Download doc - UWM

Questionnaire Answers
After students have completed the Post-Visit Questionnaire, discuss
each topic with your class.
The Sun turns off at night. FALSE. We can’t see the Sun at night, but it does not
turn off. Earth is always rotating on its axis, so the Sun appears to move across
the sky. At sunrise, the Earth’s rotation brings our homes into sunlight. By midday,
the Earth has rotated so the Sun is high in the sky. At sunset, the Earth rotates so
that the Sun goes below the horizon. During the night the Earth keeps rotating,
so the Sun can rise again.
Stars are only out at night. False. During the day the Sun’s light is so bright
that it overwhelms the light we get from stars since they are so much farther
away from the Sun.
The Sun, Moon and stars are always in the same places in the sky.
FALSE. As the Earth rotates, the Sun, Moon and stars appear to move across the
sky. They rise and set. Also, the Moon orbits the Earth once a month and the
Earth orbits the Sun once a year, so the Moon and Sun pass through different
parts of the sky.
Days in the winter are longer. FALSE. During the winter the days are shorter
because of the Earth’s tilt along its axis. Where we live, the Earth is tilting away
from the Sun.
The Earth is larger than the Sun. FALSE. The Sun is the largest object in our
solar system. It would take one million Earths to equal the size of the Sun.
The Sun is a star. TRUE. The Sun is a medium-sized star, much like many of the
stars you can see in the sky at night. This star is located at the center of our solar
system. Without the energy created by the Sun, life on Earth would not be
possible.
You cannot see the Earth by looking up at the sky at night. TRUE. We
cannot see the Earth when we look up because we are standing on it. This is like
not being able to see your own eyes because they are on your face.