Essential Skills and Information to Master
The student will investigate and understand the characteristics of Earth and the solar system. Key concepts include
a) position of Earth in the solar system;
b) sun-Earth-moon relationships (seasons, tides, and eclipses);
c) characteristics of the sun, planets and their moons, comets, meteors, and asteroids; and
d) the history and contributions of space exploration.
- The solar system consists of many types of celestial bodies. Earth is the third planet from the sun and is located between the sun and the asteroid belt. It has one natural satellite, the moon. Water occurs on Earth as a solid (ice), a liquid, or a gas (water vapor) due to Earth’s position in the solar system.
- There are essentially two types of planets in our solar system. The four inner (terrestrial) planets consist mostly of solid rock. The four outer planets are gas giants, consisting of thick outer layers of gaseous materials, perhaps with small rocky cores.
- The dwarf planet, Pluto, has an unknown composition but appears to be solid. It is part of the Kuiper Belt.
- Moons are natural satellites of planets and vary widely in composition.
- Comets orbit the sun and consist mostly of frozen gases.
- A meteoroid is debris located outside Earth's atmosphere; a meteor is debris located within Earth's atmosphere; and a meteorite is debris that has broken apart into smaller pieces before reaching Earth's surface.
- Asteroids are usually leftover debris of the formation of the solar system, or creations of the collisions of other asteroids.
- The atmosphere of Venus is mostly carbon dioxide and very dense. The atmosphere of Mars is very thin and mostly carbon dioxide.
- Much of our knowledge about the solar system is a result of space exploration efforts. These efforts continue to improve our understanding of the solar system.
- differentiate between the inner (terrestrial) planets and the outer (gaseous) planets and their corresponding atmospheric characteristics.
- compare and contrast the internal makeup of the four inner planets and explain why they vary so significantly.
- compare and contrast the atmospheres, planetary makeup, surface conditions, and rotation of the planets.
- compare the classification of the dwarf planet Pluto to the planets in relation to its orbit, and its similarity to other objects in the Kuiper Belt.
- compare and contrast the defining characteristics among moons, comets, meteoroids, and asteroids.
- compare and contrast the characteristics of Venus, Earth, Mercury, and Mars, and interpret various reasons why each planet has such characteristics.
- analyze the array of climate feedback mechanisms that control the Earth’s temperature over time, and compare and contrast these feedback mechanisms to those operating on inner planets and the gas giants.
- The solar nebular theory is our best current idea for the origin of the solar system. The solar nebular theory explains that the planets formed through the condensing of the solar nebula.
- The solar system is located in the Milky Way galaxy.