CHARACTERIS

TICS OF EARTH
THAT SUPPORTS LIFE
 recognize the difference in the physical and
chemical properties between the Earth and its
neighboring planets; and
 identify the factors that allow a planet to

support life.

Objectives:
MOTIVATION
 Guess the four-letter word that describes the
following images.
___ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

MLANPEHIYT
MOTIVATION
 What do you think are the characteristics of the
planet Earth that make it different from all the other
planets?
Group Activity 1 whole sheet of paper

1. write down on a paper provided the

similarities and differences among the planets.
2. Provide possible explanations for your observations using the information in the
table and your prior knowledge on the planets.
Table 1: Comparison of the features of Venus, Earth, and Mars
Terms:
 • Escape velocity is the minimum speed an object
needs to escape a planet's pull of gravity.
 • Surface pressure is the atmospheric pressure at a
location on the surface of the planet. It is proportional
to the mass of air above the location.
 • ‘Temperature if no greenhouse gases are present’
indicates the temperature of the planet without the
warming effect of greenhouse gases. Note that the
temperature of the Earth would be around 18 oC
lower without greenhouse warming.
3. Choose a representative from each
group to present your observations.
4. Use this table 2 to identify the
factors and the appropriate level that
will enable you to design your
habitable worlds.
Table 2: Factors that make a planet habitable
Analysis
 What would be the appropriate level of
factors that make a planet habitable?
 Abstraction
 • Venus, Earth, and Mars are part of the inner terrestrial or "rocky"
planets. Their composition and densities are not too different from
each other.
 • Venus is considered to be the Earth's twin planet. It has a very
similar size and mass with the Earth. Mars is about half the Earth's
size.
 • Orbital period and velocity are related to the planet's distance from
the sun. Among the three planet, Venus is the nearest and Mars is the
farthest from the Sun.
 • Rotational speed of Earth and Mars are very similar. Rotational
speed of Venus is extremely slow.
 • Abundance of liquid water on Earth, hence the blue color. The Earth
is a habitable planet.
Application
 Can man alter Mars environment to make it
more suitable for human habitation? How?’
Assignment
 Draw a sketch of how you think your habitable
planet would look like based on the factors for
habitable planet.