Stars
The Sun is actually this type of object.
What is a star?
What star do all eight planets in our solar system orbit?
What is the Sun?
Earth spins around this imaginary line that runs through the North and South Poles.
What is axis?
The movement of an object spinning around its own axis.
What is rotation?
Which is bigger: Earth or the Sun?
What is the Sun?
The Sun appears much larger and brighter than other stars because it is the ______ star to Earth.
Closest star and only star in our solar system :)
What planet is third from the Sun? What makes it special?
What is Earth? It has life and water!
Earth takes about this long to complete one rotation.
What is 24 hours?
The movement of one object traveling around another object. BONUS: Give me an example of what moves and what it moves around
What is revolution or orbit?
Why would it be day time in 12 hours in Cincinnati at 1 am?
Earth rotates around its axis
Stars close to Earth include the sun, Alpha Centauri, and Barnard’s star. How is the sun different from Alpha Centauri and Barnard’s star?
It is the only star in our solar system
What is the size and composition of the inner planets? Outer?
Inner: smaller planets, rocks and metals
Outer: larger planets, ice and gas
Earth takes about this long to make one complete revolution around the Sun.
What is 365 days (about one year)?
The large collection of planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and other objects that orbit the Sun.
What is the solar system?
If you traveled from Earth toward the Sun, which planet would you reach first?
Venus
A group of stars that appears to form a recognizable pattern in the sky is called this. Bonus: Do you see the same patterns throughout the year? Why?
Constellation- no because the earth revolves around the sun
What happens to the orbit period as the planets get further from the sun?
Planets take longer to orbit as they get further away form the sun because the orbital path gets longer.
It is daytime in Ohio, but it is nighttime on the opposite side of Earth. What motion of Earth causes this pattern?
What is Earth's rotation?
A rocky object that travels around the Sun but is too small to be classified as a planet? There is a bunch of these inbetween the inner and outer planets
What is an asteroid?
Imagine Earth suddenly stopped revolving around the Sun but continued rotating. What major change would occur?
Earth would no longer follow its normal orbit around the Sun and we would die
Why is Polaris used for navigation?
Polaris appears to remain in the same position
Imagine that the Sun's gravitational force suddenly disappeared. What would happen to Earth's orbit?
Earth would no longer stay in its orbit and would continue moving in a different path through space
A student notices that a flagpole's shadow changes length and direction during the day. What causes this predictable change and how does the shadow change?
The Earths Rotation and suns position. The shadow is long in the morning and short midday and long in evening again.
A mixture of ice and dust that travels in the solar system. Usually located outside of the outer planets.
What is a comet?
Two students are looking at the same star. Student A says, “That must be the biggest star because it looks the brightest.” Student B says, “Not necessarily.” Who is correct, and why?
Student B. A star can appear brighter because it is closer to Earth, even if it isn't the biggest or most powerful star.