Solar System
This planet is closest to the Sun.
What is Mercury?
This object orbits around a planet or a star.
What is a satellite?
A small piece of an asteroid or comet that burns in Earth’s atmosphere.
What is a meteor?
The amount of matter in an object.
What is mass?
The first animal to orbit Earth was this animal.
What is a dog? (Laika)
This is the largest planet in the solar system.
What is Jupiter?
This natural rock object orbits around a planet.
What is a moon?
A ball of frozen gas and dust that orbits the Sun.
What is a comet?
The pull of gravity on an object.
What is weight?
Name 2 benefits of space exploration.
Answers may include: new technology, learning about space, jobs, GPS, weather satellites, better communication, etc.
Mars is considered to be a gas giant. T or F?
What is false? Mars is a rocky planet, not a gas giant.
These satellites help with GPS, weather, and communication.
What are human-made satellites?
A massive ball of hot gas that gives Earth heat and light.
What is the Sun?
Your weight changes depending on the strength of this force.
What is gravity?
Name 2 costs or risks of space exploration.
Answers may include: danger to astronauts, spacecraft failure, high cost, space debris, radiation exposure, etc.
This is the system with the Sun, planets, moons, meteors, comets, and space debris.
What is the Solar System?
These satellites take pictures of Earth to help scientists track storms and climate changes.
What are weather satellites?
The famous meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013.
What is the Chelyabinsk meteor?
Astronauts lose muscle in space because they float and don’t need to use their muscles against gravity.
What is this low-gravity condition called?
What is microgravity?
Astronauts must do this daily to keep bones and muscles strong in space.
What is exercise?
These planets have solid surfaces, like Earth.
What are rocky planets? They have hard crusts.
These satellites send signals so we can use phones and GPS on Earth.
What are communication satellites?
A gas giant planet with a series of rings.
What is Saturn?
A person weighs 50 lb on Earth. Jupiter’s gravity is about 2.4 times stronger. How much would they weigh on Jupiter?
What is 120 lb? 50 × 2.4 = 120 lb
Astronauts need special equipment to stay strong in space because their bodies do not use these parts as much without gravity.
What are muscles and bones?
(Microgravity causes muscle and bone loss)