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Astronomy
Part 1: Earth’s orbit, seasons, and time
What is Astronomy?
• Astronomy is the scientific study of the
universe
• By studying the universe, scientists can find
information that helps us understand how
Earth and our solar system formed as well as
discovering new planets, stars, black holes,
comets, asteroids and other celestial bodies.
The Organization of the Universe
The Universe is all of space and can be broken down
into the following parts from largest to smallest
• Galaxy (we are in the Milky Way Galaxy)
• Solar System
• Sun, Earth and all the planets in the solar system
Scientists use astronomical units (AU) to measure
distances between objects in space.
Read Article
“NASA Finds 3 New Planets Where Life
Could Exist”
Annotate and answer the questions at the end 
Earth’s Orbit
• An orbit is the path that a planet, star, moon, or other
celestial body follows as it travels around a sun or other body
in space
• Earth’s orbit is in the shape of an ellipse
Measuring Time
• Earth’s movements provide the basis for measuring
time
• Each day is determined by the Earth’s rotation on
it’s axis
• Each year is determined by the Earth’s revolution
around the sun
Act It Out!
Earth, Moon, Sun Activity
How do the Sun, Earth and Moon
all move in orbits at one time?
• Sun, Earth, & Moon Animations at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W47Wa7onrIQ
Calendars and
Time Zones
• Calendars- a year is 365 and ¼ days long and since we
can’t do ¼th of a day, we have an extra day on Leap
Year to make up for it.
• Our months are measured due to the phases of the
moon
• Time Zones -since the sun does not hit the Earth
everywhere at once, we have to have time zones to
adjust for various places on Earth
• Daylight savings -we adjust our clocks to adapt to
summer days being longer and winter days being
shorter
The Seasons
• Seasonal Weather– we have seasons on Earth
because during the winter months the Earth is tilted
away from the sun and during the summer months
the Earth is tilted toward the sun.
Equinoxes and Solstices
• Equinoxes— Fall and spring begin on these
days and it is the time of the year when
the amount of daylight and darkness are
equal
• Solstices –Summer and winter begin on
the solstices. The winter solstice has the
least amount of daylight of the year and
the summer solstice has the most amount
of daylight of the year
Bill Nye: Earth’s Seasons! (22min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuJoh8gi05g
ASTRONOMY: PART 2
The Moon
The Moon
• A body that orbits a larger body is
called a satellite
• A natural satellite that Earth has is
our moon
• The moon has lots of craters in it that
were formed when debris left over
from the creation of the solar system
struck it billions of years ago
• WATCH BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY:
THE MOON!
Eclipses
Lunar Eclipse —Lunar
eclipses happen when
Earth is between the
moon and the sun and
Earth’s shadow falls on
the moon
Solar Eclipse —
happens when the
moon is directly
between the sun and
part of the Earth and
the shadow of the
moon falls on Earth
“Where did the Moon Go” Activity
•
“Where did the Sun Go” Activity
Phases of the Moon
Fun Oreo moon phases activity!
ASTRONOMY: PART 3
The Sun
The Sun
• The sun is a burning ball of gas that is so bright we
really should not look directly at it since it can
damage our eyes
• A process called nuclear fusion produces most of
the sun’s energy…this occurs when some of the
nuclei of some atoms combine to form a large
nucleus which releases large amounts of energy
Solar Activity
• Sun Spots —dark areas of the sun
that are cooler than the surrounding
areas and have a strong magnetic
field
• Solar flare —an explosive release of
energy that comes from the sun and
that is associated with magnetic
disturbances on the sun’s surface
• Auroras – colored light produced by
charged particles from the solar wind
and magnetosphere that react with
and excite elements in the Earth’s
upper atmosphere. Usually seen
near the poles of the Earth
Parts of
the Sun
Activity about the Sun!
ASTRONOMY PART 4:
The Solar System
Our Solar System
• Our solar system consists of the sun and all of the
planets and other celestial bodies that revolve
around the sun.
The Inner Planets
•
•
•
•
The inner planets are terrestrial planets because they
consist mostly of solid rock and have metallic cores
Mercury-the planet closest to the sun
Venus-the 2nd planet from the sun. In some ways, it is
considered to be Earth’s twin because they have similar
size, mass, and density
Earth—the 3rd planet from the sun
Mars—4th planet from the sun
The Outer
Planets
The outer planets are called the “Gas Giants” because they are
large planets that have deep, massive atmospheres made
mostly of gas.
• Jupiter—5th planet from the sun…the largest planet
• Saturn—6th planet from the sun…even though other planets
have rings, Saturn’s rings are the most complex and extensive
• Uranus—7th planet from the sun
• Neptune—8th planet from the sun
• Pluto—9th planet?…you decide!
Solar System activity
Asteroids, Comets &
Meteoroids
• Asteroids are fragments of rock that
orbit the sun…most of our solar system’s
asteroids are located in a band between
Mars and Jupiter
• Comets are small bodies of rock, ice and
cosmic dust that follow an elliptical orbit
around the sun and give off gas and dust
in the form of a tail as it passes close to
the sun
• Meteoroids are relatively small, rocky
bodies that travel through space…we
can see meteors when they come to
Earth because the meteoroid burns up
when it hits our atmosphere
What is Life?
1. Is a piece of fruit or a blade of grass alive? Can you say
something is alive if you only have a piece of it? (like a
slice of orange)
A piece of something that is/was alive is evidence of life and would
qualify as real evidence for scientists looking for life
2. What about fire….is it alive?
Wildfire uses raw materials, moves, grows, produces waste, responds to
its environment by changing direction with the wind or going out in
the rain. It also reproduces by its sparks starting new fires
3. What are some things that are true for living creatures
but not for fire?
Organisms are self-contained chemical systems with consistent shapes
and predictable behaviors. Importantly they can produce offspring
that exhibit genetic variation
• Nova video clip: “Life’s Basic Ingredients”
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/asset/nvfl_vid_ingredients/
Life’s Basic Ingredient Questions
How do Asteroids, Comets, and Craters
Help Us In The Search For Life?
• Comets and asteroids
deliver water and
chemicals to planets
and moons when they
collide with them.
• Evidence of these
collisions can be found
in craters throughout
the solar system
Nova video clip: “Comets Bombard the
Early Earth
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/education/space/cometsbombard.html
Extreme Living
• What is the hottest place you have ever been
to?..the Coldest?...the Saltiest?
• Name some organisms that live in hot, cold, or
salty environments
Yellowstone hot spring
extreme bacteria
Extreme Living
• Some organisms thrive in places with amazingly
harsh conditions.
• Some of the hardiest organisms are microbes
• Microbes are tiny…only as big as one cell
• Bacteria are one type of microbe
• Most microbes are harmless, in fact many help
us in important ways
Nova Video Clips:
“Life’s Extreme Environments”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/education/space/extremeenvironments.html
“Microbial Life in Antarctica”
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvfl.sci.space.antar
ctica/microbial-life-in-antarctica/
“Thriving on the Arctic Seafloor”
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvfl.sci.space.hydro
thermal/thriving-on-the-arctic-seafloor/
Game: “Can Living Things Live Here?”
Where to Look for Life?
• Many scientists are convinced that
habitable conditions exist beyond Earth
and that the solar system offers several
possible places that may be, or have
been, able to support life.
• Sending spacecraft out to look for life is
expensive and can take a long time
• Scientists narrow their search by
understanding what makes a planet or
moon habitable
Nova videos
Life on Endeladas?
Life on Europa?
Life on Mars?
Life on Titan?
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/nvfl/
Habitability Cards
As a group, decide which planets and moons on the
habitability cards would go in the following categories:
1. Most likely habitable
2. Possibly habitable
3. Most likely NOT habitable
Place cards in the category you think it belongs on the category poster
Once you are done categorizing all your cards, compare your answers to
the NOVA chart to see how you did!
Big Bang: The Theory
• In 1920, Edwin Hubble observed that the universe was
expanding in his observations of light from other
galaxies in relation to Earth.
• Hubble’s Law —the farther something was away from
Earth, the faster it seemed to be moving away.
• The Theory —about 15 billion years ago, the universe
was compressed into a small space then exploded in a
sudden burst of energy that created a small, super
dense, extremely hot universe that began to expand in
all directions. Over time, things cooled and tiny bits of
matter clumped together to form stars and galaxies.
Big Bang Theory: Beginnings
• All things are made from stuff that contains different
types of atoms called elements
• Atom-- the smallest particle of a chemical element that
has all the properties of that element.
• Element-one of the materials from which all other
materials are made. Each element has its own kind of
atom.
• The periodic table is a way to place elements in an
organized fashion (according to chemical properties*)
*Lightest elements are at the top of the periodic table, heaviest
elements are at the bottom.
Big Bang Theory: Beginnings
• So where did all these elements come from???
• Scientists think that something called a “Big Bang”
occurred which is like a very large star that suffers
from gas pains
• 16 billion years ago there was no light, space, or
time. Then something incredible happened. We
don’t know what started it but scientist have some
ideas of what most likely occurred.
Big Bang Theory: Elements are Born
• All matter was squeezed together into a space
smaller than a pinhead
• Because of the “Big Bang” our universe expanded
from that pinhead of matter into all everything
astronomers cans see and beyond
• After the bang, the universe was incredibly hot and
full of all the stuff galaxies are made of
• About this time the element hydrogen came into
existence
Big Bang Balloon Activity
Big Bang Theory: Stars
• The universe continued to expand
• Hydrogen began to lump together into stars
• Stars burn hydrogen and change hydrogen into new,
heavier elements
• As stars age, they burn the heavy elements into even
more heavy elements
• When a star converts ALL of its elements into iron, it
stops shining because it cannot burn iron.
• Scientists can tell our sun is still pretty young since
there is so little iron
Big Bang: Other Elements?
• Notice that none of the most common elements go
past iron on the periodic chart. How did all the
elements heavier than iron come into existence?
• Stellar Gas! (star farts)
• Some stars burn very brightly and quickly so they
burn up fuel fast. They start to cool off and get
taken over by gravity then go SUPER NOVA!
Big Bang: Super Nova
• Super nova is when a very large star burns off its
fuel, cools, collapses and jets off some of its
material (star fart!)
• This “fart” causes the star to cool and makes it
collapse so much that it explodes very violently.
• Right before it explodes, a very small portion of its
atoms are converted to elements heavier than iron
that are flung into space.
In a Nutshell…
Big Bang Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVsHjnYo9s&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ip5BAEfZuA
National Geographic’s: Birth of a Universe
Part 1-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV0ACIykxQI
Part2— http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phVZpy1BeM\
Part3— http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK375XB3v08
Part4— http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr8zLAxPs-A