Transcript Earth - TeacherWeb

Planet
Earth
Part Two:
Our Solar
System
Section 1: Classifications
Our Solar System is made up of nine* planets
and one sun.
Some scientists dispute the number of planets and
suggest that Pluto not be classified as a planet, due to
its size and lack of control over its orbital path.
Does Pluto qualify to be a
planet?
For an object to
be a planet, it
needs to meet
these three
requirements
defined by the
International
Astronomical
Union (IAU).
It needs to
be in orbit
around the
Sun.
Number One
Yes, Pluto does orbit around the Sun, so
maybe Pluto is a planet?
Number TWO
It needs to
have enough
gravity to pull
itself into a
spherical
shape.
Yep, that’s a spherical shape!
Pluto
Basketball
It needs to
have "cleared
the
neighborhood
" of its orbit.
Number Three
What does
"cleared its
neighborhood"
mean?
As planets form, they become the dominant
gravitational body in their orbit in the Solar System.
As they
interact
with other,
smaller
objects,
they either
consume
them,
or sling them away with their gravity.
Pluto is only 0.07 times the mass of the other
objects in its orbit. The Earth, in comparison, has
1.7 million times the mass of the other objects
in its orbit.
Any object that
doesn't meet
this 3rd criteria
is considered a
dwarf planet.
And so, Pluto is
a dwarf planet.
There are still many
objects with similar
size and mass to
Pluto jostling around
in its orbit. And until
Pluto crashes into
many of them and
gains mass, it will
remain a dwarf
planet.
So for the sake of this lesson we will
consider Pluto a Dwarf planet.
What are the two classifications of planets in
our Solar System?
Inner vs. Outer or Rocky vs. Gas
Planets correct!
Can anyone name the four Inner or Rocky planets?
That’s correct, the Inner or Rocky
planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and
Mars.
Can anybody
name the
five Outer or
Gas planets?
Correct, the outer planets are Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
Let’s Review! (Section 1)
1.) How many planets are there in our Solar System?
a) 11
b)10
c) 9
d)8
Let’s Review! (Section 1)
2.) What are the two classifications that we can
divide the planets in our Solar System into?
a) Rock and Inner
b) Gas and Outer
c) Inner and Outer
d) Innie and Outtie
e) Rock and Gas
Let’s Review! (Section 1)
3.) What are the names of the planets in our
Solar System?
a) M___________
b) V___________
c) E___________
d) M __________
e) J____________
f.) S_______________
g.) U______________
h.) N______________
i.) P______________
Let’s Review! (Section 1)
4.) Which planets are the Rocky planets?
a)Earth
b) Jupiter
c) Mars
d)Mercury
e)Saturn
f.) Neptune
g.) Pluto
h.) Uranus
i.) Venus
Let’s Review! (Section 1)
5.) Which planets are the Gas planets?
a)Earth
b) Jupiter
c) Mars
d)Mercury
e)Saturn
f.) Neptune
g.) Pluto
h.) Uranus
i.) Venus
Section 2:
What’s in a
Name?
How do planets and their moons get their names? With the
exception of Earth, all of the planets in our solar system
have names from Greek or Roman mythology.
What’s a Myth?
“Myth” is a Greek word meaning the telling of a
story in order to explain some phenomenon of
nature, customs, the origin of the species…
Here’s an example of a myth. Some parents tell their
children that thunder comes when an angel goes
bowling and bowls a strike!
Thunder is the sound that follows a flash of lightening, caused
by the sudden heating and expansion of air by electrical
discharge.
The Greeks believed that
one of their gods named
Zeus, would hurl lightening
bolts down from the
heavens if he was
displeased with something
or someone.
Myths are just a person’s attempt to explain
something that they can’t make any sense of because
they don’t have all of the facts and/or technology.
Science, facts, and proof take the place of myths
for educated people.
Let’s Review! (Section 2)
1.) How did the planets and their moons get their
names?
a) From America’s Got Talent
b) From Persian and African Mythology
c) From Greek and Russian Mythology
a)From Greek and Roman Mythology
Let’s Review! (Section 2)
2.) _________________is a Greek word meaning the telling of a
story in order to explain some phenomenon of nature, customs, the
origin of the species…
a)proto
e.) stellar
b) mesa
f.) disc
c) myth
g.) solar
d) Ra
h.) Zeus
Let’s Review! (Section 2)
3.) Myths are just a person’s attempt to
explain something that they can’t make
any sense of because they don’t ______.
a)have an education
b)know any better
c)have all of the facts and/or technology
d)they can’t read
Let’s Review! (Section 2)
4.) What three things take the place of myths for
Educated people?
a)
b)
c)
d)
gossip
National Enquirer
science
proof
e) facts
f) fairy tales
g) hear say
h) Oprah
Section 3: The Sun and the Rock Planets
The central and largest member of our
Solar System, the Sun.
Our Sun is the closest star to us.
The Sun is the most prominent feature in our solar
system. It is the largest object and contains
approximately 98% of the total solar system mass.
The Sun's interior could hold over 1.3
million Earths.
We think of the
Earth as a huge
place. The diameter of the Sun
is about 100
times wider than
the Earth as can
be seen in the
diagram at left.
Some stars are as small as the Earth while others
can be 500 times bigger than our Sun.
The astronomical symbol for the Sun is a shield with
a dot at the middle. This symbol comes the ancient
Egyptian sign for "sun" or "Ra" in the hieroglyphic
writing system. The source of this symbol is unknown,
but some historians think that the dot might represent
a huge central sunspot.
Apollo, the Sun god, brings
life-giving heat and light to Earth.
In Greek mythology, Apollo was the son of Zeus
and Leto.
Leto gave birth to the twins Artemis and
Apollo.
Artemis is the goddess of the wilderness, the hunt and wild animals,
and fertility (she became a goddess of fertility and childbirth mainly
in cities). She was often depicted with the crescent of the moon
above her forehead and was sometimes identified with Selene
(goddess of the moon).
Apollo was the god of the Sun, logic, and reason, and was also a
fine musician and healer.
Mercury is the first planet from the
sun.
Mercury is named after the messenger of the gods, who
was also the god of commerce, travel and thievery in
Roman mythology.
The planet probably received this name because it moves so
quickly across the sky. A year on Mercury, one orbit around
the sun, equals 88 days on Earth.
The astronomical symbol for symbol for Mercury
represents the head and winged cap of Mercury,
god of commerce and communication, surmounting
his caduceus (staff).
Mind (crescent)
poised over divine
spirit (circle)
and matter (cross)
Mercury Fun Facts
•Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.
•Mercury rotates the Sun in only 88 days.
•Mercury rotates very slowly on its axis with one day taking 58 Earth days.
•During the day, the average temperature on Mercury is 800 degrees Fahrenheit.
•During the night, the average temperature is – 300 degrees.
•Mercury has the largest known impact crater of any planet, named Beethoven and
•643 kilometers in size.
•Mercury has an eccentric orbit around the Sun, meaning it is closer and farther from
the Sun at different points in time.
•Mercury can be seen with binoculars at sunset.
Venus is the second planet from the
Sun.
Venus, goddess of love and beauty,
the most brilliant object in the sky
Venus is one of the brightest objects
in the night sky.
Venus is so bright because its thick clouds reflect most of
the sunlight that reaches it (about 70%) back into space,
and because it is the closest planet to Earth.
Venus can often be seen within a few hours after sunset or
before sunrise as the brightest object in the sky (other than the
moon). It looks like a very bright star. Venus is the brightest
planet in the solar system.
Venus is the goddess of
beauty, love and fertility in
Roman mythology. She is
the equivalent of the Greek
goddess Aphrodite and the
Babylonian goddess Ishtar .
She has the power to create
passions whatever the
consequences. Venus has
several attributes such as
the mirror, the belt, the
rose and some animals like
the ram or the dove, her
favorite bird.
The symbol for
Venus is designated
as the female
symbol, thought to
be the stylized
representation of
the hand mirror of
this goddess of love.
Below on the left is a picture of an ancient Egyptian
mirror from the New Kingdom of Egypt on the right
is the astronomical sign for the planet Venus.
This goddess has always inspired artists. One of the most famous Venus paintings is
The Birth of Venus, by the Italian painter Sandro Botticelli. It dates back to 1484. This
painting tells a mythological story, the birth of Venus from the sea.
Venus, standing on a giant scallop, is about to leave the sea. She is surrounded by three
mythological characters. Zephyrus is the personification of the West wind. His wife is clasping
him. She is the Nymph Chloris, the goddess of flowers. The last character is Flora, the season of
spring, who is going to cover Venus with a cape to give her modesty.
In the background of the picture, the sea stretches to the horizon. On the
right of the painting, there is a forest and the coast. In spite of the wind,
whose effect is shown in the movement of Venus’s hair, the atmosphere of
the painting is very peaceful.
Venus Fun Facts
•Venus is the brightest natural object in the night sky, with Moon being the only
exception.
•Venus reaches its maximum brightness shortly before sunrise and shortly after
sunset. This is the reason why it is usually called the 'Morning Star' or the 'Evening
Star'.
•Venus is sometimes called 'Earth's sister planet', mainly due to the fact that the
two are similar in size, gravity, and bulk composition. Venus is the sixth-largest
planet in the solar system.
•The reason why Venus is not visible from Earth in the day is that it is covered with
an opaque layer of highly reflective clouds of sulfuric acid.
•The atmospheric pressure at the surface of Venus is 92 times that of the Earth.
•One day on Venus is equal to 243 days on Earth, while its one year is equal to
224.7 days on Earth.
•Just like Earth, the interior of Venus is composed of a central iron core and a
molten rocky mantle.
•Venus is the hottest as well as the brightest of all planets in the solar system.
•Venus is the only planet in the Solar System that rotates clockwise. All the other
planets turn anti-clockwise. The rotation of Venus is opposite than that of Earth
and there, Sun rises in the West.
Earth is the third planet from the
Sun.
The symbol for Earth shows a globe
bisected by meridian lines into four
quarters.
Gaea the Earth
goddess, in Greek
mythology, she created
the Universe and gave
birth to both the first
race of gods (the
Titans) and the first
humans. The ancient
Greeks thought of her
as
Terra Mater
or
Earth Mother.
The word Earth originates from the Middle
English word, erthe, which came from
Old English.
It is akin to Old High German erda.
This, then traces back to the Greek,
Which comes from the Hebrew erez,
meaning ground.
Earth is the only planet whose English name
does not derive from Greek/Roman mythology.
Earth Fun Facts
• The earth is rotating at approximately 1000miles per hour. The actual speed depends on the
latitude of the observer.
• The Earth orbits the Sun at a speed of 29.79 km (18.51 miles) per second,
or 107,870 km (67,000 miles) per hour.
• Earth is referred to as the BLUE PLANET. WHY? Because from space, the oceans combined
with our atmosphere make our planet look blue. Three quarters of the Earth is water.
• Earth is estimated to be 3-5 Billion Years old.
• Earth is estimated to weigh 6,585,600,000,000,000,000,000 tons.
• The area of the earth is almost 200 million square miles.
• Earth travels through space at 66,700 miles per hour.
• Earth's oceans are an average of 2 miles deep.
• Earth's rotation on its axis makes a day at 24 hours...
• Earth's orbit around the sun makes a year at nearly 365 and 1/2 days
• Earth is tipped at 23 and 1/2 degrees in orbit. That axis is what causes our seasons.
• Antarctica is the coldest place on earth. The continent is almost entirely covered in ICE !
• Only 11 percent of the earth's surface is used to grow food.
• Breeze carries about 100 Million tons of sand particles around the earth yearly.
That means if you live in America-you could have Sand that came from the Gobi desert in
China.
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun
The symbol for Mars represents the shield and spear of the
god of war, Mars.
Mars is the Roman god of war
and agriculture.
Sometimes Mars was related to agriculture
and has his own spring month named after
him, March.
Spring was also the time the Roman legions
began their conquests and you guessed it, got
their march-ing orders.
Mars probably got its name from
its red color, the color of blood.
Mars was very important to the Romans because he
was the father of Romulus and Remus, the mythical
founders of Rome.
Mars gets it red color from the iron
oxide in its soil.
Iron Oxide is another way of saying
Rust.
Rust occurs when iron comes into
contact with water and oxygen.
The surface of Mars has many channels,
valleys, and gullies.
These Martian features when first viewed by people back on Earth
were presumed to be canals dug by living creatures.
They looked like some surface features
on Earth.
These Martian canyons are thought to
be caused by EROSION.
Erosion can be caused by both wind
which can blow off layers of the top
soil.
Which in turn will blast objects in their way and
sometimes turn them into works of real beauty.
Or cause the destruction of existing
structures.
and Water
Or both at the same time.
Mars Fun Facts
•Mars is the seventh largest planet in the Solar System.
•There has been strong evidence, mainly in the form of channels, valleys, and gullies,
that Mars once had water flowing on its surface.
•Mars is home to 'Valles Marineris', a canyon system that is much deeper and much
longer than the Grand Canyon in the United States.
•Mars boasts of having mountains that are higher than Mount Everest, the highest
peak on
•Earth. It also houses Olympus Mons, the highest known mountain in the Solar
System.
•One year on Mars is equal to 687 days on Earth.
•One day on Mars is 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds long.
•Mars has the distinction of the being the planet with the largest volcanoes in the
solar system.
The surface of Mars resembles the impact craters of the Moon as well the volcanoes,
valleys, deserts and polar ice caps of Earth.
•Mars was first visited by the Mariner 4, in 1965.
Let’s Review! (Section 3)
1.) What celestial body is the central and largest
member of our Solar System?
a) Sun
b) Mercury
c) Mars
d) Zephyrus
e) Chloris
f) phrodite
e) Earth
f) Venus
g) Mirror
h) Flora
i) Gaea
j) Ishtar
Let’s Review! (Section 3)
2.) What was the ancient Egyptian name for "sun"
or "Ra" in the hieroglyphic writing system.
a)Sun
b) Mercury
c) Mars
d) Zephyrus
e) Chloris
f) Aphrodite
e) Earth
f) Venus
g) Mirror
h) Ra
i) Gaea
j) Ishtar
Let’s Review! (Section 3)
3.) What is the name of the Greek Sun god? brings
life-giving heat and light to Earth.
a) Sun
b) Mercury
c) Mars
d) Zephyrus
e) Chloris
f) Aphrodite
e) Earth
f) Venus
g) Mirror
h) Ra
i) Apollo
j) Ishtar
Let’s Review! (Section 3)
4.) The Greeks said that Apollo brought what two
things to the Earth?
a) Sugar
b) Heat
c) Everything Nice
d) Spice
e) Children
f) Light
Let’s Review! (Section 3)
5.) In Greek mythology, Apollo was the son
of Zeus and _________.
a)Leto
b) Mercury
c) Mars
d) Zephyrus
e) Chloris
f) Aphrodite
e) Earth
f) Venus
g) Mirror
h) Ra
i) Apollo
j) Ishtar
Let’s Review! (Section 3)
6.) Leto gave birth to the twins _____
and _________.
a)Apollo
e) Artemis
b) Mercury
f) Venus
c) Mars
g) Mirror
d) Zephyrus
h) Ra
e) Chloris
i) Apollo
f) Aphrodite
j) Ishtar
Let’s Review! (Section 3)
7.)