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OVERVIEW
This week we’re looking at space – something you probably vaguely remember
learning back when you were in school. The below is a fun way for you and your
children to really get to know the solar system we live in.
Space exploration has allowed us a greater understanding of the universe,
what it is made up of and our place on Earth within the solar sytem. A discovery in
space could lead to something that changes life on Earth. For example, if scientists can
understand what happens outside of Earth’s atmosphere in the stars and galaxies,
they might be able to stop global warming or they might be able to harness
a new form of energy!
It’s impossible to have a full understanding of the universe but having a knowledge of
basic terminology and the planets is a good place to start for any homework questions
that might be fired your way over the coming school year.
PlaneT
Actual distance from
Sun (million km)
Mercury
56
Venus
111
Earth
153
Mars
234
Jupiter
777
Saturn
1500
Uranus
2800
Neptune
4500
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GREAT RED SPOT
- a large colourful swirl of gases that spin
anticlockwise on Jupiter
ATMOSPHERE
– the air that surrounds the Earth
BLACK HOLE
– an object that has gravity strong enough
to suck everything into it, even light
LIGHT YEAR
- the distance light travels in a vacuum
in a year
CELESTIAL BODIES
- natural objects that are visible in the sky
planets, stars, meteoroids, asteroids,
moons etc
Meteor (shooting
star / falling star)
- a bright streak of light in the sky caused
by a meteoroid or a small icy particle as it
burns up entering Earth's atmosphere.
Very big, bright meteors are called
fireballs and bolides
HALEY’S COMET
- a huge snowball of ice and dust that
revolves around the Sun. When it gets
close to the Sun the ice melts and looks
like a tail. Haley's comet is one of the most
famous comets.
Meteoroid
- a small rock
METEORITE
- a piece of a meteoroid found on Earth
Constellation
- a collection of stars that make a shape normally named aer mythological
characters, people, animals and things –
Ursa Major, Orion, the Northern Cross etc
ORBIT
- the path that one object takes to moves
around another object or point. e.g the
Earth orbits the Sun
ECLIPSE
- this is when a celestial body cuts off the
light of another – we sometimes see the
moon cover the Sun for a brief moment –
this happened on 20th March this year!
PLANET
– an object bigger than an asteroid that
orbits a star. Our solar system has eight
planets within it
GALAXY
- a large collection of stars. Our galaxy,
the Milky Way, includes the Sun
Satellite
- an object that moves around a larger
body. The moon is a satellite of Earth.
Manmade satellites orbit the Earth and
the Sun to transmit pictures, TV channels
and phone signals back to us
GRAVITY
– the natural force of araction that
pulls objects together - this keeps
our feet on the ground
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SOLAR SYSTEM
– includes the Sun, the eight planets and
any other bodies that orbit the Sun
STAR
- a celestial body that is visible at night
from Earth
SOLAR WIND
– a thin flow of gas-charged particles that
stream from the Sun. These blow throughout the solar system at speeds of
hundreds of kilometres per second
UNIVERSE
- all the maer and energy in space - this
includes the Earth, galaxies, solar systems
and you
WHITE DWARF
- the 'remains' of a star aer it collapses.
It is white (because it's so hot) and
extremely dense
SPEED OF LIGHT
- 299,792,458 meters/second (186,000
miles/second.) Einstein's Theory of
Relativity states that nothing can move
faster than the speed of light
You will need:
One pea
One blueberry
Two cherry tomatoes
One watermelon
One large grapefruit
One large apple
One small orange
List of planets
(Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Venus)
Scissors
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METHOD:
1. Cut out the names of the planets to produce eight labels
Mercury
2. Try and hazard a guess which pieces of fruit and veg represent each planet
based on their size – without looking at the table provided below!
3. Match the fruit and veg to the labels, then place them in order from the
closest to the Sun to the planet that is furthest from the sun
Planets in order
from the Sun
Planets in order
from the Sun
Mercury
Pea
Venus
Cherry Tomato
Earth
Cherry Tomato
Mars
Blueberry
Jupiter
Watermelon
Saturn
Large grapefruit
Uranus
Large apple
Neptune
Small orange
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