Content Notes
Standards of Learning: 4.7, Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change
b: The order of the planets in the solar system; and
c: The relative sizes of the planets.
Vocabulary:
Curriculum Framework & Teacher Notes:
In order to meet this standard, it is expected that students will:
Standards of Learning: 4.7, Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change
- The student will investigate and understand the organization of the solar system. Key concepts will include:
b: The order of the planets in the solar system; and
c: The relative sizes of the planets.
Vocabulary:
- Solar system: Our solar system all the planets that orbit the sun, is ancient
- Galaxy: Millions of solar systems, there are 3 galaxies
- Milky Way Galaxy: galaxy that we are a part of
- Astronomy: scientific study of the universe and celestial bodies
- Sun: is the center of our solar system
- Planet: a large sphere (ball) in space that orbits a star
- Telescope: a device that collects light and makes distant objects appear closer and larger
- Comet: a chunk of ice, rock, and dust that moves around the Sun
- Orbit: the path an object takes as it travels around another object
- Meteor: a piece of rock, ice or metal that burns up in Earth's atmosphere, causing a streak of light to appear in the sky
- Stars as burning spheres (ball) of gas
- Planet: a large object that moves around a star (sun)
- Sun: the largest object in the solar system (star)
- Order of the planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
- Pluto: is no longer considered a planet
- Order the eight planets sorted by size from largest to smallest: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury.
- Pluto: no longer a planet because it is too small
- Pluto: now considered a dwarf planet
- Terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
- Gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
- Gas giant: further away from the sun, large size, cold temperature, and rings
- Terrestrial planet: closest to the sun, small size, warm temperature
- Mercury: closest to the sun and is a small, heavily cratered planet; looks like our moon; is now the smallest planet
- Venus: second from the sun; similar to Earth in size and mass, and has a permanent blanket of clouds that trap so much heat that the temperatures on the surface of Venus are hot enough to melt lead.
- Earth: third from the sun; Earth’s atmosphere, the liquid water found on Earth, and its distance from the sun, among many other factors, make Earth a haven for life.
- Mars: fourth from the sun; atmosphere is thin and there is a vast network of canyons and riverbeds on the red planet; scientists hypothesize that Mars once supported a wet, warm Earth-like climate
- Jupiter: fifth from the sun; largest planet in the solar system and is considered a gas giant; has no solid surface
- Saturn: sixth from the sun; early scientists thought Saturn was the only planet with rings, but we now know that all four gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) have rings
- Uranus: seventh from the sun; is a gas giant.
- Neptune: eighth from the sun; appears blue through telescopes and is a gas giant
- Rotation: one complete spin of earth on its axis
- Revolution: one complete trip around the sun
- Astronaut: a person who travels into space
- Apollo 11: spaceship that took the 1st men to the moon in 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
- Sally Ride: 1st American woman to go into space
- Spacesuit: like a small spacecraft, protects the astronaut from the dangers of being outside in space
Curriculum Framework & Teacher Notes:
- Our solar system is ancient. Early astronomers believed that Earth was the center of the universe and all other heavenly bodies orbited around Earth. We now know that our sun is the center of our solar system and eight planets, a handful of dwarf planets, 170 named moons, dust, gas, and thousands of asteroids and comets orbit around the sun.
- Our solar system is made up of eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
- Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are considered terrestrial planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are called gas giants.
- Mercury is closest to the sun and is a small, heavily cratered planet. Mercury looks like our moon. Since Pluto’s reclassification from planet to dwarf planet, Mercury is now the smallest planet in our solar system.
- Venus is second from the sun. It is similar to Earth in size and mass, and has a permanent blanket of clouds that trap so much heat that the temperatures on the surface of Venus are hot enough to melt lead.
- Earth is third from the sun. Earth’s atmosphere, the liquid water found on Earth, and its distance from the sun, among many other factors, make Earth a haven for life.
- Mars is fourth from the sun. The atmosphere on Mars is thin and there is a vast network of canyons and riverbeds on the red planet. Scientists hypothesize that Mars once supported a wet, warm Earth-like climate.
- Jupiter is fifth from the sun. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and is considered a gas giant. Jupiter has no solid surface.
- Saturn is sixth from the sun. Early scientists thought Saturn was the only planet with rings, but we now know that all four gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) have rings. Uranus is seventh from the sun. Uranus is a gas giant.
- Neptune is eighth from the sun. Neptune appears blue through telescopes and is a gas giant.
- The eight planets sorted by size from largest to smallest are: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury.
- Pluto is no longer included in the list of planets in our solar system due to its small size and irregular orbit. Many astronomers questioned whether Pluto should be grouped with worlds like Earth and Jupiter. In 2006, this debate led the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the recognized authority in naming heavenly objects, to formally reclassify Pluto. On August 24, 2006, Pluto's status was officially changed from planet to dwarf planet.
- A new distinct class of objects called "dwarf planets" was identified in 2006. It was agreed that "planets" and "dwarf planets" are two distinct classes of objects. The first members of the dwarf planet category are Ceres, Pluto and 2003 UB313, given the name Eris. More dwarf planets are expected to be announced by the IAU in the future.
- What differentiates a dwarf planet from a planet? For the most part, they are identical, but there is one key difference: A dwarf planet has not "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit, which means it has not become gravitationally dominant and it shares its orbital space with other bodies of a similar size.
- Pluto is smaller than seven of the moons in our solar system and cannot be seen without a telescope.
In order to meet this standard, it is expected that students will:
- name the eight planets and describe whether they are a terrestrial planet or a gas giant.
- sequence the eight planets in the solar system based on their position from the sun. (Mercury is the first from the sun, Venus is the second, etc.)
- sequence the eight planets in the solar system based on size (Jupiter is the largest, Saturn is next, etc.)
- construct a simple model of the sun and the planets in our solar system.