Astronomy: Ages 5-7 by Teacher Superstore

Astronomy (Ages 5–7)

This master may only be reproduced by the original purchaser for use with their class(es). The publisher prohibits the loaning or onselling of this master for the purposes of reproduction.

Published by R.I.C. Publications® (2008) ISBN 978-1-74126-776-1 RIC–6475

Titles available in this series:

Blackline masters or copy masters are published and sold with a limited copyright. This copyright allows publishers to provide teachers and schools with a wide range of learning activities without copyright being breached. This limited copyright allows the purchaser to make sufficient copies for use within their own education institution. The copyright is not transferable, nor can it be onsold. Following these instructions is not essential but will ensure that you, as the purchaser, have evidence of legal ownership to the copyright if inspection occurs.

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Astronomy (Ages 5–7) Astronomy (Ages 8–10) Astronomy (Ages 11+)

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Signature of Purchaser:

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School Order# (if applicable):

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Internet websites

In some cases, websites or specific URLs may be recommended. While these are checked and rechecked at the time of publication, the publisher has no control over any subsequent changes which may be made to webpages. It is strongly recommended that the class teacher checks all URLs before allowing students to access them.

View all pages online PO Box 332 Greenwood Western Australia 6924

Website: www.ricpublications.com.au Email: mail@ricgroup.com.au

ASTRONOMY Foreword Astronomy is a three-book series written to introduce primary school students to astronomy. The books include information about what astronomy is, the solar system, the sun, the planets, the moon, galaxies, stars, constellations, comets, meteors, asteroids, meteorites, telescopes, different ways of observing space, astronomers, the calendar, astronomy and culture, light pollution and dark skies, and astrology and the zodiac. Titles in this series are: ✶✶ Astronomy (Ages 5–7) ✶✶ Astronomy (Ages 8–10) ✶✶ Astronomy (Ages 11+)

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Contents

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The moon..............................................48–50

Curriculum links...............................................v

The phases of the moon.............................. 51

What is astronomy?....................................2–3

Galaxies................................................52–54

The solar system ........................................4–6

Make a Milky Way galaxy............................ 55

Solar system quiz........................................... 7

Stars and constellations...........................56–58

The sun....................................................8–10

Constellation myths...................................... 59

Pinhole camera........................................... 11

Other space bodies................................60–62

Mercury..................................................12–14

Halley’s comet............................................. 63

How Mercury got its name........................... 15

Telescopes.............................................64–66

Venus....................................................16–18

Spyglass telescope....................................... 67

The Roman goddess, Venus......................... 19

Observing space....................................68–70

Earth......................................................20–22

Found: A new planet!.................................. 71

Strange Earthlings........................................ 23

Astronomers...........................................72–74

Mars......................................................24–26

A day night in the life of an astronomer........ 75

My Martian mask......................................... 27

Famous astronomers...............................76–78

Jupiter...................................................28–30

More great names in astronomy................... 79

Jingles about Jupiter.................................... 31

The calendar..........................................80–82

Saturn....................................................32–34

How do we get our seasons?....................... 83

Come visit Saturn!........................................ 35

Astronomy mythology............................84–86

Uranus...................................................36–38

Astronomy mythology chatterbox................. 87

Uranus discovered!...................................... 39

Light pollution........................................88–90

Neptune................................................40–42

Stop the light!.............................................. 91

Neptune, god of the seas............................ 43

Astrology and the zodiac........................92–94

The dwarf planets...................................44–46

Writing a horoscope..................................... 95

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Teachers notes..........................................iv – v

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Eris and the golden apple............................ 47

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Astronomy Astronomy

Teachers notes This book covers many aspects of astronomy including how astronomy contributes to society and culture, background information about the solar system, knowledge about the effect light pollution has on dark skies and the ability to observe bodies in space, and knowledge about telescopes and astronomers. The twenty-four sections in the book follow a similar format. All sections, apart from Section 1, consist of a four-page set-up of one teachers page followed by three student pages. ✶✶ Page 1 — Teachers page ✶✶ Page 2 — Student page of information ✶✶ Page 3 — Student page to gauge comprehension of student information page ✶✶ Page 4 — Student page, usually a cross-curricular activity relating to the section

Teachers page

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The title of the text is given.

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The teachers page has the following information:

One or more indicators are given for each activity, providing the teacher with the focus of the activity and the behaviours students should demonstrate by completing the activity.

Answers are given for all activities, where applicable. Some open-ended activities require the teacher to check the answers.

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Background information details any extra information required by the teacher or presents specific details regarding the use of the worksheets.

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Additional activities suggest further activities to develop the topic in the same, or another, learning area.

o c . che e r o t r s super Publisher’s note

Astronomical facts change at a rapid rate as a result of advances in technology and continuing research. While the facts presented in this series were checked and found to be correct at time of publication, the publisher acknowledges that these may change over time. Teachers with concerns in this regard are strongly advised to check for themselves using a contemporary reference.

Astronomy Astronomy

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Teachers notes Student pages The student pages have the following information. Student page 2 Comprehension activities are provided to gauge student understanding.

Student page 3 The title reflects the type of activity to be completed. Answers are provided on the teachers page, if needed.

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Student page 1 A text provides information about the particular topic. Art or diagrams that assist in explaining the topic are included, if relevant.

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Science

Society and Environment

NSW

Qld

RS1.5, RS1.6, WS1.9

Refer to curriculum documents <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

1.3, 1.4, 1.8

ESS1.6, LTS1.3, PPS1.4, INVS1.7

Science and Society – 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 Earth and Beyond – 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 Energy and Change – 2.1, 2.2 Life and Living – 2.3

1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5

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CURRICULUM LINKS Vic.

ENRE0202, ENRE0207, ENWR0201

R 2.1, R 2.4, W 2.1

SCSC0201

EB 2, EC 2, LL 2

SOSE0201

ICP 2.1, ICP 2.3 PS 2.1, C 2.1, C 2.2, TCC 2.1, NSS 2.1

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CUS1.3

Time, Continuity and Change – TCC 2.1 Place and Space – PS 2.1, PS 2.2 Culture and Identity – CI 2.5

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1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8

Astronomy Astronomy

What is astronomy? Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about the science of astronomy. ✶✶ Brainstorms to list words associated with astronomy.

Additional activities

✶✶ Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial bodies and other phenomena in the universe. Examples of these include the Earth’s sun, the Earth’s moon, stars, planets, moons of other planets, galaxies, comets, asteroids, meteors, black holes, constellations, the Milky Way and auroras. The science of astronomy includes studying the composition, magnitude, relative position, motion, relative distance, origin and evolution of each phenomenon. ✶✶ The aim of the information and activity on page 3 is to stimulate students’ interest in the topic and gain an understanding of what astronomy means. Circling the words they know at the top of the page will reveal a glimpse of their prior knowledge and make students realise that astronomy covers a broad area and isn’t just, for example, about studying the moon and the stars. The brainstorm activity at the bottom of the page can be completed in pairs. Students’ answers should be discussed so they know the meaning of unfamiliar terms.

✶✶ Brainstorm to list words beginning with the rest of the letters in astronomy (n, m, y). Students could also make a class chart on words relating to astronomy in the form of an alphabet chart, an explosion chart or a chart scattered with words and stars for reference. Useful student websites for astronomy dictionaries or glossaries are: –– <http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/ astronomy/>

Answers

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Background information

–– <http://www.kidsastronomy.com/dictionary. htm#s>

✶✶ Organise a bulk loan from the library and ask students to bring appropriate references from home to create an ‘astronomy corner’. Students’ written or art and craft activities completed from other pages throughout this book could be displayed in this area. Stars and other celestial bodies could be hung from the ceiling and windows blacked out to create a space theme.

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Page 3 Possible answers: A—astronomy, astronomer, astronaut, asteroid, atmosphere, Apollo Space Mission, acceleration S—sun, sunspot, star, satellite, Saturn, solar system, stratosphere, space, space shuttle, supernova, speed of sound, speed of light T—telescope, troposphere, temperature, terrestrial, twinkle/twinkling R—rotate, revolve, radiation O—orbit, observatory

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What is astronomy? To help you understand what ‘astronomy’ means, draw a circle around all the words in this space cloud (called a ‘nebula’) that you have heard before.

star

asteroid

solar system

moon

space Mars

Saturn planet

galaxy rotate

Jupiter

r o e t s Bo r How many did you know? e p ok u All the words in the nebula are to do with the universe. S Astronomy is the study of the universe and all the things in it. black hole

meteor

universe

A person who studies astronomy is called an astronomer. Astronomy gets its name from two Greek words:

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‘astro’ which means ‘star’; and ‘nomos’ which means ‘law’.

So ... astronomy is the ‘law of the stars’ ... a good name, don’t you think?

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People began to study space many thousands of years ago. At first, they could only watch the day and night skies with their eyes. They discovered the patterns the stars make in the sky, how they change position and how the moon changes its shape. They even learnt how to use the stars to navigate! About 400 years ago, the first telescope was invented. Since then, astronomers have found out so much more about the universe. Use words on this page and others you know of to write as many words about astronomy as you can that begin with each letter.

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Astronomy

The solar system Indicators ✶✶ Identifies the correct position of the planets in the solar system. ✶✶ Reads and understands information about the solar system. ✶✶ Completes a quiz to demonstrate what he or she has learned about the solar system.

Answers

✶✶ The sun is actually a star located at the centre of our solar system. A huge ball of constantly exploding gases, the sun gives out the heat and light that sustain life on Earth—the only planet known to have life on it. With over 700 times the mass of all the planets and their moons put together, the sun has a diameter of 1 400 000 kilometres. The sun’s enormous gravitational pull keeps the eight planets, their moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets, dust and gas in orbit around it. ✶✶ The eight planets, in order from the sun, are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. From smallest to largest: Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter. Pluto was once considered the smallest planet in the solar system but, in 2006, was reclassified as a dwarf planet. ✶✶ The four inner planets (those that orbit close to the sun) are far different from the four outer planets (those that orbit far from the sun). The inner planets are much smaller and have few or no moons. The outer planets are huge, all have rings (though Saturn’s are by far the most expansive) and have many moons. ✶✶ The ‘Solar system quiz’ on page 7 should be completed after pages 5 and 6. Students could complete the quiz from memory, individually or in pairs, or refer to the worksheets if necessary.

Page 5 Teacher check Page 6 Teacher check Page 7 1. the sun 2. eight 4. Mercury 5. Jupiter 7. Neptune 8. Mars 10. comet 11. Jupiter

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3. the sun 6. Venus 9. Saturn 12. False

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Background information

✶✶ For page 7, instead of gluing the pictures and information of the planets in an orbit shape around the sun, glue them and the sun in order from smallest to largest. Alternatively, glue the sun on the edge of a large sheet of paper and place the planets in order of distance from the sun. ✶✶ A mnemonic (memory helper) to remember the order of the planets from the sun is ‘My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Neptune’. Students could make up their own mnemonic to remember the order.

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Astronomy Astronomy

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The solar system – 1 The solar system is the name we give to the sun and all the objects that orbit around it. The sun is the centre of the solar system. As well as the eight planets, many dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, comets and meteors also orbit around it.

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Cut and glue the labels in the correct parts of the solar system chart.

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asteroid belt

sun Mars

Jupiter

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Mercury

comet Saturn 5

Uranus

Venus

Earth

Neptune Astronomy

The solar system – 2 Read the facts about objects in our solar system. Colour the pictures and cut out each fact. Glue the sun’s fact in the middle of a large sheet of paper. Correctly arrange and glue the others around the sun in an orbit shape. Asteroids are rocky or metallic objects. Most orbit in a belt located between Mars and Jupiter.

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than Earth!

than asteroids.

moon.

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r o e t s BSeveral r dwarf planets orbit e o p o the sun. One is Pluto, once u Meteoroids also orbit the The sun is really a star.S It thought k to be a planet. It is 1 300 000 times larger sun and are much smaller is smaller than the Earth’s

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©R . I . C.Publ i cat i ons Mercury is the smallest Earth is the only planet Comets are small icy thought to have life.r Itp looks planet. Itsn days are very hot • f o r r e v i e w p u o s e s o l y • and its nights are very cold. objects with very long tails. blue from outer space.

Venus is the hottest planet. Jupiter is so large that all . Mars is also knownt as the It is the closest to Earth the other planets could fit e o has a giant red ‘red planet’ because of iron and easiest to see with our into it. It . c c e spot. dust in its atmosphere. eyes. her r o st super

Saturn has coloured rings Neptune’s winds are the Uranus has a thick, cloudy around it made of ice, dust fastest in the solar system. It atmosphere. It has a blueand rocks. has a bluish appearance. green appearance. Astronomy

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Solar system quiz How well do you know your solar system? Colour a planet for every answer you get correct! 1. What do all the objects in the solar system orbit around? 2. How many planets are in our solar system?

r o e t s Boasteroid r comet e p ok u 4. Which planetS is the smallest?

3. Which of these objects is the largest? Circle it. the sun

meteoroid

5. Which planet is the largest? 6. Which planet is the hottest? 7. Which planet has the fastest winds? 8. Which planet is also known as the ‘red planet’?

dwarf planet

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Jupiter

asteroid

meteoroid

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comet

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11. Circle the planet that does not have a blue appearance.

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Neptune

Uranus

Jupiter

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False

Astronomy

The sun Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands cultural and factual information about the sun. ✶✶ Makes a pinhole camera to safely observe the sun.

Answers

✶✶ The sun is the centre of a small solar system on the outer edge of the Milky Way galaxy. It is made of many hot gases, such as hydrogen, helium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, and iron (that exist in gaseous form as a result of the intense heat). ✶✶ Compared with the Earth, the sun is incredibly large; it has the diameter of 109 Earths. The sun is about 150 million km from Earth, which is why it looks small from our planet’s surface. The sun is about 4½ billion years old. Without the sun, life on Earth would not exist; Earth would be a dark, frozen planet drifting dead in space. We need the sun for light, heat and energy. ✶✶ Depending on the reading ability of the students, teachers may wish to either give each student a copy of this sheet, or enlarge and display it while reading the information to the students. ✶✶ Teachers will need to gather sheets of card and pins for the students to complete the activity on page 11. This activity can only be done on a sunny day. ✶✶ It is essential that before undertaking this activity, teachers warn the students of the dangers of looking directly at the sun. ✶✶ Students work in pairs to create the pinhole camera and experiment with the images that are created.

Page 10 1. Some ancient cultures had sun god stories to explain how the sun, moon, Earth and sky came to be. 2. Teacher check. 3. The sun looks small to us on Earth because it is far away. 4. The sun looks bigger and brighter than other stars in the sky because it is the closest star to Earth. 5. Answers will vary but should mention that the Earth would be dark and cold or frozen; dead. 6. The sun’s name came from the Romans, who called their god of the sun ‘Sol’. Page 11 Teacher check

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Background information

✶✶ There are many Aboriginal Australian Dreaming stories about the sun. Chose one to study with your students. ✶✶ Students could learn about some of the ways the sun is able to harm them—and ways to protect themselves.

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The sun – 1 ‘A long time ago, in the beginning, before there were people, there was the sun ...’

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Drawings and carvings made long, long ago tell us that the sun has always been important to life on Earth. The sun was special to most ancient cultures; many believed there were gods of the sun who helped create and rule Earth. They had stories to explain how the sun, moon, Earth and sky came to be. In fact, the sun’s name comes from the Romans, who called their god of the sun ‘Sol’. The Egyptians believed Ra (or Re) was the god of the sun ...

‘At the beginning of time, an egg rose from the water. Ra, the creator of our world, came out of this egg. Later, Ra had two children who became the air and clouds. They, too, had children, called Geb and Nut, who became the Earth and the stars. One day, Ra cried and humans were made from his tears.‘

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The sun is a star—a big ball of hot, burning gases. The sun is very big, but looks small to us on Earth because it is far away. If you could drive a car to the sun through space, it would take almost 200 years to get there!

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The sun looks bigger and brighter than other stars in the sky because it is the closest star to Earth. The sun’s heat and light reaches Earth and helps living things grow and survive. If the sun was much closer, it would be too hot for most people, animals and plants to survive. Can you imagine what Earth would be like without the sun? Our planet would be dark and frozen. Nothing could live on the planet. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

The sun – 2 1. Why did some ancient cultures have stories about sun gods? 2. Describe the sun in the middle two lines of the song. Make them rhyme if you can!

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r o e t s Bo r e Twinkle, twinkle, giant star, p ok u S you are. Now I know just what Twinkle, twinkle, giant star, now I know just what you are.

3. Why does the sun look small from Earth?

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4. Why does the sun look different from other stars in the sky?

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6. How did the sun get its name? Astronomy

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Pinhole camera Although the sun is far away, its rays send heat and light to Earth strong enough to burn our skin and damage our eyes. Never look straight at the sun! With a partner, follow the instructions to make a pinhole camera. It lets you observe the sun without looking directly at it.

• 2 sheets of stiff white card • A pin

• A partner Instructions:

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Equipment:

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1. With the pin, make a hole in the middle of one of the sheets of card.

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3. Move the other piece of card back and forth underneath until you find the image of the sun coming through the hole.

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2. Go outside. Hold the card up and, without looking at the sun, point the hole at the sun.

o c . chise e What you are seeing not just a dot of light, but r o r an actual image of the sun! st super 4. Move it until the image looks best.

5. Make other holes that are larger or smaller. What happens to the image?

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Astronomy

Mercury Indicators ✶✶ Reads text about the planet Mercury. ✶✶ Completes activities to show understanding of the text.

Answers

✶✶ Mercury is the smallest of the planets in our solar system, it being about the size of Earth’s moon. It has a very thin atmosphere which, coupled with the vast temperature range and lack of water, would prevent life as we know it from existing on the planet. ✶✶ It takes Mercury only 88 Earth days to orbit the sun on its elliptical path, giving it the shortest year of all the planets. ✶✶ Mercury’s rotation on its axis is very slow. It takes almost 60 Earth days to spin just once. ✶✶ Viewing Mercury from Earth is only possible in early morning and early evening, due to its position in relation to the sun. ✶✶ Like Earth, Mercury has a magnetic field created by its iron core and rocky mantle below its crust. The two planets are the densest in the solar system. Earth’s gravitational pull is much stronger than Mercury’s, so objects on Earth weigh more than they would on Mercury. ✶✶ Mercury’s surface is similar to that of Earth’s moon, with many craters formed by crashing comets and meteorites. ✶✶ From Earth, it is possible to observe the phases of Mercury (which are similar to those of Earth’s moon). These changes appear to occur because different parts of the planet are lit by the sun at different times. ✶✶ The Mariner 10 spacecraft explored and mapped just under half of Mercury’s surface in the mid-1970s. ✶✶ The MESSENGER spacecraft, launched in 2004, was programmed to fly past Mercury twice in 2008 and once again in 2009, before travelling around the planet in 2011 to map the whole planet and send back information about all aspects of its physical structure. ✶✶ BepiColombo is a joint mission, commissioned between Japan and the European Space Agency, to study Mercury. Its launch is planned for 2013.

1. Teacher check 2. (a) true (b) false (c) true (d) true (e) false 3. Across: 2. rocky 4. atmosphere 5. ice 6. magnetic 7. strong Down: 1. orbit 2. freezing

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S Additional activities

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Background information

✶✶ Use library resources to create a class fact file on Mercury, from which students develop and present short, individual projects. ✶✶ In pairs, students present an interview, using the text on page 13 as a guide and the class fact file for information.

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Mercury – 1 Adam Armstrong is a famous astronaut who has just returned from a mission to find out about the planet, Mercury. He is being interviewed for television by Quentin Quick. Quentin Quick:

Welcome to the show, Adam. Now tell us what you have learnt about this planet you are investigating.

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Quentin Quick:

Wow, that must make it a very hot rock!

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Adam Armstrong: Well, Quentin, Mercury is the smallest of the four rocky planets in our solar system and it is the closest of all planets to the sun. It has no moons and it is about the same size as our moon.

Adam Armstrong: Indeed it is, Quentin. During the day, it is very, very hot and the sunlight is very strong. You’d need super-duper sunglasses to protect your eyes. But at night, it’s way below freezing. You’d need more than a super-duper doona to keep you warm!

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Adam Armstrong: No, I don’t think there will ever be humans on Mercury. It’s too hot and too cold and it has almost no atmosphere, so we couldn’t breathe without special equipment. Also, there’s no running water. But there is ice, though it never melts because it is on a part of the planet that never has sunlight.

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o c . c Quentin Quick: How does Mercury compare with Earth? e her r o t s and their cores are made er procky Adam Armstrong: Well, they s areu both planets

of iron, so they both have magnetic fields around them. But the most interesting thing for me is Mercury’s orbit. It takes 88 Earth days for Mercury to orbit the sun! So, for every Earth year, Mercury has four years! Just imagine, if you lived on Mercury, you’d be four times older than you are now!

Quentin Quick:

Thank you for that, Adam, and thank you for being on the show. It’s been most interesting.

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Astronomy

Mercury – 2 1. Use the information on page 13 to write three facts about Mercury.

MERCURY FACT FILE • •

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u 2. Write ‘true’ or ‘false’ Sat the end of each sentence.

(a) Mercury is the closest planet to the sun.

(b) There are rivers, lakes and oceans on Mercury.

(d) Mercury has no moon.

(e) A year on Mercury lasts four times longer than a year on Earth.

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•

3. Find the missing word to complete the puzzle.

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Across

M, V, E, M

. teplanet. o 4. Mercury has almost no . c . c e hmelts. r 5. The on Mercury never er o t s s per 6. Mercury’s core creates a field. u 2. Mercury is a

7. The sunlight on Mercury is very

Down 1. One 3. It is Astronomy

around the sun takes a year. on Mercury at night.

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How Mercury got its name Read the text and colour the picture of the ‘winged messenger’.

Astronomers have been looking at the stars and planets for thousands of years. The first time anyone wrote about Mercury was over three and a half thousand years ago!

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S The Ancient Greeks first believed that Mercury was two planets. One could be seen in the early morning, and the other in the early evening. The planets were named Apollo and Hermes, half-brothers from Greek mythology. Hermes was the messenger of the Greek gods.

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A few hundred years later, the Greeks realised that Apollo and Hermes were just one planet that can be seen only at certain times of the day.

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o c . c e r The Romans named this h planet e o t r s super Mercury, after their own messenger of the gods.

These ancient astronomers realised that Mercury orbits the sun very quickly compared with other planets, so perhaps that is why it was named after their swift, winged messenger!

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Astronomy

Venus Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about the planet, Venus. ✶✶ Completes a cloze about Venus, Roman goddess of love and beauty, and writes and draws about a person who is beautiful on the inside.

Answers

✶✶ Venus is about 12 100 kilometres in diameter; about 644 kilometres smaller than that of Earth. Its average distance from the sun is about 108 million kilometres. It is about 38 million kilometres from Earth at its closest approach. ✶✶ The atmosphere of Venus is composed mainly of carbon dioxide and very little water vapour. Venus is hotter than Mercury because the atmosphere keeps the heat trapped once it enters. This is similar to the ‘greenhouse effect’. ✶✶ Knowledge about the surface of Venus was gained from land-based radar observations and space probes. In 1990, a US space probe, Magellan, began to orbit Venus and map its surface using radar. The present surface is believed to be about one billion years old. About 65% of the surface is covered by plains, where thousands of volcanoes of varying heights can be found. Six mountain ranges make up about 35% of the surface. The Mount Maxwell mountain range includes the highest point on the surface. ✶✶ The temperature of Venus averages about 13 °C in its upper atmosphere and about 465 ºC on the planet’s surface. ✶✶ The mass of Venus is about four-fifths that of Earth’s. The force of gravity is slightly less, so the same object would weigh less on Venus than it would on Earth. Also, Venus is slightly less dense than Earth. ✶✶ One day on Venus is the same length as 243 Earth days because it rotates very slowly on its axis. It also rotates in the opposite (retrograde) direction to the way it orbits the sun. If we were able to view sunrise and sunset from Venus, the sun would rise in the west and set in the east.

Page 18 1. Teacher check 2. (a) brightest (b) thick, heat (c) volcanos, valleys (d) ... an asteroid collides into a planet. 3. (a) different parts of sunny areas being visible at different times (b) Earth’s twin or sister, because they are similar in many ways—size, age of surface, mass, composition (c) 225 days (d) Venus, Roman goddess of love and beauty Page 19 1. Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty. She was the daughter of Jupiter and Dione. Venus was born in the sea and floated, fully grown, to land in a clam shell. She was very beautiful. She married Vulcan, the god of fire, and had many children. One of her descendants founded the city of Rome. The city of Venice is named after her. 2. Teacher check

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

✶✶ View different images of Venus to see how it looks at different times. ✶✶ Compare Venus to the other planets in the solar system.

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Additional activities

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Venus – 1 Venus is the second planet from the sun and the sixth largest in our solar system.

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Viewed from Earth, it is the third brightest object in the solar system (after the sun and the moon). Ancient astronomers thought that Venus was actually two separate planets, so it had two names—Phosphorus (morning star) and Hesperus (evening star). This was because it could be seen very brightly at both dawn and dusk.

Venus has a very thick atmosphere that traps heat, making it the hottest planet in the solar system. Because it is so hot, it has no oceans, rivers or plant or animal life.

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The planet is surrounded by clouds of sulphuric acid. This has made it difficult for astronomers to find out about the surface of Venus. But it has been discovered that it has many flat plains, and some mountains, volcanoes, canyons and valleys. There are also some impact craters—which are created when asteroids collide with a planet.

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Seen through a telescope, Venus seems to go through changes in shape and size. These changes are like the phases of Earth’s moon and are caused by different parts of sunlit areas of Venus being visible at different times.

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Venus is sometimes called Earth’s ‘twin’ or ‘sister’ because they are very similar in many ways. They are about the same size. They each have only a few craters, which explain to astronomers that they are both ‘young’ planets. Also, they have a similar mass and are made of similar materials. Venus was the first planet to be observed by a spacecraft—the American spacecraft, Mariner 2, on 14 December 1962. Venus travels around the sun in an orbit which is almost circular. This takes 225 days to complete. Earth orbits the sun every 365 days (or one year) in an oval shape (elliptical). Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Venus – 2 1. Label Venus on the solar system diagram.

sun

r o e t s Bo r e p o u k object in the (a) Seen from Earth, Venus is the third S solar system.

traps a lot of

, which means it

(b) The atmosphere of Venus is very

(d)

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2. Complete each sentence.

,b canyons and © R. I . C.Pu l i ca t i ons An impact crater occurs when •f o rr e vi e w pur posesonl y• mountains,

3. Write answers to the questions. (a) What causes the phases of Venus?

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o c . che e r o (b) What is Venus often called? Why? t r s super

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(d) Who is Venus named after?

Astronomy

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The Roman goddess, Venus 1. Use the words from the box to complete the cloze.

daughter

Rome

named

children sea

god

beauty

very Roman

r o e t s Bo of Jupiter and r e . She was the and p ok u and floated, fully grown, to Dione. VenusS was born in the Venus was the

goddess of love

. She was

land in a clam

She married Vulcan, the

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shell

beautiful.

of fire, and had many

. One of her descendants founded the city of

. The city of Venice is

after her.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Many people are beautiful on the inside well as the outside. They help • f or r e vi ew pu r pas os es on l y• people. They do nice things for others. They are polite and kind.

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2. Write about someone you know who is beautiful on the inside. Tell why you think this. Draw a picture to match your story. My beautiful person is

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Astronomy

Earth Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about the planet Earth. ✶✶ Investigates ages, weights and appearance on another planet.

Answers

✶✶ Earth is about 13 000 kilometres in diameter and is about 150 million kilometres from the sun. ✶✶ One orbit of the sun takes 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes and 9.54 seconds to complete. The extra hours, minutes and seconds are added up every four years to create a leap year. Earth’s orbit is not a perfect circle, so at different times of the year Earth is slightly closer to the sun than at other times. ✶✶ Gravity pulls matter towards the centre of objects, which makes most planets round. Small moons have no gravity, so are not round but ‘lumpy’ instead. Gravity works the same on other planets and larger moons as it does on Earth. ✶✶ The layers of Earth are a thin, outer layer called the crust; a thick, rocky layer called the mantle and located underneath the crust; and the core in its centre. The core has an outer and inner section. The outer core is liquid and the inner core is solid. ✶✶ The air surrounding Earth becomes progressively thinner the further it is from Earth’s surface. The atmosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, with the remainder being argon and small amounts of other gases. The atmosphere contains water vapour, carbon dioxide, water droplets, dust particles and small amounts of other chemicals given off by volcanoes, fires, living things and human activities. The atmosphere traps heat from the sun to warm Earth—the greenhouse effect. The ‘greenhouse effect’ allows life on Earth to be sustained. ✶✶ Ocean water covers about 71% of the Earth’s surface. Three per cent of Earth’s water is fresh, much of it in the polar ice caps or below the surface. ✶✶ NOTE: The weights and ages in the tables for other planets have been made up.

Page 22 1. (a) True (b) True (c) False (d) False (e) False (f) False 2. (a) 365 and a bit (b) 29 (c) 24 3. (a) the tilt of the Earth on its axis as it orbits the sun (b) axis (c) Milky Way Galaxy (d) the core, the mantle and the crust (e) water 4. Teacher check Page 23 Teacher check

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S Additional activities

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Background information

✶✶ On a world globe, locate your country and find out what seas or oceans are close. ✶✶ Graph the weights of students on Earth and on another planet and compare graphs.

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Earth – 1 • Earth is the third planet from the sun. • Earth is the fifth largest planet in the solar system. • Earth travels around the sun in a path called an orbit.

r o e t s Bo r e p o u k to make one • Every four years, ‘the bits’ add one extra day to the calendar S 366 days. This is known as a ‘leap year’. The extra day is 29 February.

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• It takes 365 and ‘a bit’ days for Earth to orbit the sun. This length of time is what we call a ‘year’.

• The Earth tilts on its axis as it orbits the sun. This makes the different seasons. • Earth has one satellite—the moon. The moon orbits Earth.

• The Earth is not perfectly round like a circle. It is wider around its centre, the equator.

• As far as we know, Earth is the only planet in the universe with life on it.

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• Earth spins like a top on an imaginary line called an ‘axis’. The axis runs through the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole.

. tall the planets in our solar system, including Earth, • The sun ande are part of o c a group of solar c systems called the Milky Way galaxy.. e h r e o tof Earth so they don’t ‘fall r • Gravity pulls everything down towards the centre s su r pe • It takes Earth 24 hours to spin entirely on its axis. This makes one day.

off’.

• Like an onion, Earth has layers. They are called the crust, the mantle and the core. The core is in the centre of the Earth. The mantle is above the core and the crust is on top. • Earth is the only known planet with liquid water on its surface. • Water, mostly in oceans, covers about three-quarters of the Earth’s surface. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Earth – 2

core

mantle

1. Write as true or false. crust

(a) Earth has one satellite—the moon.

(b) Earth is the third planet from the sun.

(d) Earth is the largest planet in the solar system.

(e)

(f)

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok The Earth is a perfect circle. u S There is life on other planets.

2. Write the correct numbers.

(a) the number of days for Earth to orbit the sun

(b) the extra day in a leap year—February

(a) The seasons are caused by

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(b) The imaginary line running from the North Pole to the South Pole

(c)

(d)

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(e) Most of Earth’s surface is covered by

4. Write the most interesting fact you read about Earth.

Astronomy

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Strange Earthlings A year is the time it takes a planet to revolve around the sun. Each planet takes a different length of time to complete an orbit of the sun, so a year for each planet is different. 1. Look at the table below, which shows ages in years on different planets. Planet Mercury Venus Mars

25 30 r o e t s r 10 Bo 11 e 8 p5 o u k 6 7 S 3 3 4 21

33 13 8 4

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Earth

Age in years Age in years Age in years Age in years

Jupiter

3 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

Saturn

1 month

2 months

3 months

2. Find your Earth age in the table and write which age you would like to be and the planet you would be on to be that age.

Age:

planets.

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Weight in kilograms 7

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10 10 10 11 11

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 24 25 26 27

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28 29 30

10 11 11 71 73 75

19 20 21 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

4. Find your closest Earth weight in the table and then write the weight you would be on a different planet.

Weight:

Planet chosen:

5. Fold a sheet of art paper into quarters and draw what you would look like on four different planets. Label each with the planet’s name. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Mars Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about the planet, Mars ✶✶ Designs and makes a Martian mask, based on knowledge of the planet

Answers

✶✶ The fourth planet from the sun, Mars is a rocky planet that is much smaller (about half the size) and colder than Earth—temperatures there range from –125 °C to 30 °C. Its gravity is also less (about one third that of Earth). The soil on Mars is red because it contains iron oxide (rust). Mount Olympus, which rises 26 kilometres above the surrounding plains, is over three times the height of Mt Everest. The ice caps are made of solid carbon dioxide (dry ice). ✶✶ Depending on the reading ability of the students, teachers may wish to either give each student a copy of page 25, or enlarge and display while reading the information to the students. ✶✶ For the activity on page 27, teachers will need to gather materials for the students to make their masks: card (in different colours); a basic face-sized oval template for students to trace; scissors; enough elastic for each mask; a range of collage materials, such as pipe-cleaners, feathers, foil, foam, glitter, streamers, craftsticks; tape and glue.

Page 26 1. Similarities include both planets having polar regions, winds and storms, length of days are similar, there are mountains and volcanoes, seasons and an atmosphere. 2. Descriptions should mention red dust, rocks, volcanoes and mountains. 3. Mars is sometimes called the ‘red planet’ because it is covered with red dirt and rocks. 4. Answers will vary but should mention oxygen and breathing equipment, water and food, and special clothing to protect from the sun’s rays. 5. Mount Olympus is a volcano, the tallest in the whole solar system. 6. Teacher check Page 27 Teacher check

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Background information

Additional activities © R. I . C.Pu bl i cat i ons •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

Astronomy Astronomy

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✶✶ At <http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/mars_ rocket2.shtml> students can play an online interactive game planning a trip to Mars. ✶✶ On Halloween, 1938, a radio station broadcasted Orson Welles’ version of H G Wells’ novel, War of the worlds. The first half of the broadcast was presented as a series of news bulletins that convinced many people listening that Earth was being invaded by creatures from Mars. Some people even evacuated their homes. Play parts of the audio version to the students and discuss the music, the feelings it invokes and the descriptions of the Martians. The audio is now public domain and can be found on the Internet by typing ‘welles war worlds audio’ into a search engine.

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Mars – 1

r o e t s B r Mars is much smaller and colder e o p okBefore people had than Earth. u been able to study Mars closely, S many people thought that there Mars Earth

Could there really be life on Mars? Mars is very cold and dusty, with strong winds that cause huge dust storms. But many scientists think that Mars used to be like Earth. Over the last 40 years, a number of spacecraft and small robots (called rovers) have been sent to look at Mars. They took photos of Mars and sent them back to Earth. From looking at these photos, many scientists think there used to be oceans, rivers and perhaps even living things on Mars. Two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been on Mars since 2004.

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The fourth planet from the sun is Mars. It is sometimes called the ‘red planet’ because it is covered with red dirt and rocks. There are big volcanoes, mountains and craters on Mars. One volcano, Mount Olympus, is the tallest in the whole solar system.

was life on Mars. They were afraid that creatures from Mars, called Martians, would attack Earth! Mars rover

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o c Of all the planets in our solar system, Mars is the most similar. to Earth. Mars has c e r areas of ice in the north h ande south of the planet, a bito like the North and South Poles t r s s r usame pe on Earth. A day on Mars is almost the length as an Earth day (24 hours and 39 minutes), and a year (lasting nearly twice as long as an Earth year) has different seasons.

No humans have landed on Mars, yet. To survive on Mars you would need special clothes and equipment. The air there is very different to ours on Earth; we could not breathe the air on Mars. The thin atmosphere there makes the sun’s rays very harmful to people. The gravity is different on Mars, too. On Mars, you would feel much lighter and could jump three times higher than you can on Earth! R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Mars – 2 1. List three ways Mars is similar to Earth.

•

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2. Describe what you might see if you were on Mars.

3. Why is Mars sometimes called the ‘red planet’?

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4. If you went to Mars, what equipment and supplies would you need to take?

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5. What is Mount Olympus?

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6. Do you think there might be life on Mars? Explain your answer. Astronomy

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My Martian mask If there were creatures living on Mars, what do you think they would look like? What features would they have to help them survive on such a cold and dusty planet that has no plants or water? Use your knowledge of Mars to help you design a Martian mask. 1. Write some features your Martian might have.

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2. Draw what your Martian mask will look like.

3. List the materials you will need to make your mask.

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4. Make you mask. How does it look? R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Jupiter Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about the planet, Jupiter. ✶✶ Follows poetry frameworks to write a haiku and a cinquain about Jupiter.

Answers:

✶✶ So students can begin to appreciate the size and other facts about Jupiter, several comparisons to Earth have been made in the text on page 29. Another comparison teachers could explain more clearly with a sphere or globe is that Jupiter’s diameter is approximately 143 000 kilometres, which is more than 11 times that of the Earth but more than 10 times smaller than the sun’s. ✶✶ Along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, Jupiter is one of the outer planets—all of which are gaseous planets. Space probes, such as Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, have discovered faint rings around Jupiter and more about its composition. Its atmosphere mainly consists of helium, methane and hydrogen. Jupiter’s rapid rotation causes it to bulge at the equator and flatten out at the poles. The planet completes an orbit of the sun in about 12 Earth years.

Page 30 1. It was named ‘Jupiter’ after the ruler of the Roman gods, who was also the rain god and the lord of the sky. 2. (b) one thousand 3. (a) false (b) false (c) false (d) true 4. Answers may include: it is an enormous storm, big enough to swallow two or three Earths, first seen 300 years ago and has not stopped since. 5. (a) 63 (b) Four (c) 10 6. Because Jupiter has very strong gravity, many asteroids that came too close to it were pulled towards it and became moons. Page 31 1. Jupiter Far from Earth Lies a gigantic planet With a great red spot. 2. Teacher check

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

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✶✶ View colour images of Jupiter on the Internet to more clearly see the great red spot, cloudy atmosphere and gaseous surface. ✶✶ Students create a giant collage of Jupiter for display. Keywords and phrases can be placed around the planet, describing facts about Jupiter.

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Jupiter – 1 Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system and the fifth planet from the sun. It is so large that all the other planets in our solar system could fit inside it; or about 1000 of our planet, Earth! Jupiter has been known about since ancient times. This is because it can be seen with just our eyes. Jupiter is the fourth brightest object in the night sky. The brightest is the sun, then our moon and the next is the planet, Venus.

Jupiter

Earth

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u Sdoes not have a solid surface. Its surface is like a huge ocean Unlike Earth, Jupiter of gases and liquids. Layers of very thick cloud make up its atmosphere. The atmosphere gets thicker and thicker the closer it is to the surface. It seems like the ‘sky’ becomes part of the ‘ocean’.

A great red spot can be seen in Jupiter’s clouds. This is an enormous storm big enough to swallow two or three Earths! This storm was first seen with a telescope more than 300 years ago and has not stopped since!

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too heavy—about 10 times more than it is on Earth—for life to exist. Because it is a gassy planet, it has a set of rings. They are very thin and hard to see, not like Saturn’s thick, large, colourful rings. Jupiter spins the fastest of all the planets. This means its day is only 10 hours in length and not 24 hours, like Earth’s.

. te has 63 moons? Imagine looking at the skyoat night and Did you know Jupiter c seeing more than justc one moon shining brightly! Four ofe the. moons can be h r seen with a simple telescope they are very large, about the size of a small easr o t s s r upe planet such as Mercury. Many of Jupiter’s moons are tiny. They are thought to

be asteroids that came too close to Jupiter. Because of its enormous size, Jupiter has very strong gravity. Gravity is the force that pulls things towards a planet. It is thought that Jupiter’s gravity has pulled many asteroids towards it and they now circle Jupiter as moons. Because of its great size, Jupiter was named after the ruler of the Roman gods. Jupiter was also the rain god and the lord of the sky, so its name is a good one for the ‘king of the planets’! R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Jupiter – 2 1. Why was the name ‘Jupiter’ chosen for this planet? 2. Circle the number of Earths that could fit inside Jupiter.

r o e t (c) one million s B r e oo p 3. Write ‘true’ or ‘false’. u k S (a) You need a telescope to see Jupiter. (b) one thousand

(b) Jupiter has a rocky surface.

(d) A day on Jupiter is shorter than a day on Earth.

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(a) one hundred

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4. Write some facts about Jupiter’s great red spot.

. tto finish the sentence. 5. Write numbers e o c . c e her r moons. (a) Jupiter has o t s super moons are so large they can be seen with a telescope. (b)

times heavier than Earth’s.

6. Explain how some asteroids are believed to have become moons. Astronomy

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Jingles about Jupiter The fact we remember most about Jupiter is that it is the largest planet by far in our solar system. But there are lots of other facts you have discovered about this giant planet. The activities below use some of these facts in poems about Jupiter. So read the instructions to write some ‘jingles’ about Jupiter!

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A ‘haiku’ is a Japanese poem about nature. Each poem has three lines. For example: Title: Space Line 1: Look into the sky.................... (five syllables) Line 2: Heavenly bodies twinkling....... (seven syllables) Line 3: In the clear night sky............... (five syllables) 1. Finish this haiku about Jupiter. Choose words from the box. Remember to follow the rules about the number of syllables. Jupiter Far

great

gigantic spot

from

Lies a

away With

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A poem that uses a number of words or syllables is a ‘cinquain’. It has five lines and describes something. Like a haiku, it does not rhyme. 2. Follow the rules to write your own cinquain about Jupiter.

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o c . c e her r Line 2: o t s the topic) suptoe r (two words or four syllables describe

Line 1: (one word or two syllables for the title)

Line 3: (two words or four syllables to describe the topic) Line 4: (three words or six syllables to describe the topic) Line 5: (one word or two syllables with a similar meaning to the title) R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Saturn Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about the planet, Saturn. ✶✶ Uses knowledge of Saturn and original ideas to create a poster advertising a tour to Saturn.

Answers

✶✶ Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, is about 764 times larger than Earth. It has the most extensive and complex ring system in the solar system, extending hundreds of thousands of kilometres from the planet, and consisting mostly of ice. Saturn has around 60 known natural satellites (moons) and there are possibly more yet to be discovered. Saturn’s largest satellite, Titan, is a bit bigger than the planet Mercury. It is the second-largest moon in the solar system; only one of Jupiter’s moons, Ganymede, is bigger. Titan is shrouded in a thick, nitrogen-rich atmosphere that some believe to be similar to what Earth’s was like long ago. Saturn is the only planet less dense than water. ✶✶ For the activity on page 35, teachers are required to provide large sheets of blank paper or card (A3 size), markers and painting materials. ✶✶ Discuss travel agencies and the meaning of ‘interplanetary’. If possible, show the students a poster promoting a tour or place to visit. Discuss the colour, images and words used on the poster and how this might influence people viewing the poster. Students think about how they might encourage people to purchase tickets for a tour to Saturn. They answer the questions to help plan their posters, thinking about colours, words and images they will use. Once students have planned and sketched a rough design for their posters, they create them on the large sheets of paper.

Page 34 1. (a) false (b) false (c) true (d) false 2. Saturn is covered by layers of liquid and clouds of gas, rather than a solid surface to land on. 3. Saturn’s rings are colourful, thin, wide, and made up of millions of pieces of ice and some dirt. Some of these pieces are very small, others are bigger than a car. They might be bits that didn’t come together to form a moon when the planet was forming a long time ago, or they may be bits from moons that broke apart. The rings are separated by gaps, the largest of which (the Cassini Gap) can be seen from Earth 4. Scientists are interested in Titan because it is the only moon in our solar system known to have clouds and an atmosphere; more like a planet than a typical moon. 5. A day on Saturn is shorter than an Earth day, being only about ten hours long, and one year on Saturn is nearly 30 Earth years in length. 6. Answers will vary, teacher check. Page 35 Teacher check posters for originality, attractiveness and effort.

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

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Additional activities ✶✶ Research the myths about Saturn, the Roman god, and the feast of Saturnalia during which, for seven days, business was suspended and the roles of master and slave were reversed.

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Saturn – 1 The sixth planet from the sun was named after the Roman god Saturn, the father of Jupiter. The day Saturday is also named after him.

Saturn is sometimes called the ‘ringed planet’ r o e t s B r because it has colourful, thin, wide rings e o p okrings are made up around it. These u of millions of pieces of ice and S snow, and some dirt. Some of

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While Saturn is the second largest planet, it’s also the lightest planet. This is because, like Jupiter, it is made up of gasses.

Saturn

these pieces are very small, others are bigger than a car. No-one is sure how these pieces got there; they might be bits that didn’t come together Earth to form a moon when the planet was forming a long time ago, or they may be bits from moons that broke apart. There are gaps between the rings. The biggest gap, called the Cassini Gap, can be seen from Earth. Saturn is the furthest planet that can be seen without a telescope.

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Saturn has lots of moons. We know of about 60, but there may be more that haven’t been discovered yet. The biggest moon is called Titan. It is the second biggest moon in the whole solar system. Scientists are interested in Titan because it is the only moon in our solar system known to have clouds and an atmosphere; more like a planet than a typical moon.

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o c . che e r o t r s uonpSaturn er Saturn spins faster than Earth. A s day is only about ten hours long. But

Saturn takes a long time to move around the sun; one year on Saturn is nearly 30 Earth years in length. Trying to land a spacecraft on Saturn would be a bit like trying to land an aeroplane on a cloud. While Saturn has a rocky centre deep down, it is covered by layers of liquid and then clouds of gas, not a solid surface. There are very strong winds on parts of Saturn and huge storms. It is very, very cold on Saturn. Most scientists think it is too cold for there to be any life. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Saturn – 2 1. Colour ‘true’ or ‘false’.

(a) Saturn has exactly 60 moons. true

false

(b) Saturn is named after a day of the week. true

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2. Why couldn’t a spacecraft land on Saturn?

3. Describe Saturn’s rings.

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false

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4. Why are scientists interested in Titan?

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o c . 5. How do Saturn’s daysc and years compare to Earth’s? e her r o t s super

6. If you discovered a new moon near Saturn, what would you call it? Give reasons why. Astronomy

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Come visit Saturn! Imagine it is the year 2050. Space travel is now a popular pastime. Your job at an interplanetary travel company is to make posters encouraging people to take tours in space with your company. Plan a poster for a new tour of Saturn by answering the questions below. Then make your poster with markers or paints.

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1. What is the name of your travel company?

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2. What special things near or on Saturn might people be interested in seeing?

3. How long would the trip take?

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5. What pictures, colours and words will you put on your poster to make it get people’s attention?

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Astronomy

Uranus Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about the planet, Uranus. ✶✶ Writes a story about the discovery of Uranus and writes poetry lyrics for a song.

Answers

✶✶ The average distance of Uranus from the sun is about 2872 million kilometres. The diameter of Uranus is 51 118 kilometres. ✶✶ The surface of Uranus is mainly made of blue-green clouds of methane. Below the clouds are thicker clouds made up of layers of liquid and crystals of ammonia ice. Below that layer may be a layer of liquid water and at the centre of the planet may exist a core of rock. Scientists do not believe there is life on Uranus because of its composition. ✶✶ William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781 but, in 1986, most information about the planet was gained during the flight of Voyager 2, which passed within 80 000 kilometres of Uranus. ✶✶ The atmosphere of Uranus is composed of 82% hydrogen, 15% helium, 2% methane and small amounts of ethane and other gases. ✶✶ The temperature of Uranus’ atmosphere is about –215 ºC, while the ‘ocean’ reaches about 2300 ºC and the core about 7000 ºC. The nature of its weather system helps to distribute heat evenly over the planet. ✶✶ As of late 2008, 27 satellites of Uranus have been discovered, but more are believed to exist. The five largest were discovered from 1787 to 1948 and 10 more from 1985 to 1986 by Voyager 2. Some were also later discovered using telescopes on Earth. Specific information about the moons of Uranus may be found at <http://www.spacetoday. org/SolSys/Uranus/UranusMoons.html>. ✶✶ Information about William Herschel can be found at <http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/herschel/ fwhershs.html>.

Page 38 1. (a) (iii) (b) (i) (c) (i) (d) (ii) 2. (a) Yes (b) No (c) No (d) No (e) No (f) Yes 3. (a) ... the sky (b) ... it collided with another planet or space body (c) ... Voyager 2, moons, ... been found Page 39 Teacher check

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S Additional activities

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Background information

✶✶ Use books or magazines to find and cut out pictures of different kinds of telescopes, then use recycled materials to make a telescope. ✶✶ Use the Internet or library resources to find pictures of the Greek god, Uranus, or the Titans or Cyclopeses, then sketch a drawing of one of them.

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Uranus – 1 Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and the

third largest. It was the first planet found using a telescope. Uranus is a blue-green colour. It takes 84 years for Uranus to orbit the sun once. The orbit is ovalshaped (elliptical). One season on Uranus can last for up to 20 years!

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are Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune.

An interesting fact about Uranus is that its

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok Rocks, ice and gases make up the planet. It is u really a giant ballS of gas and liquid. Uranus has eleven faint rings around it. The other gas planets

atmosphere is made up of gases which are poisonous to humans. Many layers of clouds are found in the atmosphere. Some of these are bright in colour. Uranus is very cold and windy.

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was also the father of Cronus and the other Titans, and the one-eyed giants, Cyclopeses.

Unlike other planets, Uranus is

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positioned on its side. Scientists think that this happened a very long time ago when it collided with another planet or space body.

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Spacecraft, Voyager 2,

visited Uranus on 24 January 1986. Uranus has at least 27 known moons. There may be more which have not yet been found. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Uranus – 2 1. Tick ( ) the correct answer from the ones given. (a) Uranus is the (i) fourth

(b) Uranus is the (i) third

planet from the sun. (ii) fifth

(iii) seventh

largest planet. (ii) tenth

(iii) sixth

r o e t s Bao r planet found using telescope. e p ok (ii) only (iii) last u S (d) Uranus is the colour .

(i) red

(ii) blue-green

2. Write ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

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(iii) pink

(a) Uranus’s orbit is oval-shaped, but takes 84 years to complete.

(b) One season on Uranus lasts for three months.

(c)

(d) There are nine rings around Uranus.

(e) People can breathe Uranus’s air.

(f) Uranus is cold, windy and cloudy.

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. tnamed after the god of o (a) Uranus wase c . c e r (b) Astronomers believeh that spins on its side because eUranus o t r s super

3. Complete the sentences.

, which took many photographs. These

photographs showed that Uranus had at least 21

More satellites may not have yet

Astronomy

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Uranus discovered! William Herschel discovered Uranus while looking at the sky through his own self-made telescope on 13 March 1781.

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1. Write a short story telling about the event. Describe what William Herschel was doing, what he felt when he discovered Uranus, how he told others about it and what happened after his discovery was announced to the world.

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2. William Herschel was a musician and amateur astronomer. On the back of the worksheet, write a four-line poem which will be the lyrics of a song. The song will tell about:

• astronomy

• telescopes

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• space discovery 39

• the sky. Astronomy

Neptune Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about the planet, Neptune. ✶✶ Completes a cloze activity to read myths about Neptune, the god of the seas.

Additional activities

✶✶ Along with Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, Neptune is one of the outer planets; all of which are gaseous planets. Besides being composed of gas instead of rock, the four outer planets differ from the four inner planets in that they are much larger, all have rings and all have multiple moons. ✶✶ Neptune’s blue colour is more vivid and brighter than Uranus’s blue-green colour. Both get their colour from the methane gas in the atmosphere, which absorbs red light and makes only blue colours visible. Neptune is thought to also have another component to make it differ in colour. ✶✶ It is thought that Neptune has seasons, as its axis is tilted and changes in cloud bands and their brightness have been observed in its southern hemisphere, as would occur as the seasons change. As it takes Neptune 165 years to orbit the sun, each season would last 40 years, meaning 40 years of night or 40 years of daylight at its poles.

✶✶ View images of Neptune on the Internet to more clearly see its great storm spots, blue colour, and icy, cloudy atmosphere. ✶✶ After students have studied the four outer gas planets, they could compare and contrast them using a retrieval chart. Headings could include size, colour, rings, moons, atmosphere, years to orbit the sun.

Answers:

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Background information

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Astronomy Astronomy

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Page 42 1. It was named after Neptune, the Roman god of the seas, as Neptune has a bluish colour (like the sea). 2. A French mathematician used maths to work out that an unknown planet was pulling Uranus into an unusual orbit and explained to a Russian astronomer where to look in the sky to find the planet, which was Neptune. 3. (a) eighth (b) four (c) 13 (d) 2000 (e) 165 (f) –230 ºC (g) 60 4. Teacher check 5. Triton orbits the planet in an opposite direction to the other moons. Page 43 1. palace 2. made 3. water 4. magnificent 5. horses 6. calm 7. three 8. magical 9. storms 10. rivers

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Neptune – 1 Neptune is the furthest from the sun of the eight planets. It is one of the four giant gas planets. The others are Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. Neptune is the fourth largest planet in our solar system. It could hold about 60 of our planet, Earth!

Earth

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Because Neptune is so far away from Earth, it can not be seen with just our eyes. Neptune was the first Neptune planet discovered by scientists using mathematics. Scientists had noticed that Uranus, the closest planet to Neptune, didn’t travel in its orbit as it was expected to. Something was causing this. A French mathematician, Urbain Le Verrier, used mathematics to work out that an unknown planet was pulling Uranus into an unusual orbit. He also worked out where a Russian astronomer, Johann Galle, should look for it with a telescope. Galle discovered Neptune in 1846 on the first night of his search. Neptune is so far away from the sun that it takes 165 years to orbit it! Its great distance from the sun means the temperature on Neptune is extremely cold— about –230 °C. It has a cloudy, icy atmosphere made up of the gases hydrogen, helium and methane. Neptune is a blue colour, which it gets from a layer of methane gas above the clouds. This looks like an ocean and is the reason it was called Neptune, after the Roman god of the sea.

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In 1989, a spacecraft called Voyager 2 took photographs of Neptune from space. Astronomers found out a lot more about Neptune. They discovered giant, dark spots that appear in different places and change in size and shape. These are enormous storms that can be the size of the Earth! Neptune is the planet with the strongest winds. They can reach speeds of 2000 kilometres an hour.

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Astronomers also discovered that Neptune, like the other gas planets, has rings. But they are only faint and not as thick and colourful as Saturn’s. Thirteen moons have been discovered so far. The largest moon, Triton, orbits the planet in an opposite direction to the other moons.

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Astronomy

Neptune – 2 1. Why was the name ‘Neptune’ chosen for this planet? 2. Explain how Neptune was discovered.

(a) Neptune is the

planet from the sun.

(b) It is one of the

giant gas planets.

(d) Winds on Neptune can reach

(e)

(f) The temperature on Neptune’s surface is about

(g) Neptune could hold

moons.

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3. Complete these sentences with numbers.

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4. Write some facts about Neptune’s dark spots.

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5. What is unusual about Neptune’s largest moon, Triton? Astronomy

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Neptune, god of the seas Neptune was named after the Roman god of the seas because the planet has a bluish colour which looks like the sea. The story of Neptune is a myth, which is a tale from long, long ago.

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rivers palace calm magnificent three water storms horses made magical

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To find out about Neptune, choose words from the box below to complete the sentences.

from coral and precious gems. Neptune could

breathe under the

and in the air. He could talk to all kinds of

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floor. It was

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sea creatures.

golden chariot was ready to take Neptune wherever he . twas pulled by white o wanted to go. Ite with brass hooves and c . cwould e when Neptune rode r golden manes. The sea h become er o st super A

in his chariot.

Neptune had a trident, which is a spear with bit like a fork. It was

10.

and he used it to do many things.

Neptune could create fogs and

prongs—a

, cause tidal waves, make

dry up or run again and make earthquakes.

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Astronomy

The dwarf planets Indicators ✶✶ Reads text about dwarf planets. ✶✶ Completes activities to show understanding of the text.

Background information dwarf planet by the IAU. Makemake orbits the sun beyond Neptune. A fifth dwarf planet, Haumea, was formally designated by the IAU in 17 September 2008. It, too, is located in the Kuiper belt. ✶✶ The debate about Pluto’s status as a planet began in the 1990s when discoveries of new objects with similar characteristics to Pluto were found. It was considered that rather than being the ninth planet in the solar system, Pluto was actually the largest member of a new category of objects, plutoids, which form the inner part of the Kuiper Belt. ✶✶ Page 45—Groups of three students can read the script and present the short play to the rest of the class or students from different classes. ✶✶ On a diagram, show the location of each dwarf planet and the asteroid and Kuiper belts. ✶✶ It will be necessary to explain that a planet’s force of gravity is strong enough to pull it into a spherical shape. While this force may be strong enough to maintain its shape, it may not be able to pull other bodies of comparable size into its control and make them satellites of itself; e.g. planets and their moons.

Answers

Additional activities

Page 46 1. (a) Ceres, Pluto, Eris (b) Pluto, Eris (c) Ceres (d) the rocky planets from the gas giants 2. (a) 1. planet 2. gravity 3. pull 4.orbit (b) It must orbit the sun. Its gravity must be strong enough to pull it into a round shape. 3. (a) false (b) true (c) false (d) false (e) true (f) true Page 47 Teacher check

✶✶ Read the story, Pluto’s identity crisis, by Connie Barlow and Bella Downey, also available as a playscript from <http://www.thegreatstory.org/ Pluto.html>. ✶✶ Make a colourful display to show the location of the three dwarf planets in relation to the sun and the eight true planets. Include the asteroid and Kuiper belts.

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✶✶ The International Astronomical Union (IAU) defines a dwarf planet as a celestial body which orbits the sun and has sufficient mass for its gravity to maintain its spherical shape. ✶✶ Of the many possible candidates for this category, these were the first three to be recognised by the IAU: –– Ceres was discovered in 1801 and classed as a planet for 50 years before being reclassified as an asteroid. It is the largest object in the asteroid belt, which lies between Jupiter and Mars, effectively separating the terrestrial and Jovian planets. –– Pluto was discovered in 1930 and classified as a planet for 76 years. For almost half a century, it was believed that Pluto was larger than Mercury. But with the discovery of its moon, Charon, it was possible to measure its mass accurately. It was calculated that Pluto was much smaller than Mercury. –– Eris was discovered in 2003 and initially referred to as the tenth planet of our solar system. ✶✶ On 14 July 2008, Makemake was declared a

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The dwarf planets – 1 Struck off the list Across the vast blackness of space, three dwarf planets were grumbling to one another. Pluto:

I don’t believe it! I was discovered in 1930 and for 76 years I’ve been the ninth planet. Then someone just comes along and strikes me off the list. What is this solar system coming to!

Ceres:

I know how you feel. I was discovered in 1801 and was a planet for 50 years before they decided I was just an asteroid. I’d rather be a dwarf planet ... even if I am the smallest!

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Eris:

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u They only discovered me in 2003 and I was the tenth planet for a S whole year before they decided I had to go. It’s because I’m so much bigger than you, Pluto, that you had to go, too. I know it’s hard, but we just don’t pass all the tests.

Ceres:

Ah yes, the tests! Let’s see if we can remember them.

Ceres:

The second one ... Do we all have enough gravity to be round in shape?

Altogether:

Yes!

Eris:

(sounding sad) And the last one ... Do all of us have gravity strong enough to pull all large objects in our orbits into our control?

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Pluto:

Pluto: Eris:

. tNo, e Eris. We’re both objects in the same belt. Soco we’re stopping . each other being planets. chfrom e r e o t r sobjects, not just you and me. True. But there ares lots ofp Kuiper Belt u er

Ceres:

And I’m not the only asteroid in my own belt, separating the little rocky planets from the great gas giants, even if I am the biggest and a close friend of the sun.

Pluto:

(Brightly) Come on. Let’s not be down-hearted. They’ve changed their minds before. So who knows, they may do it again!

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Astronomy

The dwarf planets – 2 Use the information on page 45 to answer the questions. 1. (a) Name the three dwarf planets in order of their discovery.

(b) Which two dwarf planets are Kuiper belt objects?

r o e t s B r e oo (c) Which dwarf planet is closest to the sun? p u k Sdoes Ceres separate? (d) Which objects

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2. (a) Write the missing words from the box to complete the sentence. pull

orbit

gravity

,l the object’s © R. I . C.Pub i c at i ons must •f orr evi e wbepstrong ur penough osetosonl y•

To be a true

all large objects in its

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(b) Write the other two tests of a true planet.

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. te o 3. Answer ‘True’ or ‘False’ to each question. c . che e r o (a) Eris is smaller than Pluto. r t s super

(b) Pluto was considered a planet for 76 years.

(d) Ceres is the biggest dwarf planet.

(e) The dwarf planets orbit the sun.

(f) Gravity is a pulling force. Astronomy

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Eris and the golden apple The discovery of Eris helped astronomers make the decision to strike Pluto off the list of true planets. People who wanted Pluto to stay a planet were upset. The new dwarf planet was named Eris, after the Greek goddess of rivalry, because of the trouble its discovery caused.

r o e t s Bo r e p okthe wedding and 1. The goddess, Eris, was not 2. She went to u invited toS a special wedding threw a golden apple among

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1. Read and illustrate each paragraph of the legend of Eris and the golden apple.

the goddesses. On it was written, ‘To the fairest’.

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because she was a trouble maker. This made her very angry.

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cried, ‘It’s mine!’

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o c . ch e 5. The ruler of the gods, Zeus, 6. His decision led to the Trojan r e o twhich lasted until the s super asked a young man,r Paris, War, who should have the apple. He citizens of Troy were tricked by the Trojan Horse.

chose Aphrodite.

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Astronomy

The moon Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about the moon. ✶✶ Records observations of the moon’s phases as diagrams on a calendar.

Answers

✶✶ Even though the moon has never formally been given a name, the word originates from various sources: Old English ‘mona’; Latin ‘mensis’; and Greek ‘mene’, meaning ‘moon or month’. This probably originated because the Moon takes approximately 27.3 days to revolve around the Earth. ✶✶ The moon is Earth’s own natural satellite. It is believed to have formed from debris from Earth after a catastrophic impact from a meteor the size of Mars. Examination of rocks brought back from the moon supports this theory as their makeup matches that of rocks on Earth. ✶✶ The moon is the only extraterrestrial place where humans have successfully landed and been able to study personally for scientific research. ✶✶ The moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth is responsible for the tidal patterns we experience. The ocean tides are caused by the pull towards the two points on Earth which are directly beneath and directly opposite the moon. ✶✶ Sometimes the Earth and moon are considered a double planet, because of the size ratio between the two, and the strong rotational pull they have on each other’s orbit.

Page 50 1. Teacher check 2. Possible answers: (a) How many kilograms of rock has been brought back from the moon? (b) What is the total number of known moons in our solar system? (c) How many Earth days equal one day on the moon? (d) How many humans have walked on the moon? (e) What is the approximate distance from the Earth to the moon? 3. Teacher check 4. Answers will vary Page 51 Teacher check

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

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✶✶ Discuss, research and create a visual display explaining various sayings or terms related to the moon; for example: the man in the moon; once in a blue moon; full-moon madness; over the moon; moonstruck; shooting for the moon. ✶✶ Hundreds of years ago, farmers gave each full moon for each month a name according to the harvest cycle. Research and record the names of the 12 moons of the year. Organise the class into 12 groups and direct each group to explain the meaning behind the name of the full moon for their month. Display each month in order around the class.

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The moon – 1 What’s in a name? The moon has never been named. However, it is sometimes called ‘Lunar’, from the Latin word ‘luna’ (meaning ‘moon’).

Quieter than a library! The moon is a silent place. There is no atmosphere to carry soundwaves from one place to another.

It’s all about size! We are six times lighter on the moon than we are on Earth. So if you weigh 30 kg on Earth, you would only weigh 5 kg on the moon. You would also be slightly taller!

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The moon is the Earth’s closest neighbour. It is about 384 000 km from Earth. It would take a spacecraft about three days to get there travelling at speeds of more than 5300 km/hour.

an object about the size of Mars hit the Earth. This caused lots of rock to break off the Earth. This rock floated into the Earth’s orbit and joined together to form the moon.

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r o e t s B r e oo Creation of the moon p u kis because the This Howdy neighbour! is thought that, around S It4.57 force of gravity of the billion years ago,

moon is much less than that of Earth’s.

How many moons?

The moon that we see is the only one in the Earth’s orbit. However, there are at least166 known moons in our solar system.

Talk about ancient!

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Lunar time

The table below shows how many moons are in the orbit of each planet.

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The moon is about 4.3 billion years old! We have discovered this by studying the 382 kg of moon rock brought back to Earth during several missions to the moon.

Mercury

Venus

o Earth c .Mars cheAfter six lunar landings, r e o Jupiter astronauts have left t r s s r u e p behind lunar landers,

A day on the moon is equal to around 29 Earth days. This is how long it takes the moon to rotate once on its axis.

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Lunar litter …

lunar rover vehicles, more than 50 tonnes of rubbish ... as well as human waste! Only 12 humans have ever stepped onto the moon. 49

1 2 63

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

New moons are being discovered all the time.

Astronomy

The moon – 2 1. Draw pictures to show each stage of the creation of the moon. Rocks break off

Rocks float in orbit

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2. If these numbers are the answers, write the questions.

(a) 382 kg

(b) 166

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(d) 12

The moon is formed

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Impact on Earth

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(e) 384 000 km

wish.

Earth weight:

÷6=

(moon weight)

4. Write what you think about the amount of rubbish left on the moon. Astronomy

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The phases of the moon Did you know that the moon is always the same? It never changes; even though it looks like it does. These changes in the way it looks are called ‘phases’. We see a ‘full moon’ when the Earth is between the moon and the sun. We see a ‘new moon’ (or no moon at all) when the moon is between the Earth and the sun.

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crescent

first waxing waning last full moon crescent quarter gibbous gibbous quarter

new moon

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new moon

Look at the moon each night for a month. Draw what you see on this calendar. Month:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

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Astronomy

Galaxies Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about galaxies. ✶✶ Follows instructions to create a ‘pinwheel’ spiral galaxy.

Answers

✶✶ Galaxies can range in diameter from a few thousand to a half-million light-years. ✶✶ Apart from our own, the Milky Way, the other galaxies which can be seen with the unaided eye are the Andromeda Galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud. ✶✶ Galaxies are distributed indiscriminately throughout space. ✶✶ Clusters may contain from a few dozen to several thousand galaxies. Clusters may be grouped in super-clusters or huge networks. ✶✶ Stars in elliptical galaxies seem to move in a random fashion. ✶✶ The Magellanic Clouds are irregular galaxies. ✶✶ Galaxies can move in relation to each other and have been known to collide. ✶✶ Galaxies give off energy in the form of visible light and other electromagnetic radiation (radio waves, infrared rays, ultraviolet rays, X-rays, gamma rays). This energy mostly comes from the heat of the stars and clouds of dust and gas (nebulae). ✶✶ Scientist believe that galaxies formed during the ‘big bang’—an explosion which resulted in the creation of the universe between 10 billion and 20 billion years ago. Huge amounts of gas joined together or collapsed and then gravity slowly compressed the gas into galaxies. ✶✶ Our solar system (Sol) is within the Orion Arm of the Milky Way. ✶✶ For the activity on page 55, teachers will need to gather: black paint and coloured markers or pens; glue; cardboard; glitter; scissors; tacks or split pins; and a strip of cardboard, a piece of dowel or a ruler for each student.

Page 54 1. (a) True (b) False (d) False (e) True 2.–3. Teacher check 4. the Milky Way Page 55 Teacher check

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Background information

✶✶ Plan and make an elliptical galaxy using art and craft techniques. ✶✶ Create dance or body movements which imitate the movement of different galaxies. Listen to pieces of music to find a suitable piece to accompany the movements.

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Galaxies – 1 Read the information about galaxies.

What is a galaxy? A galaxy is a group of stars, gas and dust held together by gravity. Most galaxies are found in groups called clusters.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok Scientists think that there may be more u than 100 billion galaxies in the universe! S Astronomers have been able to use telescopes to photograph millions of them. Only four galaxies can be seen with the unaided eye. One of these is the Milky Way.

How big is a galaxy?

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How many galaxies are there in the universe?

sun

Large galaxies are made up of more than a trillion stars, but small galaxies have fewer than a billion. Scientists measure how big galaxies are in light-years (the distance light travels in a year).

What shape are galaxies?

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Most galaxies are either spiral (shaped like a pin-wheel) or elliptical (oval-shaped). Spiral galaxies are shaped like a disc with a bulge in the centre and have bright, spiral arms coming out from the centre. Spiral galaxies rotate slowly. New stars are being formed all the time in a spiral galaxy.

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Elliptical galaxies can be perfect spheres or flattened globe shapes. The light is very bright in the centre and fainter towards the outside. Elliptical galaxies rotate even more slowly than spiral galaxies. Some do not rotate at all. These galaxies have less dust and gas in them and few new stars are formed. Other galaxies have no real shape at all and are simply a collection of stars, clouds of gas and some dust.

Where are we in the universe? Our solar system is in a galaxy called the Milky Way. There are about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way. The Milky Way has a diameter of about 100 000 lightyears. Our solar system is about 25 000 light-years from the centre of the Milky Way. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Galaxies – 2 1. Write ‘True’ or ‘False’.

(a) A galaxy is a group of stars, gas and dust held together by gravity. . ............................................

(b) There are thousands of galaxies in the universe..........

(f) Galaxies are measured in kilometres........................

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r o e t s Bo r e p o (d) All galaxies canu be seen with the unaided eye. ........k S (e) Galaxies can have billions or trillions of stars. ...........

2. Use the boxes to draw and label the two main types of galaxies.

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4. Complete the sentence. .

Our solar system is in the galaxy called Astronomy

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Make a Milky Way galaxy Follow the steps to make a spiral galaxy. 1. Colour the stars, dust and gases using coloured markers or pens. 2. Carefully colour around them with black paint, marker or pen. 3. Glue onto cardboard but be sure to put glue over the whole area! 4. When dry, cut out and decorate with glitter.

r o e t s Bo r e p o u k 6. Spin your spiral galaxy slowly. S

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5. Use a split pin or tack to attach to a thick strip of cardboard, a piece of dowel or a ruler.

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Astronomy

Stars and constellations Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about stars and constellations ✶✶ Creates an imaginary constellation and accompanying myth.

Answers

✶✶ A star is ‘born’ in a nebula (a cloud of hydrogen and dust), lives and dies. Stars go through different phases of growth, becoming either a red giant or a red supergiant. A red supergiant will eventually explode as a supernova, after which it becomes either a neutron star or a black hole. The sun is an average-sized star, about 1 300 000 times bigger than Earth, compared with a red supergiant like Betelgeuse, which is about 700 times bigger than the sun. ✶✶ People have been naming the patterns of stars in the sky for thousands of years. Most of the constellations named form more of a symbolic (rather than literal) representation of animals or fabled heroes. ✶✶ If possible, read the students a selection of myths pertaining to the constellations before completing page 59. A number of myths with language and themes suitable to this age group can be found at <http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/ mythology/stars.html>. Allow students to choose an image of a person, animal or object to draw by connecting stars. Remind the students that the patterns are a symbol, rather than an exact drawing, of a figure or object.

Page 58 1. A star is a big, glowing ball of gas in space. 2. When stars are very hot they look blue. As they get older and cool they turn white, then yellow, orange and red. 3. A constellation is a group of bright stars that make a pattern in the sky. 4. (a) Ursa Major: The Great Bear constellation (b) nebula: A cloud of dust and gas in space (c) supernova: An exploding star (d) protostar: A star that is forming 5. People gave the constellations names and stories to help remember the names of the stars, where to find them, to help know when to plant crops, to get from place to place and even tell the time of night. 6. Teacher check Page 59 Teacher check

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

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✶✶ Give students A2 sheets of black card or thick paper and some silver stars. Allow each student to stick the stars on their piece of card in the shape of one of the constellations. Students then join the stars together with white chalk. ✶✶ The Western astrological star signs are named after constellations. The 12 signs of the (Western) zodiac are Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius. Students could find out which star sign they are and research that sign.

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Stars and constellations – 1

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In space, there are ‘clouds’ of gas and dust called nebulae. Sometimes, some of this gas comes together, heats up and starts to glow. This is how a new star, called a protostar, begins. Hot stars glow a blue colour, but as they get older and cooler they look white, and then yellow and orange—like our sun. As a star grows older still, it gets bigger, cooler and turns red, and sometimes explodes in a big bang called a supernova. Our sun won’t explode, but in about 5 billion years it will shrink and ‘die’.

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Long ago, the earliest humans looked to the night sky and wondered about the bright lights they saw up above. Orion Today, we know that those twinkling lights are stars; big, glowing balls of gas in space. They are different from planets Meissa because they make light and heat. Most of them are very far away, so they look small to us on Earth, even though some are very, very big. Not all stars are the same Betelgeuse as the sun, our closest star. Some are much bigger or smaller, brighter or fainter, hotter Bellatrix or cooler, younger or older than our sun. Alnilam Ainitak

Mintaka Rigel

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Big Dipper Mizar

People noticed long ago that groups of Alkaid Alioth bright stars made patterns, like ‘dot-to-dot’ Megrez pictures, in the sky. These groups of stars Dubhe are called constellations. Ancient people Phecda gave the constellations names and created Merak stories about them to help remember the names of the stars and where to find them. Many constellations have names from Greek and Roman myths. Orion (the Hunter) is named after a hero in Greek mythology. Different patterns have been named by people over time, but today there are 88 named constellations.

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You might have heard of the ’Big Dipper’ (which is part of the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear), or Crux (the Southern Cross). Constellations help people find and remember the names of the stars in the sky. Before there were maps, calendars and compasses, people used the constellations to help know when to plant crops, to get from place to place and even tell the time of night. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Stars and constellations – 2 1. What is a star? 2. Describe the way stars change colours.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok 3. What is a constellation? u S 4. Draw a line from the definition to the right answer.

(a) Ursa Major

(b) nebula

(c)

(d) protostar

An exploding star

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A cloud of dust and gas in space

5. Why did people give constellations names and stories?

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o c . che e r o t r s su(page r 6. Look at the picture of the Big Dipper It is called other names in pe57).

different countries. If you could name this constellation, what would you call it? Why?

Astronomy

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Constellation myths In the past, people named constellations and invented stories about them to help remember the stars and their places in the sky.

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1. Think of an animal, person or object that you could draw by making lines to connect the stars. Draw it below.

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Astronomy

Other space bodies Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about comets, meteoroids, meteors, asteroids and meteorites. ✶✶ Colours information on a picture of a comet and designs and sketches information about comets.

Answers

✶✶ Asteroids are sometimes called minor planets or planetoids. Some scientists believe that an asteroid collided with Earth about 65 million years ago, causing changes which resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs. The Chicxulub Basin, in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, is believed to be evidence of this. ✶✶ Most meteors glow for a short time and then burn up before hitting the surface of the Earth. Very bright meteors are often called fireballs. ✶✶ Very few, if any, people have been killed by meteorites. ✶✶ A part of a comet melts each time it comes close to the sun, so eventually it will completely disappear. The tail of a comet may be millions of kilometres long. Comets are believed to be made up from material left over from when the sun and planets were formed. There are possibly 100 000 million comets orbiting the sun. Some comets come very close to Earth so we can see them. ✶✶ A comet has a frozen nucleus (core) surrounded by a cloudy atmosphere (coma or head) and one or two tails. The tail of a comet always points away from the sun. ✶✶ Asteroids and comets are only thought to hit the Earth every one million years or so. When they do, they cause impact craters or impact basins.

Page 62 1. (a) comets (b) meteors 2. asteroid 3. (a) asteroids: Small solid objects in the solar system, orbiting the sun (b) comets: Chunks of dirty ice, dust and gas (c) meteoroids: Pieces of rocky or metallic material travelling in space (d) meteors: Meteoroids which have entered the Earth’s atmosphere (e) meteorites: Meteors, or any part of one, which don’t burn up before hitting the Earth’s surface 4. Teacher check Page 63 Teacher check

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Background information

Additional activities © R. I . C.Pu bl i cat i ons •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

Astronomy Astronomy

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✶✶ Use different painting techniques to create artworks of comets and meteors in a black sky. ✶✶ Use the letters of the words ‘asteroid’ and ‘meteoroid’ to make lots of small words. Hold a competition to see which class member can make the most words.

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Other space bodies – 1 Read the information in the table to compare the different space bodies. Asteroids

Comets

Meteoroids

Meteorites

• Meteors, or any part of one, which do not burn up before hitting the Earth’s surface

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r o e t s Bo r e pof • Pieces of • Meteoroids ok • Chunks u Sdirty which have rocky or ice, dust entered metallic and gas

• Small solid objects in the solar system, material orbiting the • ‘dirty travelling in sun snowballs’ space • ‘star-like’ • Have very • About the large orbits, • Can be a size of a so they often small planet, pebble pass close to a large rock • Air friction the sun or as small heats them, as a grain of • The sun’s makes them sand heat boils glow and the frozen • Twentycreates a ice and this six large shining trail pushes out asteroids of gases from the have been and melted comet, along found and particles. with other there are materials, to • Travel at millions of different form a tail. smaller ones. speeds and • Have no • Most are different light of their formed in orbits own—the the asteroid • Most burn up sun’s light belt, located before hitting is reflected between the Earth. off the ice Mars and particles Jupiter

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Meteors

the Earth’s atmosphere

• ‘falling stars’ or ‘shooting stars’

• Three kinds: © R. I . C.Publ i ca t i ons • Millions of stony, iron meteor strikes and stony•f orr evi ew pur pose s o n l y • occur every iron • Different sizes but most are small

• Meteor showers are swarms • Just the right or streams size to travel of tiny through the meteoroids atmosphere which make and reach a shower the Earth of sparks as they burn up. • Meteorites give clues • Can be seen about the in the sky on type of dark nights materials which make up planets.

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Astronomy

Other space bodies – 2 1. Which space bodies are called ...

(a) ‘dirty snowballs’?

(b) ‘falling stars’ or ‘shooting stars’?

2. If the ending ‘-oid’ means ‘like’ and ‘aster’ means ‘star’, write the

r o e t s Bo r e 3. Draw a line to join the p correct space body word to the o group of words u k which describe them. S

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name of a space body which means ‘star-like’.

(a) asteroids •

• Meteors, or any part of one, which don’t burn up before hitting the Earth’s surface

(b) comets

• Small solid objects in the solar system, orbiting the sun

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• Chunks of dirty ice, dust and gas

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• Meteoroids which have entered the Earth’s atmosphere

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(e) meteorites •

4. Write what you thought was the most interesting fact about each. asteroids comets

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meteoroids meteors meteorites

Astronomy

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Teac 1. Colour each piece of information about Halley’s comet as you read it.h er w ww

Halley’s comet

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Scientists have learnt a lot about other comets by studying Halley’s comet.

3. Use library and Internet resources to sketch a diagram of the main parts of a comet.

2. Design your own Halley’s comet and, using art and craft materials, then make it.

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Before it appeared in 1986, in 1984 and 1985, five spacecraft from Russia, Japan and Europe were launched to study the comet.

Halley’s comet is due to be visible from Earth again in 2061.

Halley’s comet was named after Edmond Halley, who, in 1705, worked out that it would orbit every 76 years.

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The centre (nucleus) of Halley’s comet is very dark and about 15 kilometres long, 8 kilometres wide and 8 kilometres thick in area.

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Astronomy

Telescopes Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about telescopes. ✶✶ Follows directions to construct a spyglass telescope.

Answers

✶✶ The most commonly known type of telescope is an optical telescope. These include binoculars, monoculars, spyglasses, camera lenses and spotting scopes. The powerful telescopes used by astronomers usually have special instruments in them. Theses are used to detect many different kinds of light, such as radio waves or X-rays, and to take different kinds of measurements. Special cameras on these telescopes take pictures which can measure faint objects in space and give information about their brightness or colour. Spectographs detect and split light up into the different colours of the spectrum. The different colours tell astronomers the temperature and atomic make-up of any objects, such as a star. ✶✶ The most well-known space telescope was named after an astronomer, Edwin Hubble. This space telescope was launched from the space shuttle Discovery in 1990. It orbits the Earth and gives astronomers detailed information about the universe by using its powerful telescope and cameras. It runs on solar power and is controlled from Earth via radio signals. Astronauts regularly visit the telescope to carry out repairs and check that it is working properly. It was intended to last for at least 15 years, but new technology has significantly extended its use. The Hubble Space Telescope is about the size of a semitrailer and orbits the Earth every 97 minutes, 610 kilometres above the surface. ✶✶ For the activity on page 67, cardboard tubes could be used from paper towel or plastic wrap holders. Gift wrap tubes are suitable if they are thick enough. Ensure students don’t have the paint too runny as it could soak into the cardboard tube and make it too soft or warp its shape.

Page 66 1. ‘further’ should be ‘closer’ 2. mirrors, image, larger, magnifying 3. (a) Hans Lippershey (b) Galileo Galilei 4. Possible answers: birdwatching/viewing players in a sporting game 5. Possible answers: moon, planets, sun, stars 6. Because the air is usually clearer in those places with no lights from city buildings, or pollution. 7. Teacher check Page 67 Teacher check

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S Additional activities

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Background information

✶✶ Create a display of pictures, photographs, drawings and actual examples of binoculars, monoculars, spyglasses and other telescopes (including Hubble etc.) ✶✶ Arrange for students to view objects through a telescope or binoculars. A visit could be organised to a tourist destination or similar that has a fixed telescope for viewing.

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Telescopes – 1 What is a telescope? A telescope is an instrument we can look through that makes objects in the distance seem closer. The word ‘telescope’ comes from two Greek words; ‘tele’ meaning ‘far’, and ‘skopein’ meaning ‘to see’. How does a telescope work? A telescope uses glass mirrors or lenses to make the image being viewed in the eyepiece larger. This is called ‘magnifying’.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u Who invented the telescope? A German, HansS Lippershey, invented the first telescope in 1608. But an Italian astronomer in 1609, Galileo Galilei, was the first person to build and use a telescope to view space.

What kinds of telescopes are there? Telescopes come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small and are used by people in everyday life. Binoculars are a simple type of telescope. They can be used to see close-up views of things that are actually far away; e.g. during birdwatching or when viewing players on the far side of an oval during a sporting game.

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Astronomers use very powerful telescopes for learning about the moon, the planets, the sun, the stars and other objects in the universe. Some of these telescopes are very large and in buildings called observatories. It can be difficult to view objects in the night sky because of lights from city buildings, pollution and cloud cover. Observatories are often built on high mountains or in country areas where the atmosphere is clearer.

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o c . che e r o t r s have been launched into s up Other large telescopes er space above the Earth’s atmosphere and have an even clearer view of outer space. One is the Hubble Space Telescope. It has a powerful telescope and special cameras that allow astronomers on Earth to see objects billions of light-years away!

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Astronomy

Telescopes – 2 1. Draw a line through the word that is incorrect in this sentence. Write the correct word above it. We use a telescope to make objects in the distance seem further. 2. Fill in the missing words.

r o e t s r . This is B called e oo p u k S or lenses to make the

A telescope uses glass

viewed in the eyepiece

(a) the first to invent the telescope?

(b) the first to use one to view space?

4. Explain what you might use binoculars for.

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3. Who was ...

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6. Why are observatories often built on high mountains or in the country?

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Astronomy

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Spyglass telescope A spyglass is a small telescope you look through with one eye. In the past, sailors (and pirates) used them to look for things such as land, reefs or other ships in the distance across the ocean. They used them on deck and also at the top of the mast in a wooden box called a crow’s nest.

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Follow the instructions to make your own spyglass telescope!

• 2 cardboard tubes (one of which will fit inside the other) • rectangular strip of coloured paper • tape

• thick paint

• plastic wrap

• scissors

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You will need:

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2. Cover the end of the wider tube with a small square of plastic wrap. Attach with tape.

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3. Cover the edges of the plastic wrap with the strip of coloured paper. Glue into place. Allow to dry.

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1. Paint each tube in your own choice of colours. Allow to dry thoroughly.

o c . che e r o t r s 4. Decorate the outside of the s tube with stick-on r u e p stars. 5. Place the other tube inside this tube. 6. Pull the inner tube out a short way and look through the end with one eye. Now you have made your own spyglass telescope! R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Observing space Indicators ✶✶ Reads text about observations of the skies over millennia. ✶✶ Completes activities to show understanding of the text.

Background information

Answers

✶✶ The Mariner space programme was established by the American space agency, NASA, to investigate Mars, Venus and Mercury. Of the ten craft in the program, three were lost while seven returned new and exciting images and information of Earth’s rocky neighbours: –– Mariner 1—lost

Page 70 1. (a) true (b) false (c) true (d) true 2. 1. probes 2. space 3. information 4. thirty 5. helping 6. atmosphere 3. (a) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (b) active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon, Io; ten other moons of Uranus; magnetic field of Uranus; great dark spot of Neptune 4. Teacher check—possible suggestions: comets, asteroids, satellites of planets Page 71 Teacher check

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–– Mariner 2—flyby to Venus, the first spacecraft to fly by any planet –– Mariner 3—lost

–– Mariner 4—flyby to Mars, gave first images of Mars from close range –– Mariner 5—flyby to Venus

Additional activities

–– Mariner 6—flyby to Mars

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✶✶ Divide a large circle of paper (diameter—one metre) into quarters. Label the quarters: prehistory, pre-telescope, astronomical revolution, modern day. In each quarter write keywords to indicate how and why the skies were observed. Place the circle in the centre of a display board. Around the board, place pictures and text describing each era in more detail. Use string to connect each picture and text to the correct quadrant. ✶✶ Make a collection of pictures of the robotic space probes that have been launched since the 1950s. Label each and arrange by date in a line around the classroom. Write any interesting facts about each mission. Label the line at five-year intervals.

–– Mariner 7—flyby to Mars

–– Mariner 8—lost

–– Mariner 9—map surface of Mars

–– Mariner 10—flyby Venus and Mercury, gave close-up images of Mercury

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✶✶ Other programs include the Viking missions to Mars, the Magellan mission to Venus and the Galileo mission to Jupiter. ✶✶ The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft is part of an international mission, based on the Mariner missions, organised to investigate Saturn and its moon, Titan.

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Observing space – 1 Read the conversation among the two friends and their teacher about finding out about space. Teacher: We already know that the position of the sun, moon and stars in the sky told early people about the different seasons and how to navigate across the land and sea. James: We know the first Greek astronomers studied and named lots of stars and planets.

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r o e t s B r e ooso they could look Tom: Then, much later on, people made the first telescopes p deeper intou space. k S Teacher: That’s right, Tom. And since then, more and more has been discovered about our solar system as new equipment to observe space has been invented.

Tom:

My dad told me that lots of things called ‘probes’ have been sent into space. They can send back pictures of planets and their moons and other stuff.

James: Have they got astronauts in them?

No, it’s all automatic. I don’t understand how it works but it’s pretty cool, isn’t it! about our solar system. Let’s look at these books. (Teacher hands out some books on space.)

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This one says that, in 1977, two robotic space probes, Voyager I and II, were sent to study Jupiter and Saturn. But they looked at Uranus and Neptune as well ... and still continue to work.

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James: What have they discovered? Tom:

James: Read that bit ... it says they didn’t know Uranus had a magnetic field until the Voyager missions ... and Neptune has a huge dark spot on its surface that our planet, Earth, could fit into! Tom:

There’s lots of stuff in these books that I don’t understand ... but I do know that we’ll always be curious to find out more about space.

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Astronomy

Observing space – 2 1. Answer if these facts are true or false.

(a) Watching the night sky taught people about the seasons.

(b) Early astronomers did not know about the planets.

(d) Robotic space probes send photographs back to Earth.

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2. Write the words from the box to complete the paragraph.

Robotic space

are launched into

to collect and send back For over

thirty

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information

about the solar system.

years, Voyager I and Voyager II have

been travelling in space,

to find out more about the world beyond our 6.

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3. (a) List the four planets observed during the Voyager missions.

(b) Write four things that the Voyager missions have told us about .

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4. What other things in space do you think the Voyager spacecraft might tell us about?

Astronomy

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Found: A new planet! It must be very exciting to be sent new photographs and information about planets and other bodies in space. How thrilling it would be to receive evidence of a new planet! Imagine you are an astronomer who receives such wonderful news. orbit r o e t s Bo r moons rings e p o u rocky gas giant location k S planets asteroids meteors comets

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1. Write a description of the new planet. Use the words in the bubble to help you.

clouds

magnetic field

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2. Draw and colour a ‘photograph’ of the new planet.

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Astronomy

Astronomers Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about astronomers. ✶✶ Uses information to identify advantages and disadvantages of being an astronomer.

Additional activities

✶✶ Modern astronomy is a very complex scientific field. It covers everything from sub-atomic particles to huge galaxies. Physics, mathematics and chemistry play a large part in the subject. Areas of astronomy may focus on space navigation, space flight, satellite communications, or developing instrumentation or techniques to observe and collect data about space. ✶✶ Astronomers usually require a doctoral degree or master’s degree. Many astronomers are employed by firms carrying out scientific research and development or by federal government agencies. Nearly all astronomers carry out research of some kind. ✶✶ Many astronomers rely on grants to fund their research.

✶✶ Make a list of other types of scientists and what they study. ✶✶ Write a list of words which end in ‘-er’ or ‘-or’, meaning ‘one who takes part in’, such as: doctor, actor, teacher, driver etc.

Answers

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Background information

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Page 74 1.–2. Teacher check 3. The students should have ticked (a), (b), (d), (f) and (g). 4. Answers will be similar to: (a) A planetarium is a model of the solar system; a device which projects a picture of the heavens onto a dome. (b) A laboratory is a building or part of a building fitted with equipment to carry out scientific experiments, tests or investigations. Page 75 Teacher check

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Astronomers – 1 What is an astronomer? An astronomer is a scientist who studies space and the things in it. Astronomers can be male or female. What do astronomers do?

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Astronomers try to find out how the universe works. They try to find out about the planets in our own solar system; how stars, planets and galaxies were made; what they are made from and what will happen to things in the universe.

Astronomers can become experts about different aspects of space—galaxies, stars, planets, the sun, life on other planets, or how the universe was created and how it has changed.

Some astronomers operate large space-based or ground-based telescopes and work as part of a team. doing space research.

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Other astronomers help to plan and support space missions.

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A lot of astronomers do not work at observatories all the time. An astronomer may visit an observatory only a few times a year. Telescope specialists gather information such as measurements or photographs of space objects. An astronomer may visit the observatory for a few nights to observe and gather more information and then take it back to a laboratory to study for months or years. He/She might write or use computer programs to help him/her to study the information.

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o c . c e herwhich have planetariums. r A few astronomers work in museums Here they build exhibits o t s s r u e p to show the public interesting information about space. They may also be in charge of the planetarium.

How do people become astronomers? Astronomers need to have a lot of training and education. They need to know a lot about mathematics and science, and so they go to university. After university, they get more training, write and publish information about space, work with astronomers and decide which area of astronomy they want to work in. And ... after more years ... they may get a job as a professor at a university or work in an observatory or a laboratory. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Astronomers – 2 1. Write an explanation. An astronomer is

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3. Tick ( ) the things astronomers can do.

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2. In your own words, tell what an astronomer does.

(a) operate telescopes on the ground and in space...............................

(b) plan space missions....................................................................

(c)

(d) teach at a university....................................................................

(e) tell what is going to happen in the future........................................

(f) write computer programs.............................................................

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. te to find the meanings of the following words: o 4. Use your dictionary c . c e her r (a) planetarium o t s super

(g) work in a museum and tell other people about space........................

(b) laboratory

Astronomy

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A day in the life of an astronomer night When astronomers get to work with telescopes, their timetable may be like this: Late afternoon:

• arrive at observatory • check out telescope to make sure that everything is working properly • eat dinner • wait for the sun to go down

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When it is dark:

telescope cool down to air temperature

• start taking test pictures • focus the telescope

When it is very dark: • start taking pictures, using a list already written in the office

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u After sundown: S • open telescope dome to let

• GO HOME TO BED!

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Complete the table using all the knowledge you have learned so far about astronomers. You may write short notes.

Good things about being an astronomer

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Bad things about being an astronomer

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Astronomy

Famous astronomers Indicator ✶✶ Reads information and answers questions about famous astronomers.

Answers

✶✶ Nicolaus Copernicus was born in 1473 in Poland. Sometime between 1507 and 1515, he circulated the principles of his heliocentric (or sun-centred) theory, placing the sun (rather than Earth) at the centre of our universe. His theory was published in 1543, very near the end of Copernicus’s life. ✶✶ Williamina Stevens Fleming was born in 1857 in Scotland. She moved to the United States shortly after marrying her husband, who then abandoned his pregnant wife. Fleming then found work as a maid with Edward Pickering, who later employed her at the observatory where he worked. In 1899, Fleming eventually became Curator of Astronomical Photographs at Harvard University, and, in 1906, was made an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society of London—the first American woman to be chosen. ✶✶ On page 79, the students read about the four famous astronomers, then cut and glue the picture matching each astronomer into the correct space. (Note: Halley died in 1742, never living to see his prediction come true when the comet returned in 1758.)

Page 78 1. Before the 1500s, people thought that the Earth stayed still in space while the sun and the planets all moved around it. 2. Copernicus thought that the Earth travelled around the sun once a year and the Earth turned once daily 3. Copernicus’s new ideas proved to be correct and changed the way people thought about the Earth, the sun and the solar system. 4. A nova is a star that suddenly gets brighter, then fades again. 5. Williamina Fleming looked closely at photos of the night sky which had been taken with the help of a telescope. She also wrote notes about what she saw, helped create a way of classifying stars, and looked after and catalogued the photos of stars. 6. Answers will vary. Students might mention that telescopes and cameras had been invented, that people knew much more about the Earth and the solar system and that there were observatories dedicated to astronomy in Fleming’s time. Page 79 Huygens: picture of Saturn’s rings and Titan Halley: picture of Halley’s comet going around the sun Galileo: picture of moon and telescope Herschel: book of stars

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Background information

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Additional activities

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✶✶ <http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/esplora/cannocchiale/ dswmedia/simula/esimula1.html> is in interactive site with audio and video on the discoveries Galileo made with his telescope. ✶✶ Students could each choose one of the astronomers on page 79 to research, finding out more about his/her interesting life, work and discoveries.

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Famous astronomers – 1 Nicolaus Copernicus

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Before the 1500s, people thought that the Earth stayed still in space while the sun and the planets all moved around it. Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish man, studied the sun and the Earth (without a telescope, as it hadn’t been invented yet). He thought that the Earth moved around the sun—not the other way round. But he was afraid to tell the world his ideas—that the Earth turned once daily and travelled around the sun once a year—thinking no-one would believe him. He finally put his ideas in a book and, many years later, those ideas changed the way people thought about the Earth, the sun and the solar system. For this reason, Copernicus is often called ‘the father of modern astronomy’.

Williamina Stevens Fleming

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Nearly 400 years after Copernicus lived, a woman named Williamina Fleming started working at Harvard University’s observatory in the United States. She looked closely at photos of the night sky taken with the help of a telescope and took notes about what she saw. Over nine years, she recorded more than 10 000 stars and discovered 10 novae (stars that suddenly get brighter and then fade again) and over 200 variable stars (stars that change in light intensity over time). Fleming worked at the Harvard Observatory for many years and helped create a way of classifying stars. She also looked after and catalogued the photos of stars.

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Astronomy

Famous astronomers – 2 1. In the 1500’s what did people think about the way the sun and Earth moved in space?

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u 2. How were Copernicus’s S ideas different from what most people thought?

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3. Why is Copernicus often called ‘the father of modern astronomy’?

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5. Describe the work Williamina Fleming did at Harvard Observatory.

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o c . che e r o t r s sdifferent peinr 6. How do you think astronomy was u Williamina Fleming’s time,

compared with how it was when Nicolaus Copernicus lived?

Astronomy

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More great names in astronomy Read about these famous astronomers. Cut the picture that matches each story and glue it into the right box. Edmund Halley read about comets (balls of rock and ice) seen in the years 1456, 1531, 1607 and 1682. He noticed that each description said that the comets went around the Sun in the same way. He thought these were not different comets, but one comet coming close to Earth every 76 years. In 1705, he predicted that the same comet would come back in 1758 ... and it did, on Christmas Day. It has since been named after him.

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In 1655, Christiaan Huygens discovered Saturn’s moon, Titan. He also looked at Saturn’s rings, and discovered that they were made of bits of rock. In the same year, he found and drew pictures of the Orion Nebula.

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She later got her own telescope and, in 1786, became the first woman to discover a comet. She discovered even more comets and, later, wrote a book about the all the stars that had been discovered.

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In 1609, Galileo Galilei invented a telescope so he could look closely at the moon, sun and planets. He discovered that the moon was not smooth, as people thought at the time. He saw craters and mountains on the moon, and saw thousands of new stars in the universe.

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Catalogue of

stars

Halley’s comet

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Astronomy

The calendar Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about how the calendar is based on the way Earth moves in space. ✶✶ Reads and understands the causes of the Earth’s seasons.

Answers:

✶✶ The Earth’s axis is an imaginary line through the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole. The Earth rotates in an anticlockwise direction, so the sun ‘rises’ in the east and ‘sets’ in the west. The sun appears to move across the sky because of this rotation but it is actually the Earth that is moving, not the sun. ✶✶ One revolution (orbit) of the sun takes 365 days 6 hours, 9 minutes and 9.54 seconds. The extra hours, minutes and seconds are added up every four years to create a leap year. ✶✶ Because the Earth is tilted at 23.5º, different parts of the Earth are more directly facing towards the sun at different times of the year, resulting in the seasons. ✶✶ To assist students in trying to grasp the concept of rotation and revolution, the following activities could be carried out. Push a skewer through a large round styrofoam ball, fruit or vegetable to represent the Earth on its axis. Place a small amount of modelling clay on the part of the ‘Earth’ where students live. Shine a torch (representing the ‘sun’) onto this side of the Earth and slowly rotate the globe on its axis (the skewer) to show day and night. To demonstrate an orbit and the seasons, place a large ball on a table to represent the sun. Use the Earth prop from above with the clay still attached and rotate it on its axis while you slowly ‘revolve’ around the sun. Stop the clay blob at each ‘season’ to show what is happening according to whether it is facing more or less directly towards the sun. Once they understand this, give students turns in holding the props instead of you. Discuss the word ’hemisphere’ and how the seasons are opposite in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Page 82 1. They are worked out by the way Earth moves in space and the time it takes to do this. 2. (a) A day is the time it takes the Earth to rotate once on its axis. (b) A year is the time it takes the Earth to revolve once around the sun. (c) A week is the time it takes the Earth to rotate seven times on its axis. 3. (a) 24 (b) 7 (c) 4 (d) 365 4.–5. Teacher check 6. 31 days: January, March, May, July, August, October, December Page 83 1.

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autumn

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Background information:

spring

Astronomy Astronomy

winter

winter summer

spring

2. Teacher check

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summer

autumn

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✶✶ Another activity to help students understand rotation and day and night is to sit a student in a swivel chair and be the ‘Earth’. Another student holds a torch and is the ‘sun’. Ask the Earth to slowly turn while the sun shines a torch on him/her. ✶✶ Another activity to help students understand revolution or Earth’s orbiting of the sun is to ask another class member to spin the student in the swivel chair (so the ‘Earth’ is rotating) while slowly pushing the swivel chair around the ‘sun’ to represent it revolving.

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The calendar – 1 A calendar is a chart that shows the days of the week and the dates and months of the year. But do you know how the days, weeks, months and years were originally worked out? The way the Earth moves around in space and the time it takes to do this gives us our days, weeks, months and years.

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How is a ‘day’ worked out?

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We can see the sun for about half of one day and can’t see it for the other half. Where one side of the Earth is facing the sun it is daytime.

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The Earth is always spinning on its axis. We call this ‘rotating’. It takes 24 hours to complete one rotation. The time it takes to do this is called a ‘day’. So one day is equal to 24 hours.

Where one side of the Earth is facing away from the sun it is night-time.

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and we have day and night, it is also moving around the sun.

It takes the Earth 365 days to revolve once around the sun. We say that it is ‘orbiting’ the sun. The time it takes to do this is called a ‘year’. So 365 days is equal to one year.

o c are the weeks. and months worked che How e r out? o t r s sup er The year is divided into 12 months. Each month is about four weeks in length.

Did you know? It actually takes a bit more than 365 days for the Earth to orbit the sun. Every four years, these ‘bits’ are added up to make one extra day. This makes that special year 366 days long. This is called a ‘leap year’. The extra day is added to February. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

The calendar – 2 1. How are Earth’s days, weeks, months and years worked out? 2. Draw a line to the correct answer.

• the time itB takes the Earth to revolve r o e t s r e once aroundo the sun p ok u • • the time it takes the Earth to rotate S seven times on its axis

(b) A year is

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(a) A day is

•

• the time it takes the Earth to rotate once on its axis

3. Write the answers to these.

(a) one day =

(b)

(d) one year =

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hours

4. Write ‘day’ and ‘night’ in the correct places in the diagram.

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5. Explain what a ‘leap year’ is.

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6. (a) Read the rhyme to help you to remember the correct number of days for each of the 12 months of the year. (b) Write the months that have 31 days. Astronomy

Thirty days has September April, June and November. All the rest have 31, Except for February Which has 28 days clear And 29 in each leap year! R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

How do we get our seasons? Most places in the world have four seasons each year. These are summer, autumn, winter and spring. So, what causes the seasons?

axis

The Earth revolves around the sun. This takes one year. But it doesn’t revolve around the sun pointing straight up and down. The Earth is tilted on its axis.

more heat

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This means that, at different times of the year, one less heat part of the Earth is more directly tilted towards the sun than other parts. Because of this, it gets more heat. When this happens it is summer. At the same time, another part of the Earth is tilted away from the sun and gets less heat. In this part it is winter.

The seasons are opposite in the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. 1. Complete the names of the seasons in the diagram.

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(b)

summer

o c . c e Circle the hemisphere you live in. Northern r Southern her o t s sup r Colour the months that make up thee seasons in your hemisphere. spring

summer (red)

autumn (yellow)

winter (blue)

spring (green)

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

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Astronomy

Astronomy mythology Indicators ✶✶ Reads text about Greek and Roman gods and the naming of the planets. ✶✶ Completes activities to show knowledge of the text.

Answers

✶✶ The Romans named the known planets after their gods. Each Roman god had a Greek god counterpart. ✶✶ Earth was not named after a god because it was mostly believed that it was the centre of the universe around which all other celestial bodies travelled. At about 340 BCE, a Greek astronomer, Aristarchus, stated his belief that the sun was at the centre of the solar system. But it was not until 1510 CE that Nicolaus Copernicus confirmed this theory. Almost 100 years later, Galileo Galilei, with the help of the newly invented telescope, also confirmed Aristarchus’s theory. ✶✶ The Roman (Latin) and Greek names for Earth are ‘Terra’ and ‘Gaea’ respectively. ✶✶ On page 86, the students answer the clues to complete the puzzle. All answers can be found in the text on page 85 ✶✶ On page 87, the students complete the names of the Roman and Greek gods by: –– choosing the correct vowel to write in each gap

Page 86

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T 9.

13.

E R

C 11.

N 12.

U R

A P

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Background information

10.

✶✶ Explain how to construct the chatterbox. With printed side facing down: –– fold 4 corners into centre –– turn over

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–– fold 4 corners into centre

14.

15.

N U S

Page 87 Teacher check

Additional activities

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–– completing the description of each god. The first and last letter of each missing word is given.

✶✶ Enlarge the images of each planet’s god/goddess to A5 size. Colour brightly. Colour and cut out correctly-sized circles to make a planet mobile. For each planet, thread the picture of the god and the circle onto one length of string before assembling the mobile. ✶✶ Research the astronomical mythology of other cultures such as the Egyptians, the Maya and the Aztecs.

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–– keep flat and fold in half laterally

–– place thumbs and index fingers into ‘pockets’ created on either side of the central fold.

Astronomy Astronomy

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Astronomy mythology – 1 Although many countries have their own legends about the planets, they are named after Roman gods. Each of these gods also had a Greek name. The myths and legends of the Greeks and Romans are known all over the world.

Roman

Greek the winged messenger of the gods

r o e t s Bo r e p okbeauty goddess of love and u SAphrodite She was always smiling.

Mercury

Terra

Gaea

His staff was surrounded with snakes for protection.

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Venus

Hermes

In Greek mythology, Mother Earth created the universe and gave birth to the first race of gods, the Titans. god of war

He l was a warrior who ©Ares R. I . C.Pub i ca t i on senjoyed the excitement of battle •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• Mars

king of the gods and of Heaven and Earth

Zeus

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Saturn

Uranus

Cronus

He controlled the weather. Thunder and lightning storms were a sign of his anger.

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Jupiter

father of Jupiter/Zeus and the god of farming He was worshipped with a winter festival called Saturnalia.

o c . god of the starry night sky c e h r Uranuse o Uranus was created by Greek mythology, t r s supInGaea. r e He was the first king of the gods. god of the sea

Neptune Poseidon

He had a terrible temper. His rages caused wild seas and earthquakes.

Earth is the only planet not named after a Roman god. It was thought that Earth was the centre of the universe, not just a planet. Terra and Gaea are the Roman and Greek names for Mother Earth. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Astronomy mythology – 2 1. Answer the clues to complete the puzzle. 1.

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11.

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13.

14.

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Across Down 2. The Roman name for Mother Earth 1. The Roman goddess who was always smiling 3. The Greek name for the one who gave birth to the Titans 4. The Greek goddess of love and beauty 5. The Roman god who was worshipped 6. The Roman god who had a terrible with a winter festival temper 8. The Greek god whose rages caused 7. The Roman who carried a snakewild seas covered staff to protect himself 9. The Greek god of farming 10. In Greek mythology, this god was the first king of the gods 11. The Roman god who controlled the weather 13. The Roman warrior god 12. The Greek winged messenger 14. King of the gods in Greek mythology 15. The Greek god who enjoyed fighting

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Astronomy mythology chatterbox 1. Use the information on page 85 to fill in the gaps in the chatterbox.

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2. Follow the teacher’s instructions to cut out and fold the chatterbox.

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Astronomy

Light pollution Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about light pollution. ✶✶ Follows a procedure to make observations about the suitability of various materials to be used as light shields.

Additional activities

✶✶ Light pollution from stray light emitted by homes, business, advertising, security, street lighting and so on is becoming an increasingly serious problem. It creates glare which interferes with night vision, creates sky glow (which is the orange-yellow glow above a city that prevents the stars etc. from being viewed clearly) and creates light trespass (which is light without shields being shone unnecessarily onto other areas) which can be a nuisance and a waste of energy and money. ✶✶ Astronomers and organisations such as the International Dark-Sky Association are working to raise awareness and educate the public and governments about light pollution and what can be done to reduce it. ✶✶ Controlling light pollution will do more than enable astronomers and the general public from viewing space more clearly. More efficient lighting and the use of light shields will save both money and energy (in the form of fossil fuels). The rhythms of nocturnal animals can be disrupted with light pollution. Glare also creates driving hazards.

✶✶ Students could view images of light pollution of the Earth in pictures taken by satellites. Useful websites are: –– <http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~ipswich/CfDS/Earth_ night.jpg>

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–– <http://www.starrynightlights.com/ blog/2008/02/23/the-reality-of-light-pollution/> –– <http://www.astropix.com/HTML/H_OTHER/ SATPOL1.HTM> (an image of the sky with no light pollution)

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Background information

✶✶ Students survey the immediate area outside their home to identify lights that aren’t necessary, those that should be turned off, those that need a shield to direct the light downwards instead of into the sky etc.

Answers:

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Page 90 1. The orange-yellow glow above a city or town that is caused by light. 2. Teacher check students’ choices from paragraph 1. 3. ‘smaller’ should be ‘larger’ 4. Light pollution muddles up the images astronomers see in their telescopes. 5. island, mountain top, South Pole, desert 6. The telescopes give clear images as city lights aren’t in the way. 7. Teacher check 8. Possible answers: by using light shields to make the light shine where needed/turning off unnecessary outside lights/closing curtains and blinds in homes and other buildings Page 91 Teacher check

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Light pollution – 1 What is light pollution? We turn lights on when it gets dark so we can see. The larger the town or city, the more lights are used. In a big town or city at night, you will see lights from people’s houses, office buildings, shopping centres, streetlights, cars’ and other vehicles’ headlights, security lights, lights on sporting ovals, advertising boards, airports and car parks.

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including straight into the sky. This light makes an orange-yellow glow above the town or city. This is called ‘sky glow’. Sky glow pollutes the sky and makes it hard to see the night sky with all its beautiful twinkling stars. Astronomers and light pollution

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u Stheir beams in all directions, All these lights send

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Even when a telescope is used, light pollution makes it hard for astronomers to see objects in space. The extra light get muddled up with images from the telescope. Observatories with powerful telescopes have to be built in areas far away from city light. One observatory has been built on top of a volcano in Hawaii that doesn’t erupt any more! Others have been built on mountain tops, in deserts, on islands and the South Pole. Telescopes have also been launched as satellites that orbit the Earth. These have a clear view of outer space and extra light doesn’t get in the way. However, building telescope satellites and observatories in far away places is very expensive. Astronomers would like to reduce light pollution. It would also help anyone else who wants to look up at the sky to study the stars and be able to clearly see them. They can only do this if they live in or travel to a place with few lights.

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What can be done about light pollution? Better lighting in outside areas will help reduce sky glow. Lights should have shields on them that shine the light to only where it is needed and not into the sky. Unnecessary outside lights should be turned off. Curtains or blinds can block light from shining out from homes and other buildings.

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Astronomy

Light pollution – 2 1. What is ‘sky glow’? 2. List four places or things that can cause sky glow.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u Sthat is incorrect in this sentence. 3. Cross out the word Write the correct word neatly above it.

The smaller a town or city, the more lights that are used. 4. What problems does light pollution cause astronomers?

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5. Circle the places where an observatory is more likely to be built. mountain top

city

South Pole

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6. Why have telescopes been launched as satellites that orbit the Earth?

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o c . che e r o 7. (a) Can you see the stars clearly from where you live? Yes t r s super

(b) Why/Why not?

8. Explain one way light pollution can be reduced. Astronomy

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Stop the light! One way to reduce light pollution is to have shields around lights so the light does not go straight into the sky. Follow the procedure below to see which materials would be suitable for light shields to be made from.

r o e t s Bo r e pof paper • a large, white sheet • a flat o table u k S • various objects or materials to be used as shields

You will need:

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• a torch with a strong beam that will stand up on its end

Steps:

1. Add to and collect the list of objects or materials in the chart you will use as shields. 2. Cover the table with the sheet of white paper.

3. Place the torch on the table on its end and turn it on.

4. Turn off any extra lights and observe how the torchlight spreads up and out.

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6. Complete the chart with your observations.

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5. Hold each material or object over the torchlight and observe what happens. 7. Rate each object from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) as a material to shield light.

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Material/Object

tissue

breadboard

What happened

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Rating

clear glass plate

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Astronomy

Astrology and the zodiac Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about astrology and the zodiac. ✶✶ Writes horoscopes using the language and content typical of newspaper horoscopes

Answers

✶✶ While astrology has ben part of various societies for thousands of years, newspaper horoscopes started to become popular after London’s Sunday Times included an astrological profile in a feature on Princess Margaret’s birth in 1930. Interest in horoscopes increased further in the late 1960s, as ‘alternative’ forms of spirituality became popular. ✶✶ Many scientists discredit the idea of distant planetary bodies affecting human behaviour and contend that there is no evidence proving a relationship between the position of planets at a given time, and the events, personality or actions of individuals born at that time. Many people, however, believe in a connection between human life and the physical universe. ✶✶ The Chinese and Indians have totally different zodiac signs, as well as different numbers of signs. ✶✶ For the activity on page 95, bring in some newspapers and magazines containing horoscopes. Students can read a selection in pairs or small groups. Study the wording and events that the horoscopes tend to use and discuss. Examine the amount of truth or fact they contain. ✶✶ Students write their own horoscopes. Remind them to keep the content general (and not overly depressing) so it will be interesting and relevant to the person who reads it.

Page 94 1. Astrology is the study of the way the sun, stars and planets effect people’s lives and personalities and the events on Earth. 2. Astronomy used maths and science to measure and watch the objects and events in space, while astrology looks at finding the ways the stars and events in space effect people and events on Earth. 3. A star sign is the zodiac constellation the sun is in when a person is born. 4. (a) Gemini (b) Pisces (c) Virgo 5.–6. Answers will vary, teacher check. Page 95 Teacher check

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S Additional activities

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

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✶✶ Research the Chinese horoscope. Students can find out which animal they are and the characteristics of each. How do these compare with the Western horoscope?

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Astrology and the zodiac – 1 When the earliest humans saw the shapes and patterns of stars in the night sky, they thought the stars were important in some way. They made stories to connect the stars and planets to their lives, and used them to explain events like wars and weather.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S The study of the way the sun, stars and planets effect people’s lives, personalities and the events on Earth is called astrology.

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Astrologers look at charts of the way the sun, stars and planets move through a band of constellations (groups of stars) called the zodiac. There are 12 parts of the zodiac, one for each part of the year, and each named after a constellation. You might already know your star sign (or sun sign), which is the zodiac constellation that the sun was in when you were born. If you were born in early January, the sun was in the Capricorn constellation and this is your star sign.

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Astrologers use drawings and charts of the zodiac to create a horoscope, which they say can reveal a person’s character or future.

o c . c e How are astrology andh astronomy different? r e o t r s the movements of the stars and up A long time ago, they were the s same. People used er planets to predict events in space and on Earth (such as wars, natural disasters and the rise and fall of royalty). Wealthy people gave astronomers money to study the stars and to predict what was going to happen to them. But, after discoveries by scientists like Galileo and Newton, some people realised that this ‘predicting the future’ was different to the science and maths of watching and measuring stars, planets and space events. From then on, astronomers looked at observing and measuring objects in space, and astrologers studied the ways the stars and events in space effect people and events on Earth. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Astrology and the zodiac – 2 1. What is astrology? 2. How is astrology different from astronomy?

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3. What is a star sign?

Leo

23 July – 23 August

Light-hearted, active, outgoing, strong-willed

(a) May and June

(b) February and March

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4. Use the picture of the zodiac constellations to find the star sign of someone born between ...

. te o 5. If you had to choose between becoming an astrologer or an astronomer, which c . job would you choose?c Why? e her r o st super 6. Some people think that astrology is ‘rubbish’, while others believe it to be real. What do you think? Astronomy

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Writing a horoscope Many newspapers print horoscopes. These are often written in a very general way, such as the one below: Pisces Today’s planets will keep your energy up at school or work. You’ll have the opportunity to take the lead today; if you believe in yourself, so will your friends! Keep a close eye on your money.

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r o e t s Bo r e p from newspapers or magazines. ok 1. Read some horoscopes u 2. Choose threeS star signs and write your own horoscopes, one for each star sign, for today. Try not to make them too specific or unhappy!

3. Decorate each with the correct symbol and cut the horoscopes out. Find people in your class with those star signs and give them their horoscopes. Sign

Today’s outlook

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Sign

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Sign

Today’s outlook

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o c . che e r o t r s super Today’s outlook

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Astronomy