Download Outline #3

Name:
What Holds Planets and the Moon In Place
At first it was believed that the sun and planets revolved around the
Earth. But now we know the moon and planets _______________ around
the ___________. All of the planet’s orbits around the sun are not perfectly
circular. Instead they are considered ____________________, which means
it is shaped liked a flattened circle. Because of this each planet is closer to
the sun during certain times of its ________________ than at others.
Earth’s orbit is nearly circular.
Read pages 362 and 363 first. Then do this paragraph as you
normally would. This is an important chunk of information that has amazed
and awed people and scientists for eternity.
_______________ and _______________ are the two reasons planets
just don’t fall off into space. ________________ is a property of matter that
keeps objects moving in a straight line unless pulled or pushed by another
force. ________________ is the attraction between one object in space and
another object. Planets moving in space, a vacuum (no air), would travel in
a straight line if ___________________ ________________ did not change
its motion. This is the same reason why the moon stays in an orbit around
the Earth. Because gravitational force and inertia are in ________________
the average distance of any planet from the sun stays constant or never
changes.
As the Earth travels around the sun, the ____________ travels around
the __________________. When the moon is closest to the Earth it is
_____________ miles away. Both rotate as they revolve, and the moon
completes one rotation every ___________________. It also takes this long
for the moon to ________________ around the Earth. Due to this incredible
coincident, we only see __________ side of the moon at all times. The side
of the moon we never see used to be referred to as the ___________
_______. Watch out all you jedi knights! The moon does not emit its own
light but rather _____________ the sun’s light down to us on Earth.
_______________ of the moon is the shape the moon seems to be from
Earth.
Even though in movies and videos it seems as though astronauts in
space are “weightless” this is not the case. Again, this is due to
______________ and _______________ working in balance. The two
movements, falling toward Earth(gravity) and continuing to move in
space(inertia) are balanced. How crazy cool that the curve of the path a
shuttle or astronaut “falling” toward Earth is the same curve as the Earth’s
surface. This makes it seem that nothing is really moving. GOT IT? It’s a
huge concept. You should investigate further!
Extra Time? Draw and label the phases of the moon below. Put in the Earth
and the sun. Refer to page 365.