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 Engage: Review a picture of the planets
 Explore: Analyze clues to the solar systems’ formation
 Explain: Develop a class model of solar system formation,
compare with a scientifically accepted formation model
 Describe the concepts of gravity
 Relate to general make-up of the solar system
 Extend: Life in the solar system
 Hypothesize where life might be possible in the solar system
 Briefly discuss the wide diversity of life on Earth
 Discuss the effects of gravity on the characteristics of an
atmosphere
 Evaluate: Given the characteristics of extra-solar planets,
make a supportable prediction about the characteristics of
its atmosphere.
Compare/contrast the 8 planets in our solar system with
each other.
• How are they alike? How are they different?
• Is there a pattern to their similarities or differences?
Engage
 Learning target: Earth is the third planet from the Sun in a
system with eight planets. These planets differ in size,
composition, and atmosphere. These differences originated
very early in the formation of the solar system (6-8 ES1B)
 What students need to know
 Planets: objects that orbit the Sun, are spherical and have
cleared their orbit of debris
 Density: mass/volume
 Gravity: the pull objects have on each other because of their
mass
 Atmosphere: the gas gravitationally bound to a planet
 What students need to do
 interpret graphs
 make inferences from data
Explore
 You will get a clue (observable fact) about the formation of
the solar system
1. What does your single clue tell you about how the solar
system was formed?
2. Find two classmates with different clues. What does the set
of three clues tell you about how the solar system was
formed?
3. Look at all of the clues. What does the set of all of the clues
tell you about how the solar system was formed? Relate
each inference you make to a specific clue
4. Each group will pick a representative description to read to
the class.
Explore
 All planets orbit in nearly the same plane
 All planets revolve around the Sun counterclockwise as
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viewed above Earth’s North Pole
Nearly all planets rotate counterclockwise as viewed
above Earth’s North Pole
All four inner planets have a high mean density
All four outer planets have a low mean density
All of the giant planets have rings
Earth, Mars, meteorites and Sun are all about 4.6
billion years old
The Sun rotates counterclockwise as viewed above
Earth’s North Pole
Explore
 Oldest Earth rock – 4.3 b yrs (based on radioactive dating)
 Oldest Moon rock – 4.5 billion yrs
 Oldest Mars rock – 4.6 billion yrs
 Oldest meteorite – 4.6 billion yrs
 Sun’s age (based on rate of nuclear reactions at the Sun’s
core) – 5.0 billion years
 Many different clues point to an old solar system
 Concepts in science class are based on the best available
evidence
 Most mainline religious denominations agree with the
finding of an old solar system
Explore
The Origin of the Solar System
 Our own planetary
system formed in
such a disk-shaped
cloud around the
sun.
 When the sun became
luminous enough, the
remaining gas and dust were
blown away into space—
leaving the
planets orbiting the sun.
 Simulation of this process
Explain
 Newton’s three laws of motion
 Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation
Explain
 From his study of the work of Galileo, Kepler, and
others, Newton extracted three laws that relate the
motion of a body to the forces acting on it.
Explain
 Forces occur in pairs.
 Gravity must be universal.
 That is, all objects that contain mass must attract all
other masses in the universe.
 The force of gravity decreases as the square of
the distance between the objects increases.
 If the distance from the Earth to the moon were doubled, the
gravitational force between them would decrease by a factor
of 22, or 4.
 If the distance were tripled, the force would decrease by a
factor of 32, or 9.
 This relationship is known as the inverse square relation.
Explain
 The mass of an object is a measure of the amount of
matter in the object—usually expressed in kilograms.
 Mass is not the same as weight.
 An object’s weight is the force that Earth’s gravity exerts
on the object.
 Thus, an object in space far from Earth might have no
weight.
 However, it would contain the same amount of matter
and would thus have the same mass that it has on Earth.
Explain
 What general pattern(s)
do you observe about the
density variation?
 How does this pattern
relate to the accepted
model of solar system
formation?
 Write your answers in
your notebook.
 Pick a representative
entry to read to the class.
Planet
Mean density
(g/cm3)
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
5.42
5.24
5.50
3.94
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
1.31
0.70
1.30
Neptune 1.66
Explain
Solicit student evidence:
Asked question about planet
density variation and
relationship to our model
Provide standards-focused
feedback: Related each group’s
response the standard
(composition difference) and
a key skill (infer from data)
Evaluate student
understanding: Each
group read their
response.
 Big picture statement of solar system formation: The
important factor was temperature.
 The inner nebula was hot, and only metals and rock could
condense there.
 The cold outer nebula could
form lots of ices in addition
to metals and rocks.
 The ice line seems to have
been between Mars and
Jupiter—it separates the
formation of the dense
terrestrial planets from
that of the low-density
Jovian planets.
Explain
 You will apply your knowledge about planet
characteristics and density to infer where in the solar
system, besides Earth, life might be found.
 Five main criteria to investigate to determine if life is
possible
 Temperature, Water, Atmosphere, Energy, Nutrients
 Each group will decide whether life is likely, possible or
unlikely for each object.
 Decide on your top three candidates for life (in order,
excluding Earth)
 Trading cards and other astrobiology curriculum
Extend
Object
1st place pts
2nd place pts 3rd place pts
Total
Defend your top choice with a 2-3 sentence
paragraph that includes supporting evidence. Read
your sentence to the class.
Extend
Object
1st place pts
2nd place pts 3rd place pts
Total
Titan
Europa
Mars
Callisto
Ganyemede
Io
Moon
3
3
18
4
8
9
13
19
3
1
2
1
2
2
1
1
1
2
2
1
Defend your top choice with a 2-3 sentence
paragraph that includes supporting evidence. Read
your sentence to the class.
Extend
1.
Sea Ice (extreme cold)
2.
Hydrothermal vents (extreme heat and high metal content)
3.
Sulfuric Springs (extreme heat and highly acidic)
4.
Salt Lake (extreme salt concentrations)
5.
Soda Lake (extreme salt concentration and highly alkaline)
Extend
 Extreme environments on Earth are thought to be
very similar to extreme environments that exist
elsewhere in space
 Microorganisms that thrive in Earth extreme
environments are thought to be likely candidates for
the types of biota that may exist in extraterrestrial
habitats
 Mars is postulated to have extremophilic regions
including permafrost, hydrothermal vents, and
evaporite crystals
Mars
 Europa is thought to have a subsurface ocean
Extend
Europa
 A combination of a planet’s
gravity and surface
temperature influence its
atmosphere.
 Larger planets have a greater
gravitational pull on particles
in their atmosphere.
 The mean velocity of a bunch
of particles is set by the
temperature of the planet's
surface.
 Light elements are moving
faster than the heavy
elements and can reach
escape velocity.
Evaluate
System A characteristics
 Planet A: Upsilon
Andromedae c
 Twice the mass of Jupiter
 0.83 AU from its star
(Earth is 1.0 AU from the
Sun)
 Star A: Upsilon
Andromedae
 Nearly the same size and
temperature as the Sun
System B characteristics
 Planet B: Gliese 581 d
 7X the mass of Earth
(Uranus is 14X mass of
Earth)
 About 0.2 AU from its star
(Mercury is 0.4 AU from
the Sun)
 Star B: Gliese 581
 About one third the radius
and mass of the Sun
 T=3,000oc (Sun T=6,000oc)
Evaluate
 Use the planet and star characteristics as well as the
escape velocity vs. temperature graph to make a
supportable prediction about the atmosphere of each
mystery planet.
 Write your predictions and supporting evidence in
your notebook.
 Pick a representative prediction (with support) to read
to the class.
Evaluate
Upsilon Andromedae c
 Since this planet is more
massive than Jupiter, it has a
large gravitational pull and
higher escape velocity than
Jupiter.
 It is closer to its star than
Jupiter but the additional
heat does not make many
particles in the atmosphere
move fast enough to escape.
 This planet has an
atmosphere dominated by H
and He.
Gliese 581 d
 Since this planet is half the
mass of Uranus, it has a
smaller escape velocity.
 It is closer to its star than
Mercury but its star is much
cooler than the Sun meaning
it will be cooler and the
atmosphere particles not
moving as fast.
 This planet would probably
be located near or below the
He line on the graph meaning
it would have little or no H
and could be more Earth-like.
Evaluate
Solicit student evidence:
Asked question about planet
atmosphere
Provide standards-focused
feedback: Related each
response the standard
(atmosphere difference) and a
key skill (infer from data)
Evaluate student
understanding:
Instructor briefly read
each student response.