet and his arms. If you use binoculars or a telescope you will see more stars and more details. Casseopeia Casseopeia was a Greek queen and this constellation is supposed to look like her sitting on her throne. This one is quite easy to spot because the stars form a large W. Ursa Major (The Great Bear) This is the one of the oldest and best known constellations and includes seven stars which make up the Plough or the Big Dipper. The long arm of the Plough points to the North Star and that shows the northern direction so you can work out which direction you are headed. The BBC has a really good website about space, which includes charts showing the constellations and a constellation guide. http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/myspace/constellationguide s REF: POL – 28101 - 210208 Resource produced using Programmes Online www.scouts.org.uk/pol © The Scout Association 2008 45"34*/5)&*3&:&4 $0/45&--"5*0/P Scorpius Ursa Minor (The Little Bear) Leo Gemini Ursa Major (The Great Bear) Orion Ursa Minor (The Little Bear) Leo Orion Ursa Major (The Great Bear) Gemini