SPACE SCIENCE

Rotation and Revolution

Rotation: the act of an object spinning on its axis

Revolution: the path that all planets and smaller celestial objects make AROUND THE SUN or another object

Great videos and Representations

http://sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/messenger/psc/PlanetSize.html Interactive Planet Size Comparison

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov5AHcCQtd8 (Planet and Stars size comparison 3 min)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zYlWTrp6JE How the Universe was Made clip about Stars and Size

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JdWlSF195Y (“They Might Be Giants” The Sun is a Mass 2.5 min)

Sun and Inner Planets

Sun: The luminous celestial body around which Earth and other planets revolve and receive heat and light

Planet: Any of the large celestial bodies that revolve around the Sun in the Solar System

Inner Planet: the four rocky planets closest to the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

Outer Planet: the large, gaseous planets past the asteroid belt: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

The Moon: the celestial satellite that orbits our planet

Asteroid: a small to large chunk of rock that typically orbits in an area between Mars and Jupiter, known as the Asteroid Belt

Comet: a body of rock and ice that travels around the Sun in an extreme elliptical path

Meteor: small chunks of iron and rock that travel through space, we see them as “shooting stars” as they burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. Occasionally, they hit Earth and their name changes to meteorite.

Galilean Moons: Jupiter’s four largest moons, named after their discoverer, Galileo Galilei. They are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Inner Planets- Rocky, Terrestrial- Small in comparison to the outer planets- Closer to the Sun

Mercury Venus Earth Mars

Outer Planets Gaseous Planets, no solid surface Largest Very spread apart Very far away from the sun

Size comparison of all planets

The whole Solar System!

Distances between Planets

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Our Galaxy

The Milky WayIf we are in the Milky Way Galaxy, how can we see parts of it in the night sky?

Our location in the Milky Way

Why can’t we take a picture of our own galaxy?

How does Gravity fit in?So what do we know about gravity? We know that it causes any two objects in the universe to be drawn to one another. We know that gravity assisted in forming the universe and that it keeps the moon in orbit around the Earth.

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/tlc/29805-understanding-gravity-video.htm