A copy of the study guide went home Tuesday, October 8th but in case you lose it here is a copy of the solar system study guide!
Solar System Unit Test Study Guide
Test Date: October 18, 2013
What you should know and/or be able to explain:
ü Phases of the moon. You should what they look like and be able to label them.
ü Why the moon seems to change its shape:
As it orbits Earth, the moon reflects different amounts of sunlight off its surface. This makes the moon appear to change shape.
ü Why the sun appears so much larger than the other stars:
It is the closest star in our solar system.
ü What causes the four seasons:
The Earth tilts as it orbits the sun, so different parts of Earth get different amounts of sunlight.
ü That the moon orbits the Earth once a month (approximately every 28 days)
ü It takes the Earth (and moon) 365 days to orbit the sun.
ü It takes 24 hours (one day) for the Earth to make one complete rotation
ü Pluto is the coldest and smallest of the planets. It is considered a dwarf planet.
ü List the planets (and dwarf planet) in order of their distance from the sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)
A way to remember this is: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us NinePizzas.
ü Vocabulary words:
o Astronomers: scientists who study things in space
o Solar system: the sun, planets, and all the objects that orbit the sun.
o Rotation: the turning or spinning of a planet on its axis.
o Orbit: the path each planet travels on its own around the sun
o Star: a self-luminous (lights itself) object that shines through the release of energy produced by nuclear reactions at its core.
o Crater: when a meteorite slams into the ground creating a hollow area
o Outer planets: The five outer planet/dwarf, which are the farthest from the sun (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the dwarf planet Pluto). They are made up of gases.
o Inner planets: the four planets closest to the sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars). They are all hard and rocky, and have three layers (crust, mantle, and core).
o
§ Crust: thin outer layer
§ Core: made of very hot iron
§ Mantle: a thick layer of rock and hot lava.
o Asteroid belt: located between Mars and Jupiter. It is filled with thousands of asteroids which are chunks of rock and metal that orbit the sun.
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