Space

The Sun, Earth, & Moon

 Comparing the sizes of the
Sun
Earth
Moon
Click to compare
the Earth, Moon,
and Sun

Watch
a clip

Another way to think about it...

Click to hear song

If the Sun were the the Earth would be the Moon would be about
size of a basketball... about the size of a pea.... the size of a pinhead....
Revolution and Rotation of the Earth,Moon and Sun.

What's the difference between rotation and revolution?

Click to see

Rotation-to turn around itself Earth's

Rotation

Revolution-to go around something else

Click on the
Earth to see
how it revolves
 Is it Revolution or Rotation?
People often get Revolution and Rotation confused! Here's a trick to help you
remember the difference:

If an object rotates, the center stays in the same If an object revolves, the whole object
place. circles a center object or area.

Click on the dog to watch a dog's revolution around the center of the pool.
Notice how the middle of the fan stays in the same spot while the Notice how the whole dog moves around the center of the pool.
rest of the fan travels in a circle around the middle.

Is the object showing REVOLUTION or ROTATION?

A teacher
The hands walking
A car wheel of a clock A twirling
around desks
ballerina
So, What is the EFFECT of our Earth's Rotation?

N
D I
A G
Y H
T

How long does

The part of the Earth The part of the Earth
it take for Earth
that is facing the that is facing away
to make one
sun is having what? from the sun is
complete rotation?
having what?

About 24 night
hours day
(1 Day)
As the Earth is rotating, it appears as if the Sun is moving
across the sky (apparent movement).

 East to west- the Sun is stationary, but the Earth is

turning - so the sun appears to rise in the east and set in
the west.

 Earth’s rotation causes Day and Night on our planet.

The rotation of the Earth also causes shadows to

change.

Shadows are longest in the early morning and at

dusk (just before sunset).

Shadows are shortest at noon 12:00pm because the

Sun is directly overhead.
 So, What is the EFFECT of our Earth's Revolution?

Seasons
To understand how this works, we need to study about:

click click
*Earth's Orbit *Earth's Axis
 Earth's Orbit

An orbit is the path that something makes as it revolves around another object

The Earth follows an

ORBIT around the SUN

Earth's orbit is almost

completely circular and
centered around the sun,
but some planets' orbits
are not

click to explore
orbit shapes
So the Earth is always about
the same distance from the
sun. Do you remember
return
what that distance is?

93 million miles
 Earth's Axis
An AXIS is an imaginary line that runs through the center of an object.

The Earth's Axis is tilted

23.5 degrees
So, how does Earth's AXIS and it's ORBIT around the sun cause us to
have SEASONS?

If the Earth weren't titled on its axis, the same parts of the
earth would always receive the same amount of direct
sunlight and their weather would remain the same throughout
the year

Watch the Earth's

Revolution around
the sun
 Earth and the Moon are always half lit.

We've already learned that the half of the Earth that's lit is experiencing
daytime and the other half is having nighttime.

Click here for an

http://youtu.be/OZIB_leg75Q
Animation of the moon's
rotation and revolution.

Sun

sunlight
It's a little more complicated with moonlight.
Since the moon revolves around the Earth, the amount of the half lit moon that we see changes
depending on where the moon is in its month long rotation around the earth. We call these different amounts of moonlight Moon Phases.

Let's learn more!

The Phases of Our Moon

There are 8 moon phases.

Each one shows a different amount or

area of moonlight.

The moon takes about one month to go through each of the

8 phases.

see the
moon phases
 First Quarter
Waxing Gibbous Waxing Crescent

Full New
Sun

Waning Gibbous
Waning Crescent

Last Quarter
Moon Facts - Click on the moons

The moon rotates on its axis

The moon has no once about every 27 days.
The moon revolves around
atmosphere and no
the Earth.
weather, weathering or
erosion

The moon does not

The moon has mountains,
some of which are over produce its own light. It
10,000 feet tall. reflects light from the The moon is made of rock.
sun.

Ice has been found in

The moon is covered with
the dark parts of craters
craters caused by the impact
where no sunlight hits
of meteors.
The moon has 1/6 the gravity the surface.
of Earth.
 Tides

Tides are the rising and falling of the ocean as a result of the gravitational pull of the moon.
There are two high tides at a specific location every 24.5 hours.
There is a high tide on the side of the Earth facing the moon due to the moon’s gravity and
on the side of the Earth directly opposite from the moon due to the inertia of the ocean waters.

Approximately twice a month the Earth has a spring tide and a neap tide.

Spring tide = an “extra high” high tide that occurs

when the sun, earth, and moon are aligned and the
gravitational pull of the moon and sun work together.

Neap tide = a “lower than normal” high tide that occurs

when the moon is at a right angle to the sun and the
gravitational pulls of the moon and the sun oppose
each other.

Click here for a simple simulation

A closer look at
Our Sun
Sun Facts... The sun is about
110 times the
diameter of the
Earth

The sun is an
averaged-sized
yellow star

The sun is believed

to be about 4.6
billion years old
Sun Facts...

The sun is about

110 times the
diameter of the
The sun is an Earth
averaged-sized The Sun rotates on
yellow star its axis.

Explosions on the
Sun are called Solar
Flares.

The Sun is the only

star in our solar
system. The Sun is one of The dark cooler
The sun is a ball of
trillions of stars in spots on the Sun are
hot burning gases
space. called sunspots.
 Parts of the Sun
inly
p o f ma
de u gas
n is ma Helium
su nd
The ogen a
dr
Hy

Click the globe to see a video on the Sun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6RYgQ2jxCU&feature=related
 Let's take a closer look at
O ur Solar System
In Our Solar System, there are 8 planets
Can you find the mistake?

Do you see the mistake

in the picture?

Can you name

the planets in the correct
order?

Remember
this!

My
Very
Energetic
Click here Mother
for video
on inner Just
planets
Served
Us
Nachos
Click here
for video
on outer
planets
 An earth-centered model of the
How has our universe was developed thousands Two famous Greek
philosophers who
of years ago by Greek
understanding of our philosophers.
wrote about this are
Ptolemy and
solar system changed
Aristotle. Most
over time? people believed this
Geocentric view of
the universe to be
true for a long,
This earth-centered model is called a long, time.
GEOCENTRIC model.

In the 16th century, an astronomer Soon after, an astronomer Watch a clip

named Copernicus developed a named Galileo expanded
HELIOCENTRIC model of the upon and offered proof of
universe, in which the sun was the Copernicus's sun-centered Today, we understand that the sun is
center of the universe with the earth model of our solar system. the center - but not of the universe, The
and other planets orbiting around the sun is the center of our solar system.
We continue to learn more and more
sun. about our solar system, galaxy, and our
universe with new scientific
discoveries.
 The NASA Apollo missions
added greatly to our understanding of the moon.

National
Aeronautics &
Space
Apollo Program
Association

*Program of NASA - 1961-1975

*17 Missions

*Sparked interest in space exploration around the world.

*Accomplished many FIRSTS!

President *Apollo 11 - July 20, 1969 - First human to walk on the moon!!
John F. Kennedy
strongly supported
the Apollo Program
and set the goal
of landing an
American on the
moon by 1970
Who?
Watch
a clip of
*Neil Armstrong
*Buzz Aldrin
JFK speaking *Michael Collins
about this!

Watch
a clip of the
first moon
landing