The Solar System

Big Question: Why don’t we travel to Venus (it’s closer than Mars)?

Main Resources

SunandInnerPlanets2020
Outer Planets2020

Objectives

    • Describe how the Solar System formed.

    • Explain how the sun produces energy and light.

    • Describe sunspot cycles of the sun that can have an effect on earth.

    • Use ratios, proportions, or a scale factor to determine the scale sizes of the planets.

    • Display correct and relevant facts about each planet in the solar system.

    • Compare terrestrial planets, gas giants, ice giants, and dwarf planets.

Warm-ups

12/14 - What would a model of the solar system be like if it used the same scale for distance as for planet size? (Sun 1.5 m, Earth 1.35 cm, etc.) To Scale: The Solar System - youtube.com

12/17 - What is the Sun? Make a list of properties and observations that help answer this question.

The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas music video (2:40) and the correction song, The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma (1:56) - They Might be Giants music videos at schooltube.com.

1/4 - What are auroras? What causes them?

1/7 - What do you think are the hardest challenges of going to Mars and back? Is it worth it? Should people go to Mars? NOVA ScienceNow: Can We Make It to Mars?

1/11 - What is Pluto like? Why do you think it is no longer considered a planet?

1/14 - How do you brush your teeth in space? Chris Hadfield Brushes his Teeth in Space - youtube

Keywords

  • Constellation

  • Ecliptic

  • Plasma (state of matter)

  • Sunspot

  • Solar Flare

  • Spectrograph or Spectrometer (Old ES pgs. 570-571)

  • Astronomical Unit (IS pg. )

  • Planet

  • Dwarf Planet

  • Terrestrial Planet

  • Gas Giant

  • Asteroid Belt (IS pgs. 499, 502

  • Meteoroid (IS pg. 503)

  • Meteor

  • Meteorite

  • Retrograde Rotation

  • Density (IS pgs. 357, 566-567, 622)

  • Planetary Ring

  • Tilt of Axis

  • Kuiper Belt object (IS pg. 500)

  • Oort Cloud

  • Comets (IS pg. 501)

Websites

Space Oddity by Chris Hadfield - youtube.com - Cover of "Space Oddity by David Bowie. Music video performed on the space station.

Sun

The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas music video (2:40) and the correction song, The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma (1:56) - They Might be Giants music videos at schooltube.com.

The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas music video (2:40) and the correction song, The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma (1:56) - They Might be Giants music videos at schooltube.com.

THE SUN - billnye.com - Bill Nye the Science Guy episode on the Sun.

Sun - spaceplace.nasa.gov

Planets and Planetoids

Nine Planets - Solar System Tour - nineplanets.org

Planets - windows2universe.org

Planets - science.nationalgeographic.com - Last paragraph has a description of the most important discoveries by space probes.

Nasa - nasa.gov - Everything space related.

SPACE-Facts.com - Interesting facts about space. Highlights: Ceres Facts, Pluto Facts, Makemake Facts, Eris Facts, Haumea Facts.

When Is a Planet Not a Planet? - theatlantic.com

THESE ARE THE BEST PHOTOS OF PLUTO ANY HUMAN HAS EVER SEEN - popsci.com

NOVA: Pluto Files (2010) 53 mins - pbs.org

To Scale: The Solar System - youtube.com - On a dry lakebed in Nevada, a group of friends build the first scale model of the solar system with complete planetary orbits: a true illustration of our place in the universe.

From Sun to Oort: A solar photon's journey 2:36 mins - youtube.com - Rapping the solar system.

NOVA ScienceNOW: Can we Make it to Mars? (2011) 53 mins - pbs.org

NOVA: Origins of the Solar System (2011) 13 mins - pbs.org

Asteroid Watch - jpl.nasa.gov - News on dwarf planets, comets, asteroids, meteoroids and space junk.

Astronomy 121: The Formation and Evolution of the Solar System - abyss.uoregon.edu - Written lectures to an introductory class taught at University of Oregon.

Astronomy 161: The Solar System - csep10.phys.utk.edu - The Solar System introductory class notes taught at the University of Tennessee.