Download Worldly Wise 3000

Lesson 2
Word List
Study the words below. Then do the exercises for the lesson.
astronomer
besides
crater
degree
diameter
gaze
gravity
reflect
telescope
universe
An astronomer is a person who studies the sun, planets, stars, and other objects in
space. In 1610, Galileo was the first astronomer to see four of the moons of Jupiter
Besides means in addition to or also. Besides being on the soccer team, Sean loves
playing basketball.
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A crater is a round hole in the shape of a bowl. It is found in the ground or at the mouth
of a volcano. The hikers walked to the top of the volcano to look down into the
large crater.
A degree is a unit for measuring how warm something is. Cindy heated the oven to 350
degrees before she put the bread in to bake.
A degree is a stage or step in a series that one goes through. By degrees, Malcolm
taught his puppy to obey commands like sit, heel, and give.
Diameter is the distance from side to side and through the center of a circle or a round
object. The diameter of the trunk of our old oak tree was at least thirty inches.
To gaze is to look steadily at something for a long time. Sam and Julie gazed at the
polar bears swimming in a large pool at the zoo.
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Gravity is the force on our planet that pulls things toward the center of the earth.
Gravity causes an apple to fall to the ground.
Gravity is the condition of being serious. Celia understood later the gravity of what she
had done by playing too close to the large waves.
To reflect is to turn or throw something back. The water reflected the sun so strongly
that Giselle put on her sunglasses.
To reflect is to think carefully about something. Paul reflected on the next chess piece
he would move.
A telescope is an object that makes distant things seem closer and larger. It does this by
using mirrors and lenses. On a cool October night, Dad and Molly set up the
telescope in the backyard to view the stars.
The universe is all of space and all of the objects in space. The Milky Way is just one
of many large groups of stars in our universe.
Be Wordly Wise
Besides and beside look almost the same but have very different meanings. As you just
learned, besides means in addition to or also. Beside means next to. Be careful to
use these words correctly or you may say something you do not mean. For
example:
Melanie ate two scoops of ice cream beside the table.
Melanie ate two scoops of ice cream besides the table.
(She must have had a bad stomachache after that meal.)
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Exercise 1
Words and Their Meanings
Look at the group of words on the left. Then circle the letter of the word on the right
that has the same meaning.
1. in addition to
(a) between
(b) degree
(c) besides
2. a hole in the ground shaped like a bowl (a) crater
(c) gravity
3. all things in space (a) gravity
(b) universe
4. a unit for measuring heat (a) degree
(c) diameter
5. a person who studies the stars
astronomer
(d) crater
(b) telescope
(d) universe
(c) degree
(d) astronomer
(b) gravity
(d) telescope
(a) telescope (b) diameter
(c) gaze
(d)
Now look at the word on the left. Then circle the letter of the group of words on the
right that has the same meaning.
6. telescope (a) a tool for punching holes (b) an object that makes distant things seem
closer
(c) a tool for cutting stone
7. diameter (a) a measure of three feet
(d) an object that makes soft sounds louder
(b) the distance around a circle
(c) the distance across a circle (d) a measure of how heavy something is
8. gravity
(a) a force that pulls an object to the earth
(b) a measure of speed
(c) a measure of size (d) a force that pushes something away
9. reflect
(a) to win over (b) to take in (c) to go under (d) to turn or throw back
10. gaze
(a) to listen closely
(b) to touch lightly
(c) to look steadily
(d) to taste cautiously
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Exercise 2
Seeing Connections
Look at each group of words below. Three of the words are alike or related in some
way.
One word does not belong in the group. Find the word that does not fit and circle it.
1. degree
inch
pound
crater
2. astronomer inventor
diameter
3. besides
two
also
4. laughter
happiness
joy
5. universe
moon earth
sun
too
musician
gravity
Exercise 3
Applying Meanings
Circle the letter of the correct answer to each question below. Circle one letter only.
1. Which of the following can reflect light?
(a) a story
(b) a sound
(c) a window (d) a taste
2. What is an astronomer most interested in?
(a) planets
(b) mountains (c) oceans
(d) birds
3. On which of the following can someone gaze?
(a) a memory
(b) a thought (c) a fear
(d) a picture
4. Which of the following do you expect to see through a telescope?
(a) shells
(b) stars
(c) sharks
(d) hairs
5. Which of the following can measure degrees?
(a) a cup (b) a clock
(c) a yardstick (d) a thermometer
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Story
Read the story below and then answer the questions that follow it.
How far up does the sky go? It seems to go on forever. No one knows where space ends
or if it has an end. So let us explore a small piece of it, our system of planets.
People have always gazed at the night sky. Long ago, they saw the moon and the stars
just as we do today. But those who looked carefully noticed something more. They
saw that most stars seemed fixed in place but that some moved slowly across the
night sky. Now we know that the moving objects are not stars at all. They are the
planets that rotate around the sun.
About five billion years ago, the sun and planets were formed out of clouds of gas and
dust. Gravity pulled the chunks and pieces together to make lumps of matter.
These lumps slowly got bigger as more and more dust was added to them. The
largest lump became the sun. It is a giant star. It shines brightly because it is an
enormous ball of fire. The smaller lumps that circle around it are the planets. They
reflect light from the sun.
The planet that is most distant from the sun is Pluto. Because it is so far away, it is dark
all the time. It is also very cold, several hundred degrees below zero. Pluto is the
smallest planet. It is even smaller than our moon. As we move in toward the sun
from Pluto, we come to the four giant planets. They are Neptune, Uranus, Saturn,
and Jupiter. No astronaut will ever land on any of these four because they are made
of gas. Each of these planets has rings around it, and each has several moons.
Jupiter is the largest of all the planets. Its diameter is eleven times that of the
Earth.
Four smaller planets are closer to the sun. They are Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury.
All of them are made of solid rock. Mercury, which is the closest to the sun, is very
hot. The temperature there can rise to almost twice as high as the top setting on an
oven.
About four hundred years ago, when the telescope was invented, people were able to
take a dose look at the planets for the first time. The early astronomers were
surprised at what they saw. Saturn's rings were beautiful. Mars had huge craters.
Jupiter had several moons. One of them was even bigger than Mercury.
Our planet Earth travels around the sun on a path between those of Mars and Venus. As
far as we know, Earth is the only planet in the universe that has liquid water. Our
distance from the sun gives us just the right amount of heat. If we were much
closer, the oceans would boil away. If we were much farther away, the oceans
would turn to ice. Because the temperature is just right, life in all of its forms is
possible on Earth.
Scientists believe that there are other suns besides our own that have planets circling
them. If so, they are very, very far away. Is there life on any of them? We do not
know. There may be planets somewhere in space with creatures that are smarter
than we can imagine. Or Earth may be the only planet anywhere that has life. As
more of space is explored, we may someday find out.
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Answer each of the following questions with a sentence.
1. According to the story, what planet besides Earth has living creatures on it?
2. What did some of the very first astronomers see in the night sky?
3. What would you see if you were gazing at Saturn?
4. How does gravity affect an object in space that gets close to our planet?
5. Why will we probably not find any craters on the four giant planets?
6. Do you think there might be other life in the universe? Explain your answer.
7. What details in the story tell you that the planets formed by degrees?
8. How does the diameter of Pluto compare with that of our moon?
9. Why is it not correct to say that the sun reflects light?
10. How did the invention of the telescope help science?
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Hidden Messages
In the boxes next to each sentence, write the word that is missing from the sentence. Put
one letter in each box. All the words are from lesson 2. If you spell correctly, the
shaded boxes will answer the following riddle:
Darryl has two coins that equal thirty cents. One of them is not a nickel. How can that
be?
---Refer to boxes on page 17
l. This photo clearly shows a
on the moon.
2. A circle is divided into two equal parts by its
3. The
discovered a new star.
4. People on a spaceship do not feel any
5. The water will
.
the sunlight into your eyes.
.
6. The temperature dropped to thirty
last night.
7. Earth is only a very tiny part of the
.
8. We wanted to
9.
Jill, I have two other sisters.
10. Through the
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at the stars all night.
, we could see Venus.