Download 6-8 question answers

Questionnaire Answers
After students have completed the Pre and Post-Visit Questionnaire,
discuss each topic with your class.
The Earth’s distance from the Sun causes the seasons.
FALSE. The tilt of the Earth on its axis and the Earth’s orbit
around the Sun are what causes the seasons on Earth. Parts
of the Earth that have the Sun appear high in the sky
experience summer and those that have the Sun low in the
sky experience winter. Spring and fall occur when the
sunlight is directly over the equator (in the middle) so for
neither hemisphere the sun appears to be particularly high
or low in the sky. A site with excellent downloadable videos
vividly showing this concept and many others is available at
http://www.mogivice.com/Pagine/Downloads.html
There are two types of planets in our solar system. TRUE. Planets are either
classified as terrestrial or Jovian. Terrestrial derives from the Latin word terra
meaning, “land” or “earth.” There are four terrestrial planets in our solar system:
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Each has an atmosphere, although the
characteristic of each varies greatly. The Terrestrial planets are the closet to the
Sun. The rest of the planets in our solar system (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune) are Jovian. Jovian comes from the word Jove which was another name
for the Roman god Jupiter. Characteristics of Jovian planets are that they are all
similar in their chemical and physical structures. These planets are all much larger
than the terrestrial planets as well as farther away from the Sun.
Pluto is the ninth planet. FALSE. There are only eight planets. Since 1992, we
have discovered hundreds of icy bodies like Pluto with tilted oval orbits past
the orbit of Neptune. These bodies are called Kuiper belt objects. Pluto is
one of the larger members and in August 2006 was reclassified as a dwarf
planet. As of February 2009, there are 5 official dwarf planets, also known as
“Plutoids,” (Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake) with others pending.
In Milwaukee there are stars we can see all year round. TRUE. Some we can
see include the stars of the Big Dipper, and Polaris the circumpolar North Star.
Stars are forming in the Solar System as you read this. TRUE. Stars are
continually being formed and destroyed. Stars are formed, or born, in clouds
of gas and dust in the interstellar medium. Gravity squeezes the mass of
these “star nurseries” so that the centers become incredibly dense and hot.
These extreme conditions allow hydrogen fusion to begin. The outward
pressure from the fusion balances the inward force of gravity. The gas stops
collapsing and a star is born.
The Sun will burn up all of its Hydrogen in the next 5,000 years. FALSE. While
the Sun will eventually burn itself out, it will not happen this quickly. In the last
4.6 billion years since the Sun’s birth, it has used up roughly half of its fuel only.
There is enough Hydrogen for the Sun to last another 5 billion years.
How did the solar system form? A giant cloud of gas and dust collapsed in on
itself due to its gravity. From this collapse, matter began to get pulled inward
in a circular motion. The pulled in matter began to clump together creating
a large amount of pressure and heat, forming a small star. As matter
continued to circle more matter had built up on the once small star creating
a larger star. Around this star, matter began to clump in other parts creating
what are now planets. These planets continued on their circular trajectory
around the star we know as the Sun.
What does the solar system contain? It contains the Sun, planets, dwarf
planets, asteroids, comets, meteoroids (small debris traveling through the
solar system), radiation, etc.
What are constellations? Name three. Constellations are patches of sky that
contain a characteristic pattern of stars. The patterns are often named after
characters from ancient Greek and Roman mythology (although individual
stars have mostly Arabic names). There are 88 official constellations.
Common constellations visible from Milwaukee include the Big Dipper,
Cassiopeia, the Little Dipper, Gemini, Orion, Leo and many more.