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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