Brad Coleman November 2013 ELD 376 Dr.

Messersmith

Introduction

Hello fourth grade students! Welcome to our unit on space! This unit will be taught slightly differently than what we are used to, but together, and on your own, we are going to explore one of the most fascinating and mysterious concepts in science: the solar system! Specifically, in this unit, we will spend time learning about the Milky Way, the eight planets that inhabit our solar system (plus Pluto!), Earths moon, and the sun. In this unit, you are responsible and accountable for completing the work in order to be well versed on this unit. As it will for most of your life, your success depends on you. Of course, I will be readily available for any advice or assistance you may need, but you, on your own time and at your own pace, will be responsible for gathering background information, performing experiments, completing problems, independent projects and evaluation activities. While this may sound overwhelming, we will spend plenty of class time working on this unit, and the experiments and activities are fun and interesting. After all, this is outer space, the greatest of all the great unknowns! You are in charge of keeping a daily record of your findings, data, experiments, activities and solutions to problems. Once you finish an activity, submit it to me so I can evaluate your work and sign off that you have completed it. All notes and related worksheets should be attached once they are completed. The reason for this is so that I can interpret your understanding of the ideas, and it also allows you to keep a record of your work. Just as an adult must do with poor quality work at most any job, unsatisfactory work in this unit will be required to be redone. In addition to its relation to real-world practices, this policy will also assure that you understand the material and clear up any misconceptions. As previously stated, I will always be available to all students throughout this unit. The final evaluation will be based on the average of the quality of your work as well as the number of tasks completed. You may work alone or with a classmate. If you wish to work in a group of three, I must approve your group. I reserve the right to break up any non-functioning or off-task group. Watch your time, as the days go by quickly and you dont want to fall behind. Now get ready to learn about the great, wondrous planets of our galaxy!

- Mr. Coleman

Background The Milky Way 1. _____Signature and Date________

Read the section in your textbook about the Milky Way galaxy Read The Milky Way handout (p. 4) Choose one cultures origin to write about o Write a short story describing how someone who lived thousands of years ago might explain this origin o Draw a picture to help explain this story

The Milky Way

Stretching across the dark night sky, not easily visible when the Moon is in the sky, is a faint irregular glowing strip of light. For thousands of years peoples of various cultures tried to explain what they saw, sometimes using stories. Here are some examples:

Chinese
The seventh Princess of Heaven fell in love with a poor herdsman and ran away to marry him. When her mother sent soldiers to bring her home, the herdsman chased them away. Seeing her daughters husband running, the mother dropped a silver pin to make a silver stream to separate the lovers forever. Eventually, her father allowed her to have an annual reunion with her husband black birds escorted her across the stream. The Milky Way is that silver stream. The young lovers are the stars Vega and Altair on either side of it.

Navajo
When the world was created, the people gathered around Black God to place stars in the sky. Coyote was frustrated by how long it was taking. He threw the bag of stars over his head, forming the Milky Way.

Egyptian
The goddess Isis spread large quantities of wheat across the sky. We see this bounty as the Milky Way.

African Bushmen
The Milky Way is made of the ashes of campfires.

Polynesian
The Milky Way is a long, blue, cloud-eating shark.

Greek
The Milky Way is along the circular path where the Sun once moved across the sky. It looks different than the rest of the sky because the Sun scorched it.

Background
Galileo, the first person to look at the sky with a telescope, discovered that the Milky Way is actually made up of countless faint stars. Other astronomers discovered it also had many star clusters and nebulae (clouds of gas and dust). In the 20th century, astronomers put together clues from many types of observations to deduce that we live at the edge of a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy. Because we are in the arm, we look at the rest of the galaxy edge-on and dont easily see its structure. If we could take a pictur e of the Milky Way from a vast distance, we would see it as a majestic cosmic pinwheel. The Sun is just one of hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. The stars in the arms are young, and many of them are hot and blue. The stars in the core and between the spiral arms are mostly older and redder.

Expected Answer (stories will vary)

According to us Polynesians, the Milky Way is a long, blue shark that eats cloud. Here is the origin of the Milky Way: The Milky Way was a shark that soared through outer space. He was faster than lighting and so long it seemed like he went on forever. Milky Way loved eating clouds. They were his favorite food. He ate clouds all day, every day. One day, Milky Way was getting ready for his snack. He started racing through the solar system, eating every cloud in sight. He saw some really tasty looking clouds up ahead, so he went for them. Unfortunately, they were between a bunch of stars. Milky Way tried to squeeze through to get the clouds, but he got stuck. He tried as hard as he could to escape, but he could not get out. He was really stuck. Milky Way stayed there between the stars. Eventually, the clouds in his stomach started to change. They turned into things called planets. Milky Way still sits there today, as we live on one of those clouds in his stomach.

2. _______________________________
You will do some research to learn basic information on the planets and Pluto Read the chapter on planets in your textbook Using your textbook, list all of the planets and give one important fact about each planet

Expected Answer (facts will vary)

Mercury o Mercury is the closest planet to the sun Venus o Venus is often called Earths sister planet because of their similarity in size Earth o Earth is the planet we live on Mars o Mars is called the Red Planet because of its reddish color Jupiter o Jupiter is the largest planet Saturn o Saturn is famous for its rings Uranus o Uranus is on its side. Its north and south poles are where the equator should be Neptune o Neptune is the 8th and furthest planet from the sun Pluto o Pluto used to be a planet, but now is only considered a dwarf planet

The Inner Planets Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars 3. _______________________________

The 1st-4th planets in our solar system are the Inner Planets o Mercury o Venus o Earth o Mars Do some research on the inner planets o You may use your textbook and the internet Internet websites must be class approved (Websites that end in .edu, .org, or .gov are acceptable. Websites that end in .com are not) With your research, create a slideshow on the inner planets o Slideshow must contain at least four slides, one for each planet o Slides should include: Name of planet Order from the sun Size in relevance to other planets A couple of interesting facts about the planet

Expected Answer (would be in PowerPoint form)

Slide One Mercury Closest planet to the sun Smallest planet (does not count Pluto) A year on Mercury is only 88 days long Only two spacecraft have been able to go to Mercury because it is so close to the sun Slide Two Venus Second planet from the sun Third smallest planet (sixth largest) Second brightest object in Earths night sky Often called Earths sister planet because of similarity in size Slide Three Earth Third planet from the sun Fifth largest planet Planet we live on Was once believed to be the center of the universe Slide Four Mars Fourth planet from the sun Second smallest planet Contains the largest mountain in the solar system Has the largest dust storms in the solar system

4. _______________________________
Due to differences in gravity, weight will differ on each planet. In other words, whatever you weigh here on Earth, you would weigh more or less on another planet, depending on which planet you were on. You will estimate and then calculate your weight on each of the four inner planets. To calculate your mass (weight) on another planet, follow the formula: Weight = Mass X Surface Gravity o Example: Suppose you weighed 100 pounds. The surface gravity on Mercury is 0.38 g3. 100 X .38 = 38. Therefore, you would weigh 38 pounds on Mercury. Use the table provided below to estimate how much you weigh on each of the inner planets Next, calculate your actual weight on each of the inner planets Write a paragraph comparing your estimations with your accurate results. Explain whether or not your results surprised you

Surface Gravity (g)

Mercury 0.38

Venus 0.91

Earth 1.0

Mars 0.38

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Expected Answer (weights will vary) I weigh: 80 pounds Predictions I predict on Mercury I will weigh 50 pounds I predict on Venus I will weigh 100 pounds I predict on Earth I will weigh 80 pounds I predict on Mars I will weigh 50 pounds

Actual Calculations On Mercury, I would weigh 30.4 pounds On Venus, I would weigh 72.8 pounds On Earth, I would weigh 80 pounds On Mars, I would weigh 30.4 pounds

After calculating my weight on each of the inner planets, I found that my predictions were wrong. My weight on the other planets would be lower than what I had prediction. The only prediction I got correct was Earth, because my weight stayed the same. I am not surprised that I would weigh so little on Mercury and Mars, because the surface gravity is so low. I knew my weight would be the same on both planets because their surface gravities are the same. I am surprised at my weight on Venus. I thought since the surface gravity was so much higher than Mercury and Mars, my weight would be heavier than on Earth. Instead, it is slightly less than Earth because the surface gravity is still less than Earths. 11

The Outer Planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune

5. _______________________________
The 5th-8th planets in our Solar System are called the Outer Planets o Jupiter o Saturn o Uranus o Neptune You will do research on the outer planets, just as you did the inner planets. Use your textbooks and any class-approved online websites o Internet websites must be class approved (Websites that end in .edu, .org, or .gov are acceptable. Websites that end in .com are not) Choose one planet to focus on specifically for this assignment Directions: o Pretend you are an astronaut and it is possible to land on any planet you want. You are sent on an important space mission to discover more information on our outer planets. You have spent the last few days on one of these planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) o Write a postcard to your friends or family about your trip to one of these planets. Include where you are, what the atmosphere is like, what you like about the planet and what you dislike about the planet. On the front of the postcard, draw a picture of your planet

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Expected Answer (Planets will vary)

Dear Mom and Dad, I arrived on Saturn a few days ago. Its very big, but Jupiter was much bigger! It was really cool flying into Saturn because of its rings. Theyre so thick, you can really see them! Did you know Saturn was named after the Roman God of agriculture? I weigh slightly more here than I do on Earth, so thats kind of weird. The atmosphere is mostly Hydrogen and Helium, so I wont be taking my space helmet off anytime soon. Something I like about Saturn is its largest moon, Titan. Its bigger than Mercury! I dont like that the rings are only made up of billions of pieces of rocks and dust. Thats why we cant land on them. See you soon! Love, Billy

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6. _______________________________
If you remember, for the inner planets you learned how to calculate the differences in weight on other planets. For the outer planets, you will calculate how age differs in Earth years on each planet o 1 Earth Year = 365 Days You celebrate your birthday once a year, or once every time the Earth has fully circled the sun. Each planet takes a different amount of days to rotate around the sun, depending on the planets distance from the sun. Therefore, if you lived on another planet, you would have lived a different number of years than you have on Earth To calculate your age in Earth years on another planet, follow the formula: Age on Other Planets = Age on Earth In Days / (365 / Time of One Revolution Around the Sun In Earth Days) To calculate your age on Earth in days: o (Age on Earth) X 365 To calculate the amount of Earth days in one revolution around the sun: o (Time of Revolution in Years) X 365 o Example: Suppose you are ten years old and want to know your age on Jupiter: o 10 years old in days is (10 X 365) which equals 3,650 days o It takes Jupiter 11.86 Earth years to revolve around the sun 11.86 X 365 = 4,328.9 Earth days o 3,650 / 4,328.9 = .84 o If you are ten years old, you would not even have been on Jupiter for one whole rotation! o Remember to use PEMDAS Using these formulas and the table provided below, complete the following worksheet. When you are finished, you may calculate your own age on other planets, although this is not required as you will find youll get answers with very small numbers Jupiter 11.86 Years Saturn 29.46 Years Uranus 84.01 Years Neptune 164.8 Years

Time of Revolution Around the Sun (Earth Years)

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Age in Space Activity

The Situation: Old Man Jenkins just turned 90 years old today. Old Man Jenkins is very interested in the solar system, and would like to feel younger, so for his birthday he asked you to figure out how old he would be on each of the four outer planets.

Your Task: It is up to you to fulfill Old Man Jenkinss birthday wish. Compute the calculations and determine Old Man Jenkinss age on each of the four outer planets.

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Expected Answer

Jupiter 90 X 365 = 32,850 days old 11.86 X 365 = 4,328.9 Jupiters rotation around Sun in Earth days 32,850 / 4,328.9 o Old Man Jenkins is 7.59 years old on Jupiter

Saturn 90 X 365 = 32,850 days old 29.46 X 365 = 10,752.9 Saturns rotation around Sun in Earth days 32,850 / 10,752.9 o Old Man Jenkins is 3.05 years old on Saturn

Uranus 90 X 365 = 32,850 days old 84.01 X 365 = 30,663.65 Uranuss rotation around Sun in Earth days 32,850 / 30,663.65 o Old Man Jenkins is 1.07 years old on Uranus

Neptune 90 X 365 = 32,850 days old 164.8 X 365 = 60,152 Neptunes rotation around Sun in Earth days 32,850 / 60,152 o Old Man Jenkins is .54 years, or less than one year old on Neptune

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Pluto The Dwarf Planet

7. _______________________________
Pluto was discovered in 1930, and was originally considered the ninth and final planet completing our solar system. However, in 2006, Pluto was newly deemed a dwarf planet because it is simply an icy body of mass, and there are even asteroids in our solar system that are larger than Pluto. The rules have been changed as to what classifies something to be a planet and as a result, Pluto is no longer considered the ninth official planet of our solar system. Now its your turn to have a say in this matter. Use your textbook and classapproved websites to find more information on Pluto. Then YOU decide whether you think Pluto should be classified as a planet or not. Be thorough in your argument; there are many people passionate about this debate! o Internet websites must be class approved (Websites that end in .edu, .org, or .gov are acceptable. Websites that end in .com are not)

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Expected Answer (two possible answers)

I think Pluto should be classified as a planet. It was always considered a planet since it was discovered, and they only recently decided it is not anymore. Pluto should be a planet because it rotates around the sun, just like all of the other planets. It might not be the biggest thing in the solar system, but it is still the tenth largest body orbiting the sun. It even has multiple moons rotating around it! That is why Pluto should be a Planet. I dont think Pluto should be classified as a planet. Its so small that its even smaller than Earths moon! Its nothing much more than ice, nothing that would make up a real planet. The rest of the outer planets are huge, and Pluto doesnt fit in with the real planets. If we call Pluto a planet, then we would have to call other dwarf planets, like Eris, real planets. That is why Pluto should not be a planet, and should remain a dwarf planet.

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Earths Moon

8. _______________________________
Your task for Earths moon is to write a script for an advertising commercial. You may write a monologue script (for one person) or a dialogue script (between you and a classmate). In your commercial, you must persuade the viewer into wanting to visit the moon. Be convincing! Details you must include: o A brief history of the moon o Size o Atmosphere o How the moon rotates o How the moon affects Earth o Interesting facts about the moon

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Expected Answer BILL: Hi! Im Bill! SALLY: And Im Sally! B: And were here to show you how great the moon is! S: Everyone should visit the moon! Hey, Bill, what do you know about the moon? B: Well Sally, I know its the fifth largest moon in the solar system. Scientists think it was formed 4.5 billion years ago! S: Wow! Well much more recent than that, in 1959, the Soviet Union became the first country to land a spacecraft on the moon. B: Not long after that, in 1969, the United States sent Apollo 11 to the moon, and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon. S: Thats so cool! Im curious, though, how big is the moon? B: The moon has a diameter of Earths, but is the largest moon in the solar system relative to the size of its planet. What do you know about the atmosphere, Sally? S: There is no oxygen on the moon, so make sure to wear your space helmet! The gravity is 1/5 of what it is on Earth, which is why you bounce around so lightly when you walk! B: The moon is Earths only natural satellite, and it rotates around the Earth with the same side of the moon always facing our planet. S: The moon also has a large effect on our planet! The moon has a gravitational pull on the Earth. Pending on where the moon is rotating around the planet, the moon causes high tides and low tides in the ocean. B: Thats not all. Trying to lose weight? Well, on the moon, you only weigh 1/6 of your weight! S: Now thats how you lose weight fast! But thats not all theres also no wind on the moon! So you dont have to worry about your hair blowing all over. B: How convenient! If all of this doesnt convince you to visit the moon, we dont know what will. S: See you there!

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9. _______________________________
It is important to know the different phases of the moon Watch this short video, from the History Channel, about the phases of our moon: o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXseTWTZlks Once you have watched the video, read your textbooks explanation of the moon phases Now that you are well informed, you will complete a small project on the phases of the moon. You may refer back to the video and textbook at any time for help Directions: o See me for materials. You will need a small poster board, a marker, glue and eight Oreo cookies. I have all of these for you o You will notice I have already split the Oreos in half. This is because this task needed to be done carefully, as you will need the cream part of the cookie intact Warning: If you eat your Oreo cookies, you will not be able to complete this task unless you purchase more on your own time o Using a pencil, carve out portions of the cream to form the different phases of the moon. The cream represents the moon being reflected by sunlight. I have included an example of what one phase will look like o Do this for each phase of the moon. You will have eight moon cookies o Paste each moon cookie onto the poster board o Underneath each cookie, label the corresponding phase it represents o Include your name and a title for your project on the poster board

Source: http://www.sciencebob.com/blog/?p=828

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Expected Answer

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The Sun

10. _______________________________
Read the handout on the Sun (p. 24-26) After you have read, create a five question multiple choice quiz based on what you read about the sun o Your quiz will eventually go to one of your peers to be completed, but you will also be completing a quiz made by a fellow classmate, so read and devise your quiz carefully!

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The Sun (handout)

Our Sun is not unique in the universe. It is a common middle-sized yellow star which scientists have named Sol, after the ancient Roman name. This is why our system of planets is called the Solar System. There are trillions of other stars in the universe just like it. Many of these stars have their own systems of planets, moons, asteroids, and comets. The Sun was born in a vast cloud of gas and dust around 5 billion years ago. Indeed, these vast nebulae are the birth places of all stars. Over a period of many millions of years, this gas and dust began to fall into a common center under the force of its own gravity. At the center, an ever growing body of mass was forming. As the matter fell inward, it generated a tremendous amount of heat and pressure. As it grew, the baby Sun became hotter and hotter. Eventually, when it reached a temperature of around 1 million degrees, its core ignited, causing it to begin nuclear fusion. When this happened, the Sun began producing its own light, heat, and energy. What is Thermonuclear Fusion? Thermonuclear fusion is the process in which a star produce its light, heat, and energy. This happens at the core of the star. The core is superheated to millions of degrees. This heat travels towards the surface and radiates out into the universe. Through this thermonuclear process, stars "burn" a fuel known as hydrogen. The result is that they create another type of fuel known as helium. However, stars do not burn in the same way that a fire does, because stars are not on fire.

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Convection Heat rises, while cooler gas falls. Have you ever noticed that your basement is always much cooler than upstairs. The same laws of physics apply within stars. Because heat rises while cooler gases fall, the gas within a star is constantly rising and falling. This creates massive streams of circular motion within the star. This is called convection. As the gases near the core of the Sun are heated, they begin to rise towards the surface. As they do so, they cool somewhat. Eventually they become cool enough that they begin to sink back down towards the core. It can take an atom millions of years to complete one complete cycle around a convection stream. As a result of this process, the temperature on the surface of the Sun is around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much cooler than its superheated core.

Sun Spots We don't often think of the Sun as having cooler areas on its surface. The Sun is far too hot for an astronaut to ever visit, but there are areas which are slightly cooler than others. These areas are known as sun spots. Sun spots are still very hot. However, because they are slightly cooler than the rest of the surface of the Sun, they appear slightly darker in color. The gravitational forces in Sun spots are also stronger than the other hotter areas. Of course, you cannot look directly at the Sun to see these spots because you would damage your eyes. Astronomers have to use special telescopes with filters and other instruments to be able to see the cooler spots on the surface of the Sun. Sun spots come and go on a regular basis. At times, there are very few, if any sun spots. At other times there are far more. They generally increase in intensity and then decrease over a period of 11 years. This 11 year cycle is known as the Saros Cycle.

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Solar Flares During periods of high solar activity, the Sun commonly releases massive amounts of gas and plasma into its atmosphere. These ejections are known as solar flares. Some solar flares can be truly massive, and contain impressive power. On occasion, these more powerful flares can even cause satellites orbiting the Earth to malfunction. They can also interact with Earth's magnetic field to create impressive and beautiful light shows known as the Northern and Southern lights. In the northern hemisphere, these lights are commonly known as the Aurora Borealis. The Sun's Family The Sun is by far the largest object in the Solar System. 98% of all matter within the Solar System is found within the Sun. This means that all the planets, moons, asteroids, minor planets, comets, gas, and dust would all combine to make up only 2% of all the matter in the Solar System. The Sun is so large that the Earth could easily fit inside the Sun a million times. Because the Sun is so large compared to everything else, it is easily able to hold on to the rest of the matter, causing everything else to orbit around it.

Source: http://www.kidsastronomy.com/our_sun.htm

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Expected Answer (questions will vary)

1) What is the sun? a. A planet b. A star c. An asteroid d. A spaceship 2) The temperature on the surface of the sun is around a. 10,000 degrees Celsius b. 20,000 degrees Celsius c. 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit d. 20,000 degrees Fahrenheit 3) What are sun spots? a. Spots on Earth where sunlight reaches b. Dead spots on the sun where there is no heat c. Spots on the sun slightly cooler than the rest of the sun d. Bright spots on a dog 4) When the sun releases massive amounts of gas and plasma into the atmosphere, it is called a. Sun flares b. Gas and plasma release c. Solar release d. Solar flares 5) All of the matter in the sun makes up for ____% of the matter in our solar system a. 10 b. 50 c. 75 d. 98

Answers: B, C, C, D, D

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The Sun Class Experiment

The final assignment of this unit will be an experiment involving the rotation of the planets around the sun o This experiment requires the participation of the whole class, so you do not have to do this final assignment on your own. We will do it together, as a class, at a later date The purpose of this experiment is to show o How the sun acts as the center of our solar system o How the planets revolve around the sun o The distance between each of the planets and their distance from the sun o The distance and time it takes for each planet to make one full revolution around the sun One student will be the sun; eight students will be each of the planets o Mercury will stand 4 inches from the Sun o Venus will stand 7 inches from the sun o Earth 10 inches o Mars 15 inches o Jupiter 52 inches o Saturn 96 inches o Uranus 192 inches o Neptune 300 inches Once each student is in the correct position, the planet students will begin to walk, or rotate, around the sun o It is important to the accuracy of the experiment for students to walk at as close to the same pace as possible We will discuss what goes on as we do the experiment, and then each student is to complete the following handout that is based on the experiment

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Handout Name: Date:

1) What did you notice about the distance between each planet?

2) What was the center of the solar system we recreated? How could you tell?

3) Describe the similarities and differences you noticed between Mercury and Neptune in this experiment

4) What does your answer to number 3 tell you about the years on Mercury and Neptune?

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Expected Answers Handout Name: Date:

1) What did you notice about the distance between each planet? I noticed that the inner planets were relatively close together, while the outer planets were much more spaced out and further apart.

2) What was the center of the solar system we recreated? How could you tell? The center of the solar system we recreated was the sun. I could tell because all of the planets were rotating around the sun.

3) Describe the similarities and differences you noticed between Mercury and Neptune in this experiment? Mercury and Neptune were similar because the both rotated around the sun in the same direction. They were different because it took much longer for Neptune to make a whole rotation than it did for Mercury. By the time Neptune made a full rotation, Mercury had already rotated around the sun many times.

4) What does your answer to number 3 tell you about the years on Mercury and Neptune? It tells us that one full year on Mercury is much shorter than a full year on Neptune.

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