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Planet Pavilion Questions!
Look above you to see the Jodrell Bank Orrery!
This is a moving model of our Solar System.
If the orrery is not moving, turn the handle to make it move!
The orrery planets orbit much faster than the planets in real life!
1 minute for the orrery = 1 Earth year
1. Label each of the planets below...
2. How many planets are there in the Solar System? _________________________
3. Which planet is orbiting the Sun the quickest? ____________________________
4. Which planet is orbiting the Sun the slowest? ____________________________
Did you know? In the real Solar System you could fit the Earth inside the Sun
more than one million times! (Though it would be very hot!)
Answer these on the differences between stars and planets... (Hint: the Sun is a star!)
5. Which are bigger, stars or planets? _____________________________________
6. Which move in the Solar System, stars or planets? ________________________
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
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Planet Pavilion Questions! (Page 2)
7. Which give out light and heat, stars or planets? ___________________________
Now look around the walls at the space pictures.
8. Search for the four objects below and write down their names.
Picture
Description
Name
A planetary
nebula formed
when a star like
the Sun runs
out of fuel.
The nearest
large spiral
galaxy to our
own Milky
Way.
What has been
left behind
after a big star
exploded in
1054 AD.
A 3 light-year
tall pillar,
where new
stars are
forming.
There is a lot more to find out in the Planet Pavilion!
If you’ve finished these questions, write down some other new things you’ve learnt, on the
back of this worksheet!
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
Cubs
Space Pavilion Questions!
Start at the wooden model of the Lovell telescope.
Try pointing the model at a friend to see how the real telescope moves around!
1. The Lovell telescope doesn’t collect light like your eyes. What does it collect instead?
_____________________________________________________________________
Hint: If you don’t know, look for
The Dish on the wall near the wooden model!
Now find the TV screen that shows you in strange colours.
This camera sees heat instead of visible light!
If you can’t see yourself, you’re too close! Move backwards from the screen!
2. What colour shows (a) the hottest things? ________________________________
(b) the coolest things? ________________________________
3. Which part of you looks the hottest? ______________________________________
Near the TV screen are some props. Try holding these up to the camera. Do they look the same?
Find the black hole!
4. Try rolling a ball into the black hole. Which force pulls the ball in? Circle the answer…
Gravity
Magnetism
Friction
5. What force slows the ball down, making it fall into the hole? Circle the answer…
Gravity
Magnetism
Friction
Find the plasma ball! (the glass ball with electricity inside)
This ball contains plasma, which is electrically charged gas! The Sun is made of plasma.
6. Circle whether each of these sentences are true or false…
a) When I touch the plasma ball I see a spark jump out of my hand
TRUE / FALSE
b) When I touch the plasma ball I see a spark jump into my hand
TRUE / FALSE
c) The electricity is attracted to my hand
TRUE / FALSE
d) When it touch it, electricity goes through me and into the floor
TRUE / FALSE
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
Cubs
Space Pavilion Questions! (Page 2)
Now find the see-through telescope.
Look through the eye-piece. You’ll see a picture of a galaxy.
Make sure you don’t stand in front of the telescope, otherwise you’ll block the view!
7. Which of these galaxies can you see through the telescope? Tick the right one…
□
□
□
Now find the eyepiece that lets you see your own eye!
Stroke your finger along the touch-bar to change the light level.
8. What happens to your pupil when the light goes dimmer? Circle the right answer…
My pupil gets smaller
My pupil gets bigger
My pupil stays the same
Look at the world map of telescopes.
This map shows all the big telescopes around the world!
9. Tick off the following telescopes when you have found them:
Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (1st biggest moveable dish, in North America!)
Very Large Telescope (On top of a mountain in South America!)
Effelsberg Radio Telescope (2nd biggest moveable dish, in Germany)
Hubble Space Telescope (a telescope in space!)
Did you know the Lovell telescope is the 3rd biggest moveable telescope dish in the world?
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
Cubs
Planet Path Questions!
You are about to go on a journey through the Solar System!
We are going to start at the red and yellow ball near the Lovell telescope.
This ball represents the object at the centre of our Solar System.
1. What is the object at the centre of the Solar System?
______________________________________________
Close to this ball, you will find four planets on the ground.
Unscramble the letters to find the names of these four planets!
2. RYEURCM
_____________________________________________
This planet is the closest planet to the Sun. It has lots of craters!
3. NSUVE
_____________________________________________
This planet is the hottest in the Solar System!
4. TRAHE
_____________________________________________
Most of this planet’s surface is covered with water!
5. ASMR
_____________________________________________
This planet is sometimes known as the red planet!
Look at the sizes of these planets on the ground.
That’s how big they would be, if the Sun were the size of the telescope dish!
These four planets are the small rocky planets (because they are made of rock!)
6. Which of the four rocky planets is the largest?
______________________________________________
Walk along the path towards the Whispering Dishes.
Try to find Jupiter along the way!
7. Have a guess... how many times wider than the Earth, do you think Jupiter is?
______________________________________________
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
Cubs
Planet Path Questions! (Page 2)
Now go further towards the whispering dishes.
Find Saturn and stand on it. Look back to the Earth!
The Planet Path shows the distances between the planets ‘to scale’.
If the planets were in the positions shown on the Planet Path, it would take about 2 years
for a rocket to fly in a straight line from Earth to Jupiter.
8. How long do you think it would take for a rocket to fly straight from Earth to Saturn?
_______________________________________________
Which two planets haven’t we seen on the Planet Path yet…?
9. ARUNUS
_____________________________________________
This planet spins on its side like a barrel!
10.ENPETNU
_____________________________________________
This planet is the furthest planet from the Sun!
These planets are so far away from the Sun, that you’d have to go all the way into the
Jodrell Bank Gardens to find them! (But don’t do this now!)
11. Are the planets in the Solar System spaced out evenly?
______________________________________________
The first four planets we came across were made of rock.
12.What are the four outer planets made of?
______________________________________________
Hint: You can’t stand on these planets!
13. There used to be another planet, but in 2006 scientists decided it wouldn’t be called
a planet anymore.
a) What is its name? ___________________________________________
b) What kind of object is this called now? __________________________
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
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Telescope Path Questions!
Take a walk around the base of the Lovell Telescope.
Look at the information boards to find the answers. One has been completed for you.
Complete the quiz to find someone who studies space!
1.
The telescope collects _______ waves.
2.
What was the name of the first artificial satellite, launched in 1957?
3.
What can you use to get a better view of the stars?
4.
What do we call the spinning core of an exploded star?
5.
Where is the home of the telescope? (Hint: this is two words)
6.
You need to switch off your mobile _______ before coming to visit the telescope.
7.
The sides of the telescope, which contain lifts for engineers to go up the telescope.
8.
The telescope belongs to the University of _______________.
9.
The telescope is named after its creator, Sir Bernard ____________.
10. What do we call the very bright objects which are powered by gas falling into supermassive black holes?