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Share with Your Students The Nine Planets Name Date Vocabulary STUDENT RESOURCE 1.1 INFORMATION SHEET asteroids thousands of rocky objects that orbit the Sun Most asteroids orbit in a belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. More than 90,000 asteroids have been identified. Only about 200 are more than 100 kilometers in diameter. comet object made of frozen gases, dust, and rock, that orbits the Sun Comets have long, bright tails when they pass near the Sun. The tails always point away from the Sun, no matter what direction the comet is moving. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved. meteor rock that enters and burns up in Earth’s atmosphere Meteors are often called shooting stars because they flash across the night sky in a bright streak. meteorite rock that strikes the surface of a planet or moon Meteorites can cause impact craters where they hit. The Barringer Crater in Arizona was formed by a meteorite. It is about 1.2 kilometers in diameter and 200 meters deep. 1. Display the posters of the planets. Make copies of Student Resource 1.1, Vocabulary, and distribute to students. Discuss the definitions with students as these words come up throughout the section. planet a large object in space that revolves around a nearby star There are nine planets in our solar system. In order from the Sun, they are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. scale model a model that correctly shows relationships between size and distance, but is smaller or larger than the objects it represents Scale models are often used in science to study very large or very small objects. solar system the Sun and the objects that orbit it, including the nine planets The solar system formed some 4.6 billion years ago when a cloud of gas and dust contracted into a large, spinning disk. The Sun formed in the hot, dense center of the disk. The rest of the gas and dust eventually formed planets. 3. Give students time to examine the posters of the planets. Make copies of Student Resource 1.2, Our Solar System, and distribute to students. Have students take turns describing a characteristic of a planet or other solar system object of their choice. EXPLORING SPACE • SECTION 1 THE PLANETS • 11 Student Resource 1.1 (p. 11) Name Date Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved. Mostly made of ice. Comets grow tails when passing near the Sun. Tails always point away from Sun. – Highly variable – – smallest planet of all, made of rock and ice, tilted orbit; Its moon Charon is half its size. Comets *All values are averaged and rounded. **Numbers may change as new moons are discovered around gas giants. Varies; less than 100 to 30 million years 248 years 6.4 days 0 1 2,300 5,906,000,000 Varies from 940 km to less than 1 km 165 years 16 hours 6 Pluto 4 • EXPERIENCE SCIENCE 49,532 4,498,000,000 Neptune 13** gas giant, rotates backward compared to most other planets, icy insides, rotates on its side, very cold (–215ºC) 11 17 hours 84 years Student Resource 1.2 (p. 12) 51,118 2,871,000,000 Uranus 12 • EXPLORING SPACE • SECTION 1 THE PLANETS 120,536 1,427,000,000 27** gas giant, strong east-west winds, giant swirling red storm, strong magnetic field gas giant, less dense than water (could float), five main rings, thousands of small rings; Its moon Titan is bigger than Mercury and has an atmosphere. 29 years 10.6 hours Thousands 12 years Saturn 35** More than 90,000 have been found and numbered. Some moons of planets may be captured asteroids. Varies; largest takes 4.6 years 10 hours Varies 0 1 Jupiter 142,984 778,000,000 Asteroids 63** rocky planet, red surface, polar ice caps, seasons, volcanoes (including largest in solar system), canyons 6,794 Varies from 940 km to less than 1 km 228,000,000 Varies; most lie between Mars and Jupiter 2 0 25 hours 687 days (about 2 years) Mars Some have, most do not rocky planet, land and ocean areas, polar ice caps, varied land features, only planet with life or liquid water 365.25 days 12,756 150,000,000 Earth 1 0 24 hours (1 day) rocky planet, rotates backward compared to other planets, hottest planet (over 450ºC), covered in thick clouds, atmosphere of carbon dioxide, no water 225 days 243 days 0 12,104 108,000,000 Venus 0 rocky planet, steep cliffs, cratered surface, extreme temperature changes (–173ºC night to 427ºC day) surface temperature 6,100 K, mostly hydrogen and helium, makes energy by fusing hydrogen into helium – 88 days 59 days 25 days – 0 0 – 695,500 0 58,000,000 Sun Mercury 4,880 Features Period of Revolution (in Earth days or years)* Period of Rotation (in Earth days)* Rings Moons Diameter (kilometers)* Distance from Sun (kilometers)* Object gas giant, strong winds, very cold (–235ºC); Its moon Triton orbits opposite to Neptune’s rotation. STUDENT RESOURCE 1.2 INFORMATION SHEET Our Solar System 2. Write the following on the board: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. Point out that the first letter of each word corresponds to the order of the planets from the Sun. Have students write the names of the planets in order from the Sun. 4.Ask students to write “Rocky Planets” and “Gas Giants” on a sheet of paper. Tell them to classify the planets as either rocky or gas giants, using information on the Resource page. (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Pluto are rocky planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are gas giants.) Tell students that the gas giants may have rocky cores. However, these cores have not been observed directly. Making Model Planets Name Date Making Model Planets STUDENT RESOURCE 1.3 ACTIVITY SHEET Draw a circle 1 cm in diameter on the posterboard to represent Earth. Use the table below to determine the sizes of the other planets in your scale model. Planet or Sun Sun Mercury 1,391,900 Diameter Relative to Earth (cm) 0.38 Venus 12,104 0.95 Earth 12,756 1.00 6,794 0.53 Jupiter 142,984 11.21 Saturn 120,536 9.45 Uranus 51,118 4.01 Neptune 49,572 3.89 2,320 0.18 Pluto Objective • Students create scale models that show the sizes of the planets. Materials For each pair 2 2 sh. 2 • 1 *compasses, drawing (optional) • 1 sh. *construction paper, white 1 craft sticks *Not provided in kit 1 *marker, yellow toy car *markers, colored ruler, metric 1 pr. *scissors EXPLORING SPACE • SECTION 1 THE PLANETS • 13 For the teacher construction paper, white 30 cm string Student Resource 1.3 (p. 13) Pairs 109 4,879 Mars Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved. Actual Diameter (km) 30 minutes Student Resource • 1.3 Making Model Planets Inquiry Focus • Use Models *tape, clear 1. Discuss scale models. Show students the toy car. Tell them that the car is a scale model. A scale model shows the relationship between sizes and distances, but it is smaller or larger than the objects it shows. Scale models are often used in science to study very large or very small objects. Ask: What other objects have you seen scale models of? (model trains, airplanes, buildings) Ask: What kinds of very large or very small things (in science) would be good to study using scale models? (Sample answers: solar system, galaxies, oceans, storm systems, atoms, cells) Tell students that they will make scale models of the planets. 2. Distribute the Student Resource. Make copies of Student Resource 1.3, Making Model Planets, and distribute to students. Place students in pairs and distribute materials. SECTION 1 THE PLANETS • 5 Making Model Planets (continued) 3. Explain relative diameter in the model. Begin the activity by reviewing the information on the Resource page. Say that in the model, Earth will be 1 cm in diameter. Explain that “diameter relative to Earth” means the diameter of a planet compared to the diameter of Earth. Ask: Which objects are smaller than Earth (have a relative diameter less than 1 cm)? (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Pluto) Which objects are larger than Earth (have a relative diameter greater than 1 cm)? (Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) A Place the compass in the middle of the diameter line. 4. Students draw scale models. Tell students that, because the Sun is so large, there will be just one Sun in the model. For the other objects, have students draw each planet one at a time. They should start by drawing a line on the construction paper equal to the planet’s diameter relative to Earth. Check students’ ability to measure centimeters and millimeters and assist as needed. After diameter lines are drawn, have students draw a circle around the line by hand or with the compass. (Help students use compasses safely as needed.) 5. Students cut out models. Using the planets posters as a guide, have students color the planets, then cut them out. Students can then cut strings of different lengths and tape them to the planets. Help students tape together two craft sticks in the shape of an “X.” The planets can be hung from the craft sticks as mobiles. Safety Step 4: If available, have students use safety compasses, without sharp points. 6. Display the models. A student pair that finishes early may draw, cut out, and color a large yellow Sun, or you may do this yourself. Hang the mobiles around this Sun. Assessment Ask: Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, has a diameter relative to Earth of 0.40. Is Titan larger or smaller than Earth? (smaller) Titan’s diameter relative to Earth’s Moon is 1.5. Is Titan larger or smaller than the Moon? (larger) 6 • EXPERIENCE SCIENCE Find Planets in the Sky Name Date 20 minutes in class, followed by at-home observations STUDENT RESOURCE 1.4 HOMEWORK SHEET Find Planets in the Sky Imagine a sky map as the inside of a bowl. Hold the “bowl” above your head and look up. The center of the map is straight up and the circle is the horizon. Because the map shows the sky above you, east and west are reversed. If you look south and hold the map overhead, east and west will be correct. Objective • Students observe planets in the night sky. Draw each planet on the sky map. Write the time to look for it. Is it low, medium, or high in the sky? (Low is near the circle edge.) Go outside at night with an adult. Use this map to find planets. Planet: Time: Planet: Time: Planet: Time: look up WEST SOUTH * East and west read correctly when sky map is in use. Parent / Guardian signature: 14 • EXPLORING SPACE • SECTION 1 THE PLANETS Student Resource 1.4 (p. 14) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved. NORTH EAST Whole Class Materials For the teacher Student Resource • 1.4 Find Planets in the Sky • Inquiry Focus • Observe *overhead projector In Advance • Prepare a transparency of Student Resource 1.4, as described on page 2. 1. Introduce the sky map. Ask: Who has seen a planet? (Student answers will vary.) Ask: Has anyone seen a really bright star? (Many students will say yes.) Explain that from Earth, without a telescope, some planets look like bright stars. Project the transparency. Explain that, while stars stay in the same place compared to each other, planets move around. This transparency shows the planets that are visible this month. For homework, students will find these planets in the sky. 2. Students mark location of planets on sky maps. Make copies of Student Resource 1.4, Find Planets in the Sky, and distribute. Have students copy the locations of planets and stars from the transparency, and note when and where the planets can be seen. A Hold the sky map overhead. Safety Step 4: Students must have adult supervision to view stars outside at night. Provide an alternate assignment for students who have no supervision. 3. Students practice using sky maps. Practice using the sky map in the classroom. Discuss the cardinal directions, pointing out north, south, east, and west. Then have students face south and hold the map above their heads. Note that east and west are correct on the map when it is held in this position. 4. Students practice locating planets. Take students outside to the playground. Again, point out north, south, east, and west. Then face students in the direction they should face at night to see the planets. Point to the height in the sky where you viewed each planet. Explain that a playground is a good place to view the night sky, if they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. Students should have their homework sheets signed by their adult. SECTION 1 THE PLANETS • 7