Sun has about 4.5 billion years to live closest star - 145 million km of the millions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, ours is an average, middle aged star contains 99.86% of the mass of the solar system core temp. of 16 million degrees, sustained by fusion rotates every 26.8 days PLANETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM Mercury Named for Roman god of commerce and travel because of great speed Closest planet to the sun Weak gravity, no atmosphere Ancent surface covered with impact craters Spins slowly, moves around the sun quickly Venus Named for the goddess of beauty and love Nearest planet to Earth (twins?). High temps, 484 oC (900 oF) could melt lead. Covered by a thick cloud layer of sulfuric acid Atomosphere is carbon dioxide Complex, fractured surface, volcanos ect..... Morning and Evening Star. Rotation is opposite from the Earth. (Sun rises in the west and sets in the east.) Has many electrical storms Earth Not named for a mythological diety 70% of surface is covered with water Only planet that has life and flowing water. The boundaries of sea and land change constantly. Atmosphere mostly nitrogen (78%) Strong magnetic field, radiation belts of charged particles Mars Named for the Roman God of War. Red Planet Seasonal changes and polar caps of dry ice Volcanoes, canyons, dry river beds and channels. Largest volcano, Olympus Mons (3x as high as Mount Everest) Water may have flowed Thin atmosphere of carbon dioxide (fine dust makes the sky appear orange during the day and blue at sunset.) (Source of many hostile science fiction invaders) Jupiter Named for chief god of Roman mythology Largest planet Second brightest planet Larger and heavier than all of the other planets (Jupiter weighs twice as much as all the other planets combined !!). Small core of rock and the rest of planet is gas. Covered by thick clouds that form stripes Great Red Spot, a gigantic hurricane Atomosphere mostly hydrogen and helium 16 moons, the largest is Ganymede, also the largest moon in the solar system (may have water and life!). Powerful magnetic field, emits more energy than it receives from the sun. (core = 25,500 oC) Thin ring system, lightning in atomosphere, and aurorae. Saturn Named for the Roman god of Agriculture Famous for its rings (thousands) composed of ice and dust (not the only planet with rings) Appears yellow in color from Earth Second largest planet in our solar system Covered by clouds, strong winds (1,000 mph) Atomosphere mostly hydrogen and helium Magnetic field Also emits more energy than it receives. 22 moons, the largest is Titan. Light, will float on water Uranus Named for the Greek Sky god First planet to be discovered by telescope, 1781 Thin rings. 15 moons Atmosphere mostly hydrogen and helium, some ammonia, methane and water vapor. Pale blue planet, color caused by methane Below clouds, may have scalding oceans of scalding water and ammonia One year is 84 Earth years! Neptune Named for the Roman sea god Discovered mathematically Dim, greenish Made of rock, iron, ice and gases Great Dark Spot, Scooter (winds to 2,000 km per hr) Pluto Named for the Roman god of underworld Discovered in 1930 Coldest planet Maybe Neptune's moons that escaped Smallest (even smaller than our moon!) Each moon in the solar system continually faces its parent body. Awsome Alien Students should be provided with graph paper and the following planet diameters relative to Earth. Pluto - 1/6 Mercury - 1/3 Mars - 1/2 Venus - 1 Earth - 1 Neptune - 4 Unanus - 4 Saturn - 9 1/2 Jupiter - 11 Earth has been arbitrarily assigned the unit of '1' and all the other planetary diameters are set relative to Earth. Students should use the diamters to create a space alien on their graph paper using the relative diameters to help them develop a sense of how large large is. On this scale, the

An informal assessment is all that is required so that the teacher can determine mastery of basic understandings. Students must understand the difference between sun, star, moon, planet and other related terms by the end of instruction.

Students will listen as information is presented, view models, discuss information and respond to questions.

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