Astronomy: Ages 8-10 by Teacher Superstore

Astronomy (Ages 8–10)

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 978-1-74126-777-8 RIC–6476

Titles available in this series:

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

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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.

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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

What I see on the Moon.............................. 51

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

The Milky Way........................................52–54

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

A galaxy of your own.................................. 55

Mathematical solar system artwork................. 7

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

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

Andromeda and Perseus............................. 59

The colours of sunlight.................................. 11

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

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

Space body poetry...................................... 63

Mercury, messenger of the gods................... 15

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

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

Observatory research................................... 67

Fact finding mission..................................... 19

Technology for astronomers.....................68–70

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

Radar imaging a hill.................................... 71

Mapping the Earth....................................... 23

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

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

Make a satellite........................................... 75

Greek god of war mosaic............................ 27

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

Jupiter – king of the planets....................28–30

Astronomer biography................................. 79

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

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Jupiter: A work of art................................... 31

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

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

Naming the days......................................... 83

Saturn’s moons............................................ 35

Astronomer in culture..............................84–86

Uranus – the little gas giant.....................36–38

Astronomy, myths and art............................ 87

Voyager 2’s voyage.................................... 39

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

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

Help stop light pollution............................... 91

Mathematics helps to find Neptune............... 43

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

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

Zodiac signs and their meanings................... 95

Planet chaos............................................... 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 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.

The title of the text is given.

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.

Curriculum links

Science

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

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Science and Society – 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 Earth and Beyond – 3.1, 3.2, 3.3

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Astronomy Astronomy

What is astronomy? Indicator ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about astronomy.

Answers

✶✶ Definitions of astronomy vary. Some definitions state that astronomy is the study of the nature and movement of celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies. Others say that it is the study of any objects and matter outside Earth's atmosphere and the chemical properties of these. A third definition has that astronomy as the study of everything! It studies the universe and everything is part of the universe! ✶✶ Astronomy has many separate fields—the study of the universe and its beginnings, the study of distances in space, the study of the planets and stars within the solar system, the use of radio-telescopes and the use of mathematics (numbers, calculations, statistics etc.) to study the universe. Because there are many different fields within astronomy, there are also many different types of astronomers or experts within these fields—cosmologists, radio astronomers, mathematical astronomers and so on. ✶✶ Astronomy combines aspects of mathematics, chemistry, geology, biology, physics and computer technology.

Page 3 1. (a) space (d) composed (g) spread (j) happens 2.–3. Teacher check

(b) (e) (h) (k)

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Additional activities

✶✶ Use a dictionary to find and write words which begin with the prefix ‘astro-’. ✶✶ Research to find some interesting facts about the beginnings of astronomy. Visit <http://www. mesopotamia.co.uk/astronomer/story/page01. html> to view a fictitious story about Aplum, an astronomer from ancient Babylon.

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Background information

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Astronomy Astronomy

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What is astronomy? 1. Use the words in the box to complete the cloze.

Astronomy is the scientific study of all matter and energy in outer

. It includes the study of how space

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study of the

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2. Read the completed text again then answer the questions.

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3. The word ‘astronomy’ comes from two Greek words ‘astro’ meaning ‘star’ and ‘nomos’ meaning ‘custom’ or ‘law’. Use the meanings of these two words to write your own definition of astronomy. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

The solar system Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about the solar system. ✶✶ Completes artwork about the solar system using comparison of sizes and colours as listed in a table.

Answers

✶✶ On 24 August 2006, the International Astronomical Union formally downgraded Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet. ✶✶ Some astronomers believe that the solar system was formed from a single, flat cloud of gas. Others believe that it may have been formed when a huge object passed close to the sun, pulling off a stream of gas from which the planets formed. ✶✶ Astronomers are not sure if there are more planets, dwarf planets or objects that circle the sun. They are constantly finding new objects. ✶✶ The sun is a star—a huge ball of gas! ✶✶ The planets in the solar system in order from smallest to largest are: Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, the four inner planets, are smaller and rocky. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the four outer planets, are larger and composed mostly of gaseous materials. ✶✶ Students can round each diameter to the nearest thousand kilometres to see more clearly the comparative sizes of the planets/dwarf planet. They can use these figures to determine the scale required for Point 5 in the activity on page 7.

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Page 7 1. 8, 4, 6, 3, 9, 7, 2, 1, 5 2.–7. Teacher check

Additional activities

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Background information

✶✶ Design a simple model to show the orbit of objects around the sun. ✶✶ Read information on different beliefs about how the solar system was formed. Ask students to write a myth or legend to explain the creation of the solar system.

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The solar system – 1 • As the name suggests, the solar system is centred around the sun (‘Sol’).

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• The objects which travel around the sun include the planets and minor planets, natural satellites such as moons, comets, meteoroids and the asteroid belt. Cosmic dust and pieces of ice orbit the sun as well! All these things make up the solar system.

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• The sun contains about 99.8% of the total mass in the solar system. Because of its tremendous size, the sun exerts an enormous gravitational pull on the objects in the solar system.

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o c . ch e • Many different theories have been put forward to explain how the solar system was r e o r formed. st super • Astronomers estimate that the solar system may have formed about 4.57 billion years ago.

• The eight planets in the solar system are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. • Three of the dwarf (minor) planets in the solar system are Ceres, Pluto and Eris. • All the planets and dwarf planets receive their light and warmth from the sun. • The solar system is constantly moving. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

The solar system – 2 Down 1. The sun contains 99.8% of the the solar system.

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2. The age of the solar system is believed to be about 4.57 years.

4. The name of another dwarf planet

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3. A dwarf planet which had been a planet

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7. The shape of the solar system

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from the sun

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11. An inhabited planet in the solar system

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9. The galaxy which the solar system is part of 12. Something the solar system is doing constantly 13. Something given by the sun 14. A Astronomy

pull is exerted by the sun on the objects in the solar system. 6

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Mathematical solar system artwork 1. Read the table below which gives the diameters and colours of all the major planets and one dwarf planet in the solar system. Write the numbers 1 to 9 in the blank column to show the sizes in order (with 1 being the smallest).

Planet

Diameter (km)

Colour

Order (in size)

r o e t 12s 103 white Bo r e p 49 528 ok Neptune blue u S 6 794 Mars red 120 536

yellow

Jupiter

142 984

pale yellow

Uranus

51 118

green

Mercury

4880

silver

Pluto

2340

yellow

Saturn

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Venus

2. Paint a sheet of art paper black and allow to dry.

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3. In the centre of the art paper, glue a shape made from red, yellow or orange coloured paper to represent the sun. Use any shape but make sure that it covers most of the painted background.

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4. Collect coloured paper for each planet or dwarf planet and a variety of shapes to trace or copy—hexagons, rectangles, circles, ovals, triangles etc.

o c 5. Use the order of size in the table to cut out shapes for each . planet. Sizes do not c e r need to be exact—buth they must clearly show e o t r s how the planets compare with s each uother. per 6. Arrange and glue all the shapes on top of the sun on the black background. You may overlap some shapes to fit them all on. 7. Type and print a title for your artwork on the computer and attach for display.

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Astronomy

The sun Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about the sun. ✶✶ Completes information about the light spectrum and Sir Isaac Newton.

Answers

✶✶ The sun contains about 99.8% of the mass of the solar system and has a diameter of 1 400 000 kilometres. The sun's mass is approximately 330 000 times that of Earth. Theoretically, it would take 1.3 milion Earths to fill the sun. The sun's diameter is approximately 109 times greater than Earth's. ✶✶ The temperature of the core is estimated to be over 15,000,000 degrees Celsius and the surface temperature is about 5500 degrees Celsius. ✶✶ Flares and sunspots are features which can be seen on the sun’s atmosphere and surface. Flares occur when magnetic fields become so concentrated in small regions that they cause violent, spectacular eruptions of energy. Solar flares can interrupt communications on Earth. Sunspots are magnetic storms in the photosphere which can be seen as dark areas. Other events which occur are solar winds (gas explosions which hurl ions from the corona at over 500 kilometres per second) and solar prominences (storms of gas which erupt in columns into space). ✶✶ The layers of the sun in order from the centre are: the core, the radiation zone, the convection zone, the photosphere (the surface of the sun) followed by two layers of gas called the chromosphere and the corona.

Page 10 1. gas 2. hydrogen; helium 3. because it is so large 4. more than 100 times 5. a medium-sized, yellow, dwarf star 6. The energy of the sun is caused by nuclear reactions in the core. 7. flares; sunspots 8. more than 100 billion 9. core; corona 10. (a) thousands of degrees (b) millions of degrees 11. Possible answers may include: (a) They thought the sun was a god; The sun was so big; The sun gave heat and light to everything. (b) Because it is so hot, it is very hard to see inside the sun to find out about it etc. Page 11 1. red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Teacher check the correct colours in the table. 2. Possible answers may include: (a) The separate bands of colour should combine to make white light again. (b) Different colours may indicate the time light takes to reach Earth (and therefore the distance an object is from Earth); different colours may indicate different gases or different compositions of objects etc.

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Background information

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✶✶ Collect triangular prisms to carry out the activity on page 11. ✶✶ Find information to discover how large a scalemodel of the sun would be if a model of Jupiter, in the same scale, is 1 cm in diameter.

Astronomy Astronomy

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The sun – 1 The sun is a huge, glowing ball of gas. Of all the things in our solar system, it has the greatest mass. Because it’s so large, its gravitational pull Causes everything to orbit around it still.

r o e t s r eand can’t be beat!Boo It’s the centre of our solarp system u k The sun is a medium-sized, S yellow, dwarf star

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No life would exist without its light and heat.

More than a hundred times greater than Earth's diameter. Made mostly from hydrogen, it’s very bright And helium can be found inside, out of sight. The energy of the sun comes straight from the core

Earth

Corona

One of more than 100 billion stars in the Milky Way,

Chromosphere

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The sun gives off radio waves, X-rays and ultraviolet rays. The zones of the sun start with the central core

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Even though the sun was born over 4 billion years ago.

Photosphere

o c . The surface temperature reaches thousands of degrees c e her r o t s But the core is millions of degrees s hotter thane this. r up And end with the corona, but there are at least four layers more.

Core

The sun was worshipped as a god in ancient times And astronomers today still cannot see inside.

Radiation Radioacti Zone

Our atmosphere protects us from the sun’s harmful rays But I’m so glad that it’s there on cold, frosty days!

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Convection Zone Astronomy

The sun – 2 1. What is the sun made from? 2. Name two gases which can be found in the sun. and

3. Why does the sun exert such a strong gravitational pull on everything else in the solar system?

r o e t s Bo r e p o u k S 4. How big is the sun's diameter compared to Earth‘s?

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5. What kind of star is the sun?

6. What causes the energy of the sun and where does it come from?

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8. How many stars are there in the Milky Way Galaxy?

9. Name two zones of the sun.

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(a) ancient people often worshipped the sun. (b) astronomers still do not know very much about the sun. Astronomy

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The colours of sunlight Although our eyes see only the colour white when we look at sunlight, it is actually made up of every colour of the rainbow (the visible light spectrum). A famous scientist called Isaac Newton showed that by directing a beam of sunlight through a triangular prism, the light could be split up to reveal all the colours of the rainbow.

r o e t s Bo r e p o u 1. On the diagram below: k S • write the name of each colour of the rainbow in the table

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When trying to remember the colours of the rainbow, we often say the name ‘ROY G BIV’.

• use a coloured pen or crayon to trace the path of each colour from the time it enters the prism until it reaches the table on the right

• colour each section of the labelled table the correct colour.

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(b) How could finding out about sunlight help astronomers understand the sun and other objects in space?

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Astronomy

Mercury Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about the planet Mercury. ✶✶ Completes a variety of activities about Mercury, Roman messenger of the gods.

Answers

✶✶ Mercury can be very difficult to see from Earth without a telescope because it is small and so close to the bright sun. ✶✶ Mercury travels about 48 kilometres per second as it orbits the sun. ✶✶ The craters on Mercury’s surface are a result of meteoroids or comets crashing onto the surface through Mercury’s thin atmosphere. The largest crater, Caloris Basin, is about 1300 kilometres in diameter. The thin atmosphere also cannot reduce the amount of heat and light that reaches it from the sun. The atmosphere is composed of helium, hydrogen, oxygen and sodium. ✶✶ The sun’s rays are about seven times stronger on Mercury than they are on Earth. ✶✶ Mercury’s sky is black. ✶✶ Mariner 10 was a remotelycontrolled spacecraft which came within 740 kilometres of Mercury. ✶✶ The Messenger Probe was scheduled to fly-by Mercury twice in 2008, once in 2009 and orbit the planet in 2011. A one-year orbit is intended to map the surface and study the composition, internal structure and the magnetic field of the planet.

Page 14 1. (a) False (b) True (c) True (d) False (e) False (f) True (g) False (h) True (i) True (j) True (k) False (l) True 2. Teacher check answers. Information to be included: (a) Mercury’s atmosphere is thin; It is not able to protect the planet from the sun’s rays; The thin atmosphere causes great extremes of temperature from 450 º C during the day to –170 º C during the night. (b) The surface of Mercury is like that of the moon; There are many craters, steep cliffs and smooth plains which may have been caused by volcanic activity or impacts from space objects. (c) Mercury seems to have phases like the moon because different parts of the sunlit areas of Mercury are visible from Earth at different times. Page 15 1. See word N J U P I T E R K H L D search solution. A Q N G A E T E M P L E

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Background information

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Additional activities

✶✶ With a partner, discuss why the planet was given its name and what other possible names could have been used and why. ✶✶ Research to find out about other Roman gods.

Astronomy Astronomy

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Mercury – 1 Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system, being only about two-fifths the diameter of Earth. It is about the same size as Earth's moon.

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It ranges from 48 to 70 million kilometres away!

An object which weighs about 45 kilograms on Earth would weigh about 17 kilograms on Mercury.

Mercury is about 77 million kilometres from Earth at its closest point.

Mercury has only a thin atmosphere to protect it from the sun’s rays. This causes extremes of temperatures from 450 ° C during the day to -170 ° C during the night.

once every 59 Earth days, but it orbits the sun very quickly—once every 88 days!

iron.

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r o e t s has a magnetic Bo Mercury r e field around it so some p o Mercury moves around u k scientists believe that its the sun in an elliptical S Mercury rotates very core is made from liquid orbit. slowly on its axis—about Mercury does not have any naturally-occurring satellites.

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When viewed through a telescope, Mercury appears to change shape and size (similar to the moon’s phases). What actually happens is that different parts of the sunlit side of Mercury are visible from Earth at different times.

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The plant and animal life which exists on Earth could not survive on Mercury because it is almost airless and too hot.

Mariner 10, in 1974 and 1975, and by the Messenger Probe in 2008 on the first of two scheduled fly-bys.

o c . che The surface of Mercury e r o is like that of Earth's t r s super moon. It has many craters, steep cliffs and smooth plains. These landforms are thought to have been caused by volcanic activity and impacts from space objects.

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Craters at Mercury’s poles may contain water ice and, because these areas are shielded from the sun’s rays, may never melt. 13

The mass of Mercury is about one-twentieth that of Earth.

Mercury was named after the messenger of the gods from Roman mythology because it moves so quickly across the sky! Astronomy

Mercury – 2 Mariner 10 spacecraft

1. Write True or False.

(a) Mercury is the largest planet in the solar system.

(b) Mercury is two-fifths the diameter of Earth and about the same size as Earth's moon.

(f) Mercury has no naturally-occurring satellites.

(g) It is possible that there may be life on Mercury.

(h) Mercury was named after the Roman messenger of the gods.

(i) Mercury rotates slowly but orbits the sun quickly.

(j) At least two spacecraft have visited Mercury.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok (d) Mercury is the furthest planet from the sun. u S (e) The mass of Mercury is about one-third of that of Earth.

(l) Objects on Mercury weigh less than on Earth.

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Mercury, messenger of the gods

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1. Find the bold words from the text in the wordsearch.

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In Roman mythology, Mercury was not only the messenger of the gods but also the god of commerce, trade and merchants. He was associated with abundance, commercial success and the grain trade. In Greek mythology, he is identified as Hermes. He was the son of Jupiter and Maia, and the grandson of Atlas. Mercury is often shown wearing a hat and sandals with wings, and carrying a herald’s staff with wings, entwined with snakes and a drawstring purse. A temple near the Circus Maximus in Rome was available to worship him, especially during his festival on 15 May.

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Astronomy

Venus Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about Venus. ✶✶ Uses knowledge of the alphabet to solve a code to find out further facts about Venus.

Answers

✶✶ Venus is about 12 100 kilometres in diameter, about 800 kilometres less 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. ✶✶ Although Mercury is closer to the sun than Venus, Venus is hotter because its extremely thick atmosphere keeps the heat trapped. This is similar to the ’greenhouse effect’ on Earth. ✶✶ Knowledge about the surface of Venus was gained on landbased radar observations and space probes. In 1990, the US space probe, Magellan, began to orbit Venus and map the 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. Mount Maxwell mountain range is the highest point on the surface.

Page 18 1. (a) second closest to sun (b) sixth largest 2. Venus is the hottest planet because its extremely thick atmosphere traps the heat from the sun. 3. Venus (yellow): no oceans, poisonous clouds, circular orbit, called ‘morning’ or ‘evening’ star, no moon, 460 ºC on surface, rotates slowly Earth (blue): one moon, has life, elliptical orbit Venus and Earth (green): terrestrial planet, volcanoes, lightning, few craters, ‘young’ planet, mountains 4. Possible answers to explain in more detail: similar in size, about the same mass, have a similar gravity, both are ‘inner’ planets 5. (a) 243 (b) 225, 140 Page 19 code and words

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Background information

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Additional activities

✶✶ Students find other facts about Venus and make up a code like the one on page 19 for other students to solve. ✶✶ After students have studied the other inner terrestrial planets, they could compare and contrast them using a retrieval chart. Headings could include size, colour, rings, moons, atmosphere, years to orbit the sun.

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Venus – 1 Venus is the second closest planet to the sun and the sixth largest.

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Venus has an extremely thick atmosphere composed mainly of carbon dioxide and very little water vapour. Its atmosphere traps the heat from the sun. Although Mercury is closest to the sun, Venus is the hottest planet.

Venus

The appearance of Venus from Earth alters as it orbits the Earth. It changes in shape and size, similar to the phases of the Earth’s moon.

Thick, yellow clouds of poisonous sulfuric acid surround the planet. This means astronomers cannot see the surface with telescopes. Space probes have assisted astronomers in mapping the surface by using radar and infrared images.

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Venus has been known of since ancient times. This is because it can be seen with the unaided eye. Venus is the brightest planet seen from Earth. It is known as the ‘evening star’ or the ‘morning star’, as it can be seen at dawn or dusk.

Venus is one of the four ’terrestrial’ planets. A terrestrial planet is one composed mainly of rock. The others are Earth, Mercury and Mars. These four planets are also the four closest to the sun—the ‘inner’ planets.

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Venus is sometimes called Earth’s ‘sister’ planet. This is because they share some similar characteristics. These are: • They are similar in size—Venus has a surface area of about 460 million square kilometres and Earth about 510 million square kilometres. • They are about the same mass and have a similar gravity. If you weighed 27 kilograms on Venus you would weigh 30 kilograms on Earth. • They are both terrestrial planets and have only a few craters. This fact tells astronomers that both are ‘young’ planets compared to the others. • Both planets have active volcanoes, earthquakes (or ‘venusquakes’!), lightning, mountains and valleys.

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Other facts about Venus: • It has no oceans and no moons. • It is so hot on Venus that nothing can live there—about 465 ° C on the surface. • Venus rotates on its axis very slowly. One Venus day is about 243 Earth days. Venus also rotates in the opposite direction to the other planets. • Venus revolves around the sun in an almost circular orbit instead of elliptical like the other planets. One revolution around the sun (or one year) is about 225 Earth days.

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Astronomy

Venus – 2 1. What is Venus’s:

(a) order from the sun?

(b) order of size compared with other planets?

2. Although Mercury is closest to the sun, Venus is the hottest planet. Why?

r o e t s Bo r e p o u k 3. Colour these facts according to the code. S Venus (yellow)

Earth (blue)

Venus and Earth (green)

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no oceans

terrestrial planet

volcanoes

poisonous clouds

lightning

one moon

circular orbit

called ‘morning’ or ‘evening’ star

life no moon © Rhas . I . C.Publ i c at i on465 ° C s on surface f orr e vi e w pur pos esonl y• ‘young’ • planet rotates slowly elliptical orbit mountains few craters

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4. Give two other facts that show how Venus and Earth are similar, but which are not mentioned in Question 3. •

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•

(a) One Venus day is equal to about

(b) One revolution of Venus around the sun, or a year, is Earth days. If a year on Earth is 365

about

days, then Venus’s year is the Earth’s.

Astronomy

Earth days.

days shorter than 18

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Fact finding mission To find out some more facts about Venus, you will need to solve the code. Write the letter of the alphabet that corresponds to its order in the alphabet. For example, B = 2 as it is the second letter, M = 13 as it is the thirteenth etc. 1. 22 5 14 21 19

1 14 4

20 8

5 19 19

18 15 13 1 14

15 6

12 15 22 5

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9 20

9 19

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Astronomy

Earth Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about Earth. ✶✶ Identifies and labels topographical and mapping features of the Earth.

Answers

✶✶ The diameter of the Earth is about 13 000 kilometres and it is about 150 million kilometres from the sun. ✶✶ Gravity pulls matter towards the centre of objects, which makes most planets spherical. 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 air surrounding Earth becomes progressively thinner as one moves towards space. The atmosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen, 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 is one reason life on Earth can be sustained. ✶✶ Although our planet is called ‘Earth’, only 29% is actually ‘earth’. Ocean water covers about 71% of the Earth’s surface, with 3% of Earth’s water being fresh, much of it in polar icecaps or below the surface.

Page 22 1. (a) Earth is the third closest planet to the sun and the fifth largest in the solar system. (b) The four terrestrial planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. 2. Teacher check 3. A year on Earth is a bit longer than 365 days. Every four years these extra hours are added to make an extra day. This is called a leap year. 4. (a) False (b) False (c) False (d) True (e) False 5. Gravity is important because it is the force that ‘pulls’ things towards the centre of the Earth so we don’t ‘fall off’. 6. crust, mantle, core Page 23 1. Teacher check placement of labels. Seven continents: Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Australia and Antarctica Five oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern 2. Teacher check

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

✶✶ View images of Earth from space on the Internet to compare with the description of Earth in Paragraph 1 on page 21. ✶✶ Write a narrative that involves explaining features of planet Earth to an alien.

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Additional activities

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Earth – 1 Earth is the third closest planet to the sun and the fifth largest in our solar system. If you viewed Earth from space it would look like a gigantic bluish marble with swirls of white clouds and large patches of blue ocean. Depending how far away you were, bits of brownish-green continents could also be seen. Along with Mercury, Venus and Mars, Earth makes up the four ‘inner’ terrestrial planets. These planets are the four closest to the sun and are mostly composed of rock. They are much smaller and have fewer moons (or none) than the four ‘outer’ gas planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Earth has one moon.

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r o e t s Bo r e olife. For several reasons, Earthp is the only planet known to support These include: u k • Unlike the otherS planets, about 70 percent of Earth is covered by liquid water, which

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is necessary for life.

• Earth has many important gases in its atmosphere, one of which is a sufficient amount of oxygen, which living things need to breathe. Other gases help to absorb harmful solar radiation before it reaches the Earth’s surface.

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While all planets receive light from the sun, Earth is in the best position in the solar system. It gets enough heat for the overall temperature to be not too hot like Venus or Mercury, or too cold like Jupiter and the other outer planets. It also receives enough light for plants to grow and produce oxygen through a process called ‘photosynthesis’.

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o c . che e r o The Earth takes 24 hours to rotate on its axis, which makes one day. It takes 365 days t r s s r u e p 6 hours and nine minutes for it to revolve around the sun, which makes one year. Every

four years the extra hours and minutes are added to make an extra day to the calendar on 29 February. This is called a leap year. Because the Earth is tilted on its axis as it revolves around the sun, it has four seasons in most parts of the world. Earth’s orbit is elliptical (oval) and not circular, which means it is closer to the sun for part of the year. Earth is made up of layers—the outside crust, the inner mantle and the core in the centre of the Earth. Gravity ‘pulls’ things towards the centre of the Earth so they don’t ‘fall off’. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Earth – 2 1. Rewrite these sentences so they are correct.

(a) Earth is the sixth closest planet to the sun and the largest in the solar system.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S 2. Describe in detail one reason why Earth can support life.

(b) The four terrestrial planets are Mercury, Earth, Jupiter and Saturn.

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3. What is a leap year?

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4. True or false? (a) A terrestrial planet is made of gas..........................................

(b) The inner planets have more moons than the outer planets..........

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5. Earth has gravity. Why is this important? 6. Write the missing words.

Earth is made up of layers – the outside

and the Astronomy

, the inner

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• the north and south polar regions

• a line to represent the equator

• the five oceans

2. Discuss and identify on the map where you would find features such as high mountain ranges, large river systems, deserts, inland seas and islands.

• the seven continents

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1. Label the map of the Earth with the features listed. You can use an atlas to help you.

If you were in a spacecraft looking at Earth you would not be able to see all of the Earth at once because it is shaped almost like a sphere. However, if you ‘flattened’ out the Earth, it would look like the map below.

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Mapping the Earth

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Astronomy

Mars Indicators ✶✶ Reads text and understands information about Mars. ✶✶ Draws and colours a picture showing a mosaic effect.

Answers

✶✶ Mars has a dry rocky surface covered with an ironrich dust which gives it its red appearance. ✶✶ In the Martian northern hemisphere, there are low lying plains and in the southern hemisphere, impact craters. ✶✶ The north and south polar regions are covered by icecaps that are composed of frozen carbon dioxide and water. ✶✶ The landscape suggests the presence of ancient rivers and lakes ✶✶ In the 1880s, with the use of telescopes, strange markings were seen on the surface of Mars. Many people believed that they were canals which had been built by an intelligent alien race. This gave rise to the fear of a possible Martian invasion. In 1938 a radio broadcast of H G Wells’s War of the worlds scared millions of listeners into believing that aliens had landed on Earth. ✶✶ For the activity on page 27, show examples of mosaics in objects or pictures. The mosaic effect can be created by drawing roughly square shapes on each object in the picture before colouring it in a single colour. Each square shape represents a tile and the lines of the shape are the grout holding the tile in place. ✶✶ Students may copy the picture on the page, research to find an alternative or create their own.

Page 26 1. (a) Earth, Jupiter (b) (i) three (ii) Mercury, Venus, Earth (c) the Red Planet 2. (a) It has a greater distance to travel because it is further from the sun. (b) a Martian sol 3. volcano—Olympus Mons canyon—Valles Marineris 4. (a) Phoenix Mars Lander (b) (i) early August 2007 (ii) late May 2008, Martian North Pole (iii) ten months 5. (a) laboratories (b) TEGA (MECA) (c) MECA (TEGA) (d) soil (e) made (f) support (g) past 6. Teacher check Page 27 Teacher check

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

✶✶ Find out why the spacecraft was named Phoenix. Write an illustrated story of the Phoenix myth to tell to younger students. ✶✶ Create a class Mars fact file. From the information, devise a quiz to determine the champion class Martian.

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Additional activities

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Mars – 1 Mars is the last of the inner rocky planets. Beyond it lie the asteroid belt and the great gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Mars

Of all the planets, Mars is the one most like Earth. It has similar seasons but they last twice as long. It takes Mars almost two Earth years to orbit the sun because it has further to travel. A Martian sol (day) is less than an hour longer than an Earth day.

Earth

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r o e t s Bo r e pthe size of Earth, Mars ok For a planet that is only half u has some massive S physical features. The great volcano, Olympus Mons, is over two and a half

times higher than Mount Everest, Earth’s highest mountain. The giant canyon system, Valles Marineris, is about ten times longer and three times deeper than the Grand Canyon, one of Earth’s most famous canyons. As Earth’s closest neighbour, the ‘Red Planet’ has always been of great interest to scientists and storytellers. Many people believe that there could be life on Mars. This has lead to many stories of strange-looking aliens visiting Earth in either a friendly or a hostile way.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons There is no• liquid water onv Mars but scientists hado thought that there might be water ice. f o r r e i e w p u r p s e s o n l y • In early August 2007, the Phoenix Mars Lander, a robotic spacecraft, was launched by

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the space agency, NASA. Its mission was to find evidence of water on Mars. Phoenix landed close to the Martian North Pole in late May 2008. One month later, it found what it was looking for! Because water is essential for life, finding water ice on Mars means that it is possible, though not certain, that there could once have been life on Mars. There have been climate changes on Mars just as there have been on Earth. A hundred thousand years ago, it was much warmer than it is now and the ice would have been water.

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o c . che Phoenix was designed tor e collect as much information oout of power. During the as it can before it t runs r s s r u e p warmest part of the year, it generates electricity from its large solar panels. TEGA and MECA are the two miniature laboratories aboard Phoenix. They have instruments which are able to test the soil to see what it is made of, if plants could survive in it and if there is any evidence of past life in it.

After years of wondering, maybe we will at last discover if there was, is or ever could be ... life on Mars! R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Mars – 2 1. (a) Between which two planets in the solar system does Mars lie? and

(b) (i)

How many planets lie between Mars and the sun?

(ii) Name them, in order from the sun.

r o e t s Bo r (c) By what name is Mars sometimes known? e p o u k 2. (a) Why is a Martian year longer than an Earth year? S

(b) Tick ( ) which is longer.

A Martian sol

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An Earth day

3. What are the two massive physical features on Mars and what are their names?

(b) (i)

(ii) When and where did it land?

(iii) Approximately how long did the voyage to Mars take?

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5. Complete the text.

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On board the spacecraft were two miniature (b) (d) (f)

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4. (a) Name the robotic spacecraft that discovered water ice on Mars.

and

named

(a)

. Between them they tested the

(c)

(e)

(g)

6. Mars is to be colonised by humans. Write a list of the things that will have to be there before you will live there.

Astronomy

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Greek god of war mosaic The Romans named Mars after their god of war because its colour reminded them of a battlefield in which much blood had been shed. The god of war in Greek mythology was Ares. He had two sons: Phobos—meaning fear—and Deimos—meaning dread. The two satellite moons of Mars are named after the sons of Ares.

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Many artefacts from the ancient Greek and Roman cultures are in the form of mosaics. Draw a picture of Ares driving his horse-drawn chariot. Before colouring it, create a mosaic effect.

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Astronomy

Jupiter – king of the planets Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about Jupiter. ✶✶ Creates art resembling Jupiter’s surface, using marbling techniques.

Answers

✶✶ Jupiter’s size may be difficult for students to visualise and comprehend, with a diameter of about 142 800 kilometres (about 11 times greater than Earth’s 12 800 kilometre diameter). It might be useful to try to find objects to create a threedimensional comparison (for example, a golf ball and a basketball). When Jupiter is visible, it is usually the brightest light in the night sky after the moon and Venus. It is 5.2 times further away from the Sun than the Earth. ✶✶ Teachers will need to obtain marbling paints for this activity. Alternatively, there are other ways to create a marbling effect on paper, using, for example, shaving cream. Teachers can search for alternative techniques and methods on the Internet or in craft books. ✶✶ Provide pictures, posters, books or Internet access for students to view images of Jupiter and the swirling coloured patterns on its surface. There are light and dark bands (called belts and zones). There is also the great red spot, with patterns rotating anticlockwise around it. (Students interested in this topic may wish to be as accurate as possible and include details such as the great red spot swirling in the correct direction.)

Page 30 1. The name ‘Jupiter’ comes from the king of the Roman gods. 2. Jupiter’s moon, Io, is interesting because it has active volcanoes, the first active volcanoes discovered elsewhere (apart from Earth) in the solar system. 3. Jupiter is a ‘gas planet’, like a gigantic cloud, so, unlike Earth with its rocky and watery surface, Jupiter doesn’t have a solid surface that something could land on. 4. One year on Jupiter takes almost 12 Earth years, and a day on Jupiter lasts about 10 hours. 5. Answers will vary. The great red spot is a giant, spinning storm that keeps going, non-stop. 6. A 12-year-old child would only be one on Jupiter. 7. The sun is bigger than Jupiter. 8. Answers will vary but should mention that the presence of water might mean Europa could support life, either alien or, possibly, human in the future. Page 31 Teacher check

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Background information

Additional activities

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✶✶ At <http://www.kidzone.ws/planets/puzzle1.htm> students can complete an online interactive jigsaw puzzle of a section of Jupiter. ✶✶ Students could investigate what makes the clouds of Jupiter different colours.

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Jupiter – king of the planets – 1 The fifth planet from the sun, Jupiter, is truly the king of the planets.

Jupiter

Jupiter is by far the biggest planet in our solar system. If you could join all the other planets in the solar system into one big planet, Jupiter would still be bigger—about two and a half times bigger, in fact.

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Earth

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It is so big it can be seen from Earth without a telescope. For thousands of years people have been able to see Jupiter in the night skies, and so it is part of many ancient beliefs. It is named after the king of the Roman gods.

Jupiter is a ‘gas planet’. Unlike Earth, which has a rocky and watery surface, Jupiter is more like a gigantic cloud. It doesn’t have a solid surface that anything could land on. What we see when we look at Jupiter is the tops of clouds high in its atmosphere. These clouds are blown in different directions by strong winds that give Jupiter its beautiful swirling pattern and colours. Scientists believe Jupiter is nearly all gas (mostly hydrogen and helium) and liquid, and, if it does have a solid surface, it is hidden deep at its centre.

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around the sun. So one year on Jupiter takes almost 12 Earth years. A day on Jupiter, though, is much shorter than an Earth day; it only takes Jupiter about 10 hours to turn once on its axis. Jupiter has over 60 moons; 49 of them have been officially named. Four of them are big enough to be seen from Earth. These four are known as the Galilean moons (after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, who discovered them in 1610). They are called Io, Europa, Ganymede (the largest moon in the solar system) and Callisto.

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o c . most well-known feature of Jupiter is the ‘Great che The e r Red Spot’. It is a giant, spinning storm which o t r s more than 300 years ago, and su people firstr noticed e p it is still going, nonstop. It is so big, three Earths could fit into it!

Voyager I discovered a faint ring around Jupiter in 1979. It also discovered that the moon Io has active volcanoes, the first active volcanoes discovered elsewhere (apart from Earth) in the solar system. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Jupiter – king of the planets – 2 1. Where does the name ‘Jupiter’ come from? 2. What is interesting about Jupiter’s moon, Io?

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4. Compare time (days and years) on Jupiter with time on Earth.

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3. Why couldn’t you go for a walk on Jupiter?

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6. If one Jupiter year is the same as 12 Earth years, how old would a 12-year-old Earth child be on Jupiter?

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o c . e 7. Which is bigger; Jupiterc orh the sun? r er o t s suthat r pe 8. Jupiter’s moon Europa has a layer of ice looks like a sea of ice on Earth. It

might have a layer of water underneath. Why do you think scientists are very interested in finding out more about this?

Astronomy

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Jupiter: A work of art Jupiter‘s surface is made up of thick clouds. The clouds are different colours, depending on how high they are; the lowest are blue, then browns and whites, with reds the highest. Sometimes the blue clouds can be seen through holes in the upper ones. The clouds circle the planet parallel to the equator in lighter coloured ‘zones’ and darker coloured ‘belts’, and often swirl in the strong winds and storms.

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First, look at some images of Jupiter (in books or on the Internet), then follow the instructions to create a swirling ‘Jupiter’ image using marble paints. See if you can create zones, belts and a Great Red Spot.

• A large tray with deep sides (such as a foil roasting tin)

• A large jug of cold water

• Some marbling paint or marbling ink in blue, brown, white and red

• Pieces of paper or card (small enough to fit in the tray)

• A craft stick

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1. Pour water into the tray until it’s 1–2cm deep.

2. Add some drops of paint to the water, a few at a time.

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Instructions: (Tick each box as you complete the step.)

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You will need:

. tcraft stick, swirl the paint around the tray until the o 3. Using the e colours form c . a pattern on thec water that you think resembles Jupiter’s surface. e her r o t s s 4. Place a piece paper into the tray by rolling it down on to the surface up er of the water. Make sure the paper is completely flat, floating on top of the water (don’t let the paper go under the water).

5. Gently lift the end of the paper and roll the paper back from the water and place it somewhere safe to dry.

How does your marbling picture resemble Jupiter’s surface?

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Astronomy

Saturn Indicators ✶✶ Reads text and understands information about Saturn. ✶✶ Researches to find information about Saturn's moons.

Background information

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O O

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2. (a) 1. Prometheus 3. Epimetheus 5. Mimas 7. Tethys 9. Rhea 11. Hyperion 13. Phoebe (b) Teacher check (c) 12 metres

Additional activities

2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12.

Pandora Janus Enceladus Dione Titan lapetus

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Page 34 1. (a) the outer, gas giants of Jovian planets (b) the asteroid belt 2. (a) agriculture (b) a curved, hand-held farming tool used to harvest grain or cut grass, included because Saturn was the god of agriculture. 3. Teacher check. Possible answer: Galilei’s telescope was basic and not as accurate as later models 4. (a) Cassini division, Encke gap, Keeler gap (b) Titan, Pan, Daphnis (c) Ganymede, Jupiter 5. water 6. Pioneer, Voyager, Cassini-Huygens

Astronomy Astronomy

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✶✶ Although Saturn can be seen in the night sky with the unaided eye, a telescope is required to view its rings and moons. ✶✶ Saturn rotates very fast about its axis. A day on Saturn takes just over 10 Earth hours. ✶✶ A Saturn year is much longer than Earth's ... 30 times longer! ✶✶ Saturn is the only planet with a density less than that of water. An object with the same density as Saturn would float on water. ✶✶ Saturn’s diameter is almost 10 times that of Earth. ✶✶ Make the mobile of Saturn and its moons using circles rather than spheres. The object of the exercise is for students to appreciate the relative sizes involved. ✶✶ Ask students to find the actual diameters of Saturn and its moon, Titan. From this they will be able to work out the diameter required for the Saturn circle of their mobiles.

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✶✶ Research to find out the mythology of the names of Saturn’s 13 largest moons. ✶✶ Research to find out more about Saturn’s rings. What are they called? What are their special features?

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Saturn – 1 The outer planets of our solar system are known as the ‘gas giants’ or Jovian planets. They are separated from the four, small, rocky inner planets by the asteroid belt. Saturn is the second of the gas giants, lying between Jupiter and Uranus. Saturn, visible at night with the unaided eye, was named after the Roman god of agriculture. The symbol of Saturn includes a sickle, which is a curved farming hand-tool used to harvest grain or cut grass.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u Saturn is often called the ‘ringed planet’ because of the easily-visible rings that surround S it. The rings were first seen in 1610 by Galileo Galilei, who made and used the first telescope. At the time, he did not realise what they were. It wasn’t until 1655 that another astronomer, Christian Huygens, saw them clearly enough to identify them as a disc surrounding the planet.

The rings of Saturn consist of ice, small rocks and dust. The reflection from them adds to Saturn’s brightness and visibility. There are many rings which are separated by gaps of different sizes. The largest gap is the Cassini division, which is 5000 kilometres wide. The Encke and Keeler gaps are much narrower but both have moons, Pan and Daphnis, orbiting within them.

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There are 60 natural satellites or moons orbiting Saturn. There may even be another three, which would match the number orbiting Jupiter. Titan is Saturn’s largest moon. It is the second largest of all the moons in the solar system—Jupiter’s Ganymede is the biggest.

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o c . c e r Titan is a very interesting h moon. Larger than the planet o Mercury, it has many features e t r s s r up eScientists believe that it could contain similar to those of a very early, very cold, Earth. some form of simple extraterrestrial life.

Although the existence of Saturn has been known for thousands of years, it is only within the last half century that more detailed information has been discovered. This has been collected by satellite missions sent from Earth. Robotic probes such as Pioneer, Voyager and Cassini-Huygens have provided scientists with massive amounts of information about our solar system, which helps us to understand more about how it was created and how it is evolving. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Saturn – 2 1. (a) To which group of planets does Saturn belong?

(b) What separates the two groups of planets?

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u 2. (a) Saturn was named Safter the Roman god of

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(b) What is a sickle and why is it included in the symbol of Saturn?

3. Why do you think Galilei was unable to identify the rings more accurately?

4. (a) Name three gaps in the rings of Saturn.

(b) Name three moons of Saturn.

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Titan to make scientists believe that it could contain some form of life?

6. Name three satellites that have been sent into space to collect information about the planets.

Astronomy

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Saturn’s moons Saturn has at least 60 natural satellites which we call moons. In order of scaled-down diameter, the first 13 moons would be: 1. Titan

50 cm

2. Rhea

15 cm

3. lapetus

15 cm

4. Dione

11 cm

5. Tethys

11 cm

6. Enceladus 5 cm

r o e t s Bo 12. Epimetheus 1 cm r e ok 13. Pandora 1 cmp u S 1. Find the names of the moons in the 4 cm

8. Hyperion

10. Janus

2 cm

11. Prometheus 1 cm

wordsearch puzzle. Titan

Saturn

3 cm

9. Phoebe

2 cm

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7. Mimas

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2. (a) Research to find the order of the moons from Saturn and complete the table. Some have been done for you.

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1. Prometheus

11.

7. Tethys

12.

o c . c e her 8. r 3. 13. Phoebe o t s s r u e p 9. 4. Janus 5.

10. Titan

(b) Make a mobile of Saturn's 13 largest moons arranged in the correct order. Use the measurements in the top table for the diameter of each moon.

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Astronomy

Uranus Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about Uranus. ✶✶ Plays a board game based on the Voyager 2 spacecraft visiting Uranus.

Answers

✶✶ Uranus, seventh planet from the sun, has only been ‘visited’ once, by NASA’s Voyager 2 in 1986. Voyager 2 came within 81 500 kilometres of the planet’s cloud tops and studied the atmosphere and weather, discovered 10 new moons and examined its ring system. It also studied the magnetic field, its irregular structure and its tilt. It made the first detailed investigations of its five largest moons, and discovered two new rings. ✶✶ Voyager 2 was launched on 20 August 1977, before Voyager 1. Its primary radio stopped working eight months into the journey, and the functioningweakly back-up has been used since to relay its scientific discoveries. Voyager 2 flew by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, taking advantage of an alignment of the outer planets (occurring once every 189 years) to ‘slingshot’ its way from planet to planet. Voyager 2 continues operations, taking measurements. ✶✶ Teachers could copy the worksheet on page 39 onto card, or enlarge onto A3 for the students to play the game. The game details actual events in Voyager 2’s journey. Students will need a dice and counters to play this game in small groups or pairs.

Page 38 1. A year on Uranus is about 84 Earth years 2. A day on Uranus is about seven hours shorter than an Earth day. 3. William Herschel discovered Uranus with a telescope in 1781, realised it was a planet, and named it Georgium Sidus (the Georgian star) after the English king, George III. Later its name was changed to Uranus to fit in with the other planets, which had been named after Roman gods. 4. Uranus was the first planet discovered by (b) telescope. 5. Uranus was the god of the sky, husband of Gaia (Mother Earth) and the king of the gods until his son, Cronus, overthrew him. Uranus was the father of the Titans, the one-eyed giant Cyclopses, and the 100-handed Hecatoncheires. 6. Teacher check 7. Teacher check. Student could give their searches to another student to complete and check for spelling. Page 39 Teacher check

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Background information

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Astronomy Astronomy

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Additional activities ✶✶ Each Voyager has a 12-inch (30-cm) goldplated copper disc with sounds and images of Earth recorded on it, designed to portray the diversity of life and culture. Each disk is encased in a protective jacket along with a cartridge and a needle. Instructions explaining from where the spacecraft originated and how to play the disk are engraved onto the jacket. Students could decide what images and sounds they would put on a disc going into space, and explain their choices. ✶✶ Methane makes Uranus look blue. Find out what methane is. Is there any on Earth? How is it made? What can it do?

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Uranus – the little gas giant – 1 Discovery Many people saw Uranus before 1781, but thought it was a star. William Herschel discovered the planet with a telescope, realised it was a planet, and named it Georgium Sidus (the Georgian star) after the English king, George III. Later its name was changed to Uranus to fit in with the other planets, which had been named after Roman gods.

In Greek mythology, Uranus (also r o e t as Ouranos) was the god of s theknown B r e o sky ando husband of Gaia (Mother p u Earth). He was also the king of the gods k S until his son, Cronus (called Saturn by the Romans), overthrew him. Uranus and Gaia were the parents of the Titans, the one-eyed giant Cyclopses, and the 100-handed Hecatoncheires.

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Vital statistics

Mythology

• Seventh planet from the sun. • Third largest planet in the solar system. • Average temperature: -195 degrees Celsius (very cold!)

• Made up of gases, perhaps with a core of liquid rock.

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are named after characters from the works of Shakespeare and Uranus has dark rings Alexander Pope. The five main made up of dust, rocks and ice moons are called Miranda, particles ranging in size from tiny Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and dust to the size of boulders, 10 metres Oberon. wide. These rings are so faint they weren’t Appearance

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discovered until the Voyager 2 spacecraft visited the planet in 1986. The atmosphere Days and nights on Uranus has hydrogen, helium and Uranus is very far from the methane gases. The methane absorbs sun, so it takes about 84 Earth the red colours in light, leaving the years to orbit the sun. Uranus blue-green coloured planet also spins around on its axis once that we see. every 17 hours. Uranus is unusual because it is tipped on its side, so the poles sometimes point towards the sun. Because of this, a night at the pole away from the sun lasts for 21 Earth years, during which it gets no light or heat from the sun.

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Astronomy

Uranus – the little gas giant –2 1. How long is a year on Uranus? 2. How many hours shorter is a day on Uranus than a day on Earth?

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3. Describe the discovery and naming of Uranus.

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4. Uranus was the first planet to be discovered by ...

(a) the unaided eye

(b) telescope

5. Who was Uranus in mythology?

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7. Create your own wordsearch with these words:

• methane

• Voyager

• Herschel

• Greek

• telescope

• gods

• sky

• Gaia

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6. What do you think is the most interesting thing about Uranus?

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Voyager 2’s voyage Voyager 2 is an uncrewed space probe that has visited previously unexplored planets, including Uranus. It takes pictures and measurements with its scientific instruments and sends the information back to Earth.

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Play the board game to discover some of the events Voyager has experienced on its journey so far.

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Astronomy

Neptune Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about the planet Neptune. ✶✶ Completes information about John C Adams.

Answers

✶✶ The diameter of Neptune is 49 528 kilometres. ✶✶ Neptune is about 30 times as far from the sun as Earth is. ✶✶ Neptune is not as dense as Earth. ✶✶ The axis of Neptune tilts at about 28º. This causes the sun to heat the northern and southern hemispheres of Neptune at different times, resulting in seasons. These seasons may last as long as 40 years! ✶✶ Triton, Neptune’s largest satellite, travels around Neptune every six days in a circular orbit. Astronomers believe that Triton may have been a large comet that was captured by Neptune’s gravity. Triton shows evidence of volcanoes that erupted water and ammonia which froze on the surface. The surface temperature of Triton is –235 º C, the coldest measured object in the solar system. Other volcanoes/ geysers on Triton are still active. ✶✶ Astronomer Royal is a senior position in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. The position dates back to 1675, when King Charles II founded the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and appointed the Astronomer Royal as the Director.

Page 42 1. gases—hydrogen, ammonia, helium and methane 2. rock and ice 3. Neptune is the eighth and furthest planet from the sun. 4. Neptune’s orbit around the sun is elliptical. It orbits at a distance of about 4.495 billion kilometres and it takes 165 Earth years. 5. Neptune has 13 naturally-occurring satellites (moons). Four moons orbit the planet within the rings. The largest satellite, Triton, is about 2705 kilometres in diameter and 354 760 kilometres from Neptune. It moves in an orbit which is in the opposite direction to the rotation of Neptune. 6. Neptune’s clouds are thick and blown by winds moving in speeds of up to 1100 kilometres per hour. They are composed of frozen gases, including methane. 7. Astronomers have learnt about Neptune by using images taken by the space probe, Voyager 2, and from the Hubble space telescope. 8. Neptune is blue because of the methane gas in its composition. 9. Neptune is named after the Roman god of the sea. Page 43 1. (a) Launceston (b) farming (c) geometry (d) orbit (e) predicted (f) gravity (g) planet (h) Uranus (i) position (j) years (k) presented (l) attention (m) later (n) calculations (o) telescopic (p) discovery (q) Royal (r) mathematical

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Background information

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o c . che e r o t r s super Additional activities

✶✶ Research and list the many different types of occupations involved in space study, including mathematicians, computer programmers, telescope specialists, experts in physics and chemistry etc. ✶✶ In a table, compare and contrast Neptune and its sister planet, Uranus.

Astronomy Astronomy

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Neptune – 1 Neptune is a large, blue-green planet with an atmosphere composed of hydrogen, ammonia, helium and methane gases. The core of Neptune is believed to be made of rock and ice. Neptune is similar to Uranus in colour and composition and, like Pluto, cannot be seen without a telescope.

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It is the eighth (and farthest planet) from the sun. Every 284 years, Pluto, one of the dwarf planets, moves inside Neptune’s orbit for a period of about 20 years. During this time, Pluto is closer to the sun than Neptune.

Neptune travels in an elliptical orbit around the sun at a distance of about 4.495 billion kilometres. One solar orbit takes about 165 Earth years. It also spins once on its axis about every 17 hours. Neptune's diameter is almost four times that of Earth and it is about 17 times as heavy. It has 13 natural satellites (moons), and one thin and three thick rings of dust particles. Four of Neptune’s moons orbit the planet within the rings. The largest satellite, Triton, is about 2705 kilometres in diameter and is 354 760 kilometres from Neptune. It has an unusual orbit because it moves in the opposite direction to the rotation of Neptune.

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moving at speeds of up to 1100 kilometres per hour. Some of the clouds are composed of frozen gases, including methane, which helps to give Neptune its blue appearance.

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Astronomers believe that large, dark ovals on Neptune’s surface are masses of gas moving swiftly, like hurricanes.

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The space probe, Voyager 2, passed within 4900 kilometres of Neptune in 1989 to collect data about it and its sister planet, Uranus. No spacecraft has ventured so far from Earth since. However, the Hubble space telescope continues to take images to gain more information.

o c . che e r o t r sheat source because it gives off r Astronomers believe that Neptune s hasu itsp own internal e more heat that it receives from the sun. Neptune was discovered when astronomers were observing the orbit of Uranus. The orbit of Uranus did not follow the normal pattern so astronomers concluded that another, larger planet was affecting Uranus’s orbit. Careful observations led to the discovery of Neptune. Neptune is named after the Roman god of the sea. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Neptune – 2 1. What is the composition of Neptune? 2. What is the core made of? 3. Where is Neptune in relation to the sun?

r o e t s B r e 4. What is the Neptune’s orbit around the sun like and howo p ok long does it take? u S

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5. Give information about the natural satellites of Neptune, including Triton.

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6. Describe the clouds of Neptune.

. te learnt information about Neptune? Give at least o 7. How have astronomers two c . different ways. che e r o r st super

8. Why is Neptune blue? 9. Who is Neptune named after? Astronomy

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Mathematics helps to find Neptune 1. Use the words in the list to complete the cloze about John C Adams. The first letter of each answer has been given. position planet discovery

telescopic orbit farming later Royal mathematical geometry presented gravity

calculations Launceston predicted

Uranus years attention

r o e t s Bo r e p background in f , Adams became o a u k Professor of Astronomy . S and g John Couch Adams was born in 1819 in

, Cornwall. Despite his family

(a)

(c)

Tables published from 1820 onwards about the o

(d)

of Uranus, showed that sometimes

Uranus did not appear where it was p

(e)

to be. It was believed that the g

of a

(f)

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(b)

larger, unknown space body or new p

(g)

was affecting the orbit of U

(h)

Uranus to find out the mass, p

(i)

took him about two and a half y

and orbit of the new planet. This . He p

(k)

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(j)

his findings about the exact position of the new planet to the Astronomer Royal.

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Unfortunately, his work was not given any a

(l)

until a French

o c . l . The two c were almost exactly the ch e r er o same. This was later verified bys at t s search by an astronomer r u e p in Berlin. astronomer, Leverrier, announced the position of the new planet one year (m)

(n)

(o)

Despite being given no credit for the d

(p)

was eventually offered the position of Astronomer R declined) and he continued to solve m

of Neptune, Adams (q)

(r)

(which he

astronomy problems

until his death in 1892. 2. Reread the completed text. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

The dwarf planets Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about dwarf planets. ✶✶ Writes creative text using information given.

Answers

✶✶ In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved a new classification scheme for the celestial bodies in our solar system. These are: planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune), dwarf planets (Pluto, Eris, Ceres etc.) and small solar system bodies (asteroids, comets etc.). It is expected that as many as 200 dwarf planets will be recognised when more is known about space. Two space probe missions— one to the Asteroid Belt and the other to the Kuiper Belt—are underway. More should be learnt about these areas when they reach their destinations in the next three to eight years (as at publication). ✶✶ Dwarf planets such as Pluto and Eris are also known as plutoids, as they are dwarf planets that orbit the sun at a distance greater than Neptune. Ceres is not a plutoid as it orbits in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. ✶✶ In July 2008, a fourth dwarf planet was officially recognised by the IAU. Makemake, also a plutoid, orbits the sun beyond Neptune. In September 2008, a fifth dwarf planet, Haumea, was officially announced.

Page 46 1. (a) nine (b) eight 2. They have been reclassified as astronomers have found out a lot more about space. 3. Test 1: orbit, planet, Test 2: gravity, spherical/ round, Test 3: strong, all, control 4. Because it couldn’t pass the test which states it must have a gravity strong enough to pull all large objects around its orbit into its control. 5. Possible answers: Pluto and Eris orbit in it; is at the edges of the solar system; contains many frozen, rocky spheres; probably contains many more dwarf planets 6. Pluto—diameter 2400 km, three moons, takes 248 years to orbit sun, discovered in 1930, one of its moons is almost same size Eris—furthest from the sun, one moon, diameter 2700 km, discovered in 2005, takes 557 years to orbit sun Ceres—diameter 975 km, found in asteroid belt, discovered in 1801, takes 4½ years to orbit sun, closest to the sun, no moons Page 47 Teacher check

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Background information

Additional activities

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✶✶ View images of Pluto, Eris, Ceres and other dwarf planets on the Internet and compare their sizes with Earth and our moon. ✶✶ Hold a class mini-debate: ‘Pluto and Eris should both be planets’.

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The dwarf planets – 1 Did you know that until 2006 Pluto was the ninth and smallest planet in our solar system? However, Pluto has ‘lost its job’ as a planet and is now a dwarf planet. Astronomers have found out a lot more about our solar system and that is why planets and smaller objects have been reclassified. How is a dwarf planet different from a planet? For an object or celestial body in space to be called a planet in our solar system it has to pass three ‘tests’:

Test 3. The object’s gravity must be strong enough to pull all large objects around its orbit into its control.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u Test 2. The object must be big enough for its gravity to S ‘squash’ it and keep its shape spherical. Test 1. It has to orbit the sun. (If it orbits another object, like a planet, it is called a moon.)

Pluto passes Tests 1 and 2, but not Test 3. Although it has three known moons, it orbits among many other large, icy, rocky spheres that its weak gravity cannot control.

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What are dwarf planets? The first three dwarf planets to have been officially named were Pluto, Eris and Ceres. Pluto and Eris are frozen, rocky spheres that orbit the sun on the edges of our solar system. In this area which is called the Kuiper Belt, there are many other similar objects. Astronomers expect many of these objects will be named dwarf planets when more is found out about them. Ceres is found in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.

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Pluto Pluto was first discovered in 1930 and, with a diameter of about 2400 km, is smaller than the Earth’s moon. Pluto has three known moons and one called Charon is almost the same size as Pluto itself! It takes Pluto about seven Earth days to rotate on its axis and 248 Earth years to revolve around the sun.

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o c . c e her r Eris o t s s r Eris was discovered in 2005 and is three times further away from the sun than Pluto. u e p It is larger than Pluto with a diameter thought to be about 2700 km. Eris takes 557 years to revolve around the sun! It has one moon called Dysnomia.

Ceres Ceres was first discovered a long time ago, in 1801. It is the largest object in the asteroid belt with a diameter of about 975 km. Because Ceres’s gravity is strong enough to squash it into a sphere, it was named a dwarf planet in 2006. A day on Ceres is nine hours and it takes about four and a half years to orbit the sun. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

The dwarf planets – 2 1. How many planets in our solar system:

(a) before 2006?

(b) after 2006?

2. Why have planets and smaller objects in space been reclassified?

r o e t s Botests. Fill in the missing r 3. For an object to be classified e as a planet, it must pass three pthree tests. ok words to briefly explainu these S the sun and not a . Test 1: It has to

Test 2: Its

Test 3: Its gravity must be

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must be strong enough to keep its shape enough to pull .

objects around its orbit into its

large

4. Why did Pluto ‘lose its job’ as a planet and become a dwarf planet?

•

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5. Write three interesting facts about the Kuiper Belt.

. te these three dwarf planets according to the code. o 6. Colour the facts about c . e Pluto (purple) c Eris (orange) Ceres (brown) her r o t s super takes 248 years to

•

diameter 975 km

three moons

furthest from the sun

found in asteroid belt

one moon

discovered in 1801

one of its moons is almost the same size

diameter 2700 km

discovered in 1930

diameter 2400 km

discovered in 2005

takes 4 1/2 years to orbit sun

closest to the sun

takes 557 years to orbit sun

no moons

Astronomy

orbit sun

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Planet chaos! The world of astronomy was turned upside-down in 2006 when planets and smaller celestial bodies in our solar system were reclassified into eight (instead of nine) planets, dwarf planets and small solar system bodies such as asteroids and comets. To find out more about the new category of dwarf planets you will have to turn the text below upside-down to read some words! 1930

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was discovered by American astronomer, Clyde Tombaugh, in . Since well the events of 2006, Pluto has had a mark over whether it should be considered a true . Was it large enough to be called a planet? Was it more many other objects it was with in the Kuiper Belt rather than like the planets? Pluto was after the Roman god of the underworld, a , dark place just like Pluto . One of its moons, Charon, is named after the who carried the souls of the to Pluto’s . before Pluto

question

planet

orbiting

boatman cold

underworld

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other

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dead inhabits named

planet, Eris, was nicknamed ‘Xena’ when first discovered by The astronomers in 2005. For a it was thought that it should be the planet as it is than Pluto. This lead to the International Union’s discussions and of what is classed as a . Eris is appropriately . Named after the Greek god of , Eris has certainly caused that in the of astronomy! Its , Dysnomia, is named after Eris’s . tenth three

dwarf

while

world named

reclassification larger

planet

chaos

daughter

, Guiseppe Piazzi, it was

astronomer

Ceres

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planet

smaller

along

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moon

was discovered in 1801 by Italian When considered a as that was where astronomers one should be! Then many other objects were found nearby. Ceres, with these objects, were named . Named after the Roman god of harvest and motherly love, Ceres is a dwarf planet as it is large for its gravity to keep it . thought

asteroids

enough

Choose one or more of the following activities to complete about the dwarf planets Pluto, Eris and Ceres. • Use some of the information text and change it into a newspaper report. You can include all three dwarf planets or focus on just one. • Imagine you are Pluto, Eris or Ceres. Write a narrative about how you feel about becoming a dwarf planet. • Write an acrostic poem for each dwarf planet. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

The moon Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about the moon. ✶✶ Draws an image using the moon’s features and writes a story about that image.

Answers

✶✶ The moon is the second brightest object in the sky after the sun. As it orbits around the Earth once each month, the angle between the Earth, the moon and the sun changes; we see this as the cycle of the moon’s phases. ✶✶ There is much debate over what Neil Armstrong actually said when he set foot on the moon. Most ‘ear-witnesses’ to the event thought he said ‘one small step for man’, as opposed to the grammatically correct ‘one small step for a man’. Armstrong himself has long argued that he did, in fact, say the ‘a’. ✶✶ Students read the information on page 49 about the moon. Some of them may wish to experiment with moving around a stationary object while facing it. ✶✶ Before completing the worksheet on page 51, students might enjoy listening to or reading some cultural stories or myths about images in the moon. Teachers should be able to find a wide range of myths and tales on the Internet, or perhaps in the school library. ✶✶ Students might also need to have a few trial runs at drawing their picture, so encourage them to use the pencil lightly before they decide upon a final image.

Page 50 1. A moon is a natural satellite revolving around a planet. 2. Different amounts of light from the sun shine on the moon, making it look like it has different shapes at different times of the month. 3. On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon. As he stepped onto the moon, he said, ‘That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind’. 4. • The first humans on the moon were male, not female. • No air means its not possible to ‘talk’ on the moon without radios. • There’s no air on the moon, so astronauts cannot take their helmets off. • There is no wind, clouds or running water on the moon. • The moon is made of rock, not cheese. • Fire needs air, and as there is no air on the moon, it would be impossible to light a match. Page 51 Teacher check

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Additional activities

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✶✶ Take the students outside and see if they can see the moon. Ensure they are aware of the dangers of looking directly at the sun. ✶✶ Although sometimes called Luna, our moon has no ’real’ name. Students could choose a name they would like to call the moon, and explain their choice. ✶✶ Students could investigate the phases of the moon and find out which phase the moon is in at present.

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The moon – 1 A moon is a natural satellite revolving around a planet. Some planets have many moons, while Earth has just one. Circling around our planet, once a month, the moon has been part of the Earth’s skies since prehistoric times. There are many myths about the moon. Different myths describe the creation of the moon, its relationship with the sun, or the changes in its shape each night.

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die while she remained immortal, Endymion was put to sleep forever by Zeus. Endymion is visited by Selene every night and ‘kissed’ by her light.

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r o e t s Bo r e pwas a moon goddess who ok In Greek mythology, Selene u fell in love with a handsome man named Endymion. S So that Selene didn’t have to watch him grow old and

The moon doesn’t really have its own light. It reflects light from the sun, a bit like a mirror. As the moon moves around the Earth every 29.5 days and, with the Earth, moves around the sun, different amounts of light shine on the Moon. This makes the moon look like it has different shapes at different times of the month.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons The moon • spins around thev Earth in such au way that only oneo side of the• moon ever f o r r e i e w p r p o s e s n l y faces Earth. If you walk around a person sitting on a chair, always facing the chair you

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will turn your body in a complete circle but the person in the chair will never see your back. It is like the far side of the moon which is never visible from Earth.

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Some people think that the moon is made of cheese. Actually, it is made of rock and soil. Scientists have studied rock collected from the moon and found out that it is about the same age as the Earth (4.57 billion years). Many scientists believe the moon formed when a large object hit the Earth, causing rock to break off the Earth and fly into orbit as the moon.

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o c .This explains why cheon the moon, so no air orr There is no water or atmosphere wind. e omoon over the six lunar footprints left there by the astronauts who have visited the t r s s r u e p landings so far, are still there. These include those left on 20 July 1969, by Neil

Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the moon. As he stepped onto the moon, he said, ‘That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind’. Astronauts on the moon need to wear a spacesuit with an oxygen supply that also controls temperature and pressure inside the suit. The low gravity makes moving different; you can jump very high on the moon compared to on Earth. On the moon, astronauts use radios to communicate because there is no air to transfer sound waves. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

The moon – 2 1. What is a moon? 2. Why does the moon look like it changes shape?

r o e t s Bo r 3. What happened on 20 July 1969? e p o u k S

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4. Read the story. Use your knowledge of the moon to find as many factual mistakes as you can. Write the mistakes on the lines below. ‘I can’t believe we actually made it’, said Nadia, as she took off her helmet. ‘The first humans on the moon!’

‘Astounding, isn’t it?’ said Julia. ‘What an amazing place.’ She took off her helmet, too, and let the breeze cool her hot head. Moon-cloud shadows flickered on the dusty moon surface as they sat down to recover from the long flight.

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‘Hmm, cheddar’, she thought to herself. ‘Tasty.’

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After a moment, Nadia left to find the running water they’d seen while landing, while Julia nibbled on some cheese she’d dug off a moon rock.

Standing up and dusting herself down, Julia noticed a cave ahead. Without thinking to leave a note for Nadia, she took out a box of matches, struck one alight and headed into the dark cave. She didn’t see the three glowing, green eyes that watched her from the top of the cave ...

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Astronomy

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What I see on the moon People throughout history have gazed at the moon and seen images in the dark and light patterns on its surface. Different cultures have stories and myths of a rabbit or hare, a boy and a girl carrying a bucket of water, a person carrying straw, a crab, a name, a man’s face or an old woman.

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Look at the moon picture and decide what image you can see. In pencil, sketch the outline of your image, using the moon’s features as a guide. Write a story to go with your image in the moon.

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Astronomy

The Milky Way Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about galaxies, in particular the Milky Way. ✶✶ Creates an original image of a galaxy and incorporates factual information into describing the fictional galaxy.

Answers

✶✶ Since Galileo’s discovery that the Milky Way is made up of countless stars, other astronomers have put together clues to deduce that Earth is located in a spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The sun is just one of the hundred billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. The stars in the arms are young (and blue), while those in the core and between the spiral arms are mostly older (and red). ✶✶ American Edwin Hubble discovered that there were other galaxies (apart from the Milky Way), observed that the universe is expanding at a constant rate, and developed a system to classify galaxies according to their content, distance, shape and brightness patterns. The space telescope was named the Hubble space telescope after him. ✶✶ For page 55, teachers will need to provide glue and glitter for the students to use. Students will also need access to the Internet or to books with pictures and information on different galaxies in the universe. ✶✶ Students create an image of a galaxy, then name, classify and describe its location in the universe. Encourage students to use the names of existing galaxies to locate their galaxy. Also encourage them to think carefully about naming their galaxies, perhaps choosing a name that fits in with a theme of the neighbouring galaxies.

Page 54 1. The ancient Greeks had a myth about the formation of the trail in the sky being caused by milk spilled by a god, that led to the white streak being called ‘the Milky Way’. 2. A galaxy is a cluster of stars, planets, gas and dust held together by gravity. 3. (a) false (b) false (c) true (d) true 4. universe – 1, continent – 5, solar system – 3, planet – 4, galaxy – 2 5. (a) 1610—The year Galileo first looked at the Milky Way with a telescope. (b) 300 000—the number of kilometres light travels in one second. (c) 100 000—the number of light years taken to cross the width of the Milky Way. 6. Teacher check. Answer must suggest how tiny the planet is in relation to the vastness of the universe. Page 55 Teacher check

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

✶✶ Discuss the possibility of life in other galaxies. ✶✶ Research the other discoveries and ideas of Edwin Hubble.

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The Milky Way – 1 In ancient times, many people observing the clear night sky thought they saw something that looked like a trail of spilled milk. The ancient Greeks even had a myth about this trail in the sky being milk spilled by a god, that probably led to it being called ‘the Milky Way’. When Galileo first looked at the Milky Way with a telescope in 1610, he discovered that the Milky Way was actually a large group (or ‘cluster’) of distant stars.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S Galaxies can be different sizes and shapes.

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This huge cluster of stars—which includes our solar system, all the stars we can see in the sky and millions more—is now known to be a galaxy. A galaxy is a cluster of stars, planets, gas and dust held together by gravity. The Milky Way is just one of a possible 100 billion galaxies in the universe. They are usually either spiral galaxies (like a pinwheel with a bulge in the centre) or elliptical galaxies (like a football). A spiral galaxy, like the Milky Way, has bright spiral ‘arms’ that coil out from the centre.

Elliptical galaxy

All objects in these galaxies move (revolve) around the galaxy’s centre. The Milky Way makes a complete revolution once every 250 million years or so. We might not feel like we are speeding through space, but our solar system is actually travelling through space with the other galaxies at a speed of about 250 kilometres per second.

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Galaxies can range in size from fewer than a billion stars to more than a trillion. Galaxies are so huge, astronomers measure them in light-years. Light travels very fast; about 300 000 kilometres a second. A light-year is the distance travelled by light in one year (about 9 460 000 million kilometres). Our sun is between 25 000 and 30 000 light-years from the centre of the Milky Way. The Milky Way is about 100 000 light-years wide. So Earth is somewhere near the middle of the Milky Way.

o c Astronomers believe. there are a number of che e r spiral armso which all start at the galaxy’s t r s supcentre. r The Orion Arm contains our own e solar system and sun. Our galaxy is part of

Sun Orion Arm

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a cluster of other galaxies called the Local Group. Scientists believe in about 3 billion years the Andromeda galaxy, the closest major galaxy in this group, will collide with the Milky Way and slowly (over 1 billion years) they will merge to form an elliptical galaxy.

Astronomy

The Milky Way – 2 1. How did the Milky Way get its name? 2. What is a galaxy? 3. Colour true or false.

(a) All galaxies have arms. True

(b) A spiral galaxy is shaped like a football. True

False

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False

(d) Earth is near the middle of the Milky Way True

False

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(a) 1610

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5. Write a fact for each number.

(b) 300 000

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6. In your own words, describe the size of our planet in relation to the universe. Astronomy

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A galaxy of your own In 1925, Edwin Hubble discovered that there were galaxies other than the Milky Way. He developed a way of classifying galaxies into four types: 1. Elliptical galaxies: oval or round shaped, without arms. 2. Spiral galaxies: have a flattened disk, with stars forming spiral ‘arms’, and a central concentration of stars (a bulge).

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3. Barred spiral galaxies: spiral galaxies with a bar-like structure through the central bulge, at the ends of which the spiral arms begin 4. Irregular galaxies: galaxies that do not fit into the above categories.

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1. Draw your own galaxy based on one of the shapes above. Trace over it with glue and sprinkle glitter over the top.

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Name of your galaxy

Reason for choosing this name:

Where it is located in the universe:

Type of galaxy (Hubble classification):

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Astronomy

Stars and constellations Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about the stars and constellations. ✶✶ Draws an image of the constellation Andromeda after reading the myth of Andromeda and Perseus.

Answers

✶✶ Stars are born in a galaxy. A galaxy contains clouds of gas and dust called nebulae. The hydrogen gas in the nebulae is pulled together by gravity and begins to spin. As more hydrogen gas is pulled into the cloud over many years, the clouds spin faster and faster and the gases start to heat up. When the heat energy reaches a certain temperature (15 000 000 º C), nuclear fusion occurs and the cloud begins to glow. It has now become a protostar. The protostar continues to grow until it has used up all the matter in the nebulae. Once it has ceased to grow, it is known as a main sequence star. It will now glow for millions or even billions of years. ✶✶ The surface temperature, brightness, colour, size and mass of a star are related to each other. The colour of a star depends on its surface temperature, and the brightness depends on the surface temperature and size. The mass of a star affects the rate at which it produces energy and this, it turn, affects surface temperature.

Page 58 1. Teacher check 2. (a) True (b) False (c) True (d) True (e) True (f) False 3. size, brightness, surface temperature, colour and mass 4. Colours from left to right are: blue, blue-white or light blue, white or uncoloured, yellow-white (light yellow), yellow, yellow-orange, red. 5.–6. Teacher check 7. Answers will include eight of the following: Leo, Pisces, Taurus, Andromeda, Orion, Perseus, Musca, Tucana, Microscopium, Telescopium, Triangulum Page 59 Teacher check

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

✶✶ Find star maps of the constellations mentioned on page 57 and draw pictures to show how they got their names. ✶✶ Observe the night sky with an adult and see what stars or constellations can be seen. If possible, use a telescope to see a clearer image.

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Stars and constellations – 1 What is a star? A star is a large, shining sphere of gas and plasma which gives off energy in the form of light. This energy is created by a nuclear fusion process inside the star. Stars are grouped in galaxies. The Milky Way galaxy, in which our sun is found, contains more than 100 billion stars. Stars have a life cycle. They are born, change during a series of phases and then die. This process may take millions or even billions of years.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u Are all stars the same? S Stars vary in size from supergiants (about 1000 times the

size of the sun) to neutron stars (about 10 kilometres in radius). Our sun is classified as a medium-sized dwarf star. Stars vary in brightness due to the amount of energy they emit and the distance from Earth to the star. They may also have different surface temperatures, colours and masses. The surface temperature of a star determines its colour. The ‘hottest’ stars are blue, then in order from hottest to coolest, the colours are blue-white, white, yellow-white, yellow (like the sun), yellow-orange and red.

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is constantly moving, the path of starlight is distorted. The stars appear to ‘twinkle’.

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What is a constellation? A constellation is a specific group of stars in a particular region of the sky. Astronomers have identified about 88 constellations (or regions with groups of stars in them). Some constellations can only be seen at certain times of the year, depending on the Earth’s position as it revolves around the sun.

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o c . che e r o How are constellations named? t r s s r u e p The people of ancient civilisations such as the Greeks and Romans observed groups of

stars in the sky and named them after animals or mythological characters; for example, Leo, the lion; Pisces, the fish; Taurus, the bull; and Andromeda, Orion and Perseus, who were Greek heroes. Explorers and map makers also named many constellations. Some of these are Musca, the fly; Tucana, the toucan; Microscopium, the microscope; Telescopium, the telescope and Triangulum, the triangle. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Stars and constellations – 2 1. Write your own definition of a star. 2. True or False?

r o e t s Bo r e p o u k (c) The Milky Way galaxy contains billions of stars. S (d) The sun is in the Milky Way galaxy.

(e) Stars have life cycles.

(f) The life cycle of a star takes hundreds of years.

(a) Energy given off by a star is created by nuclear fusion.

(b) Galaxies are small parts of stars.

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3. Name five ways in which stars can vary.

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4. Colour the stars in order from hottest to coolest (left to right)

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5. Explain why stars ‘twinkle’.

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7. Give the names of eight different constellations.

Astronomy

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Andromeda and Perseus

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1. On the star map below, use pencil to sketch Andromeda. Make sure that Andromeda is wearing Greek robes and sandals, her arms are outstretched and that she has chains on her hands.

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Andromeda was the daughter of King Cepheus and the vain, boastful Queen Cassiopeia. Queen Cassiopeia proudly boasted one day that she was more beautiful than the Nereids (sea nymphs). The Nereids were so annoyed that they asked Poseidon, the sea god, to punish Cassiopeia. Poseidon sent the sea monster, Cetus, to destroy the kingdom of Queen Cassiopeia and King Cephus. To save his kingdom, King Cephus had to sacrifice his daughter, Andromeda, to the sea monster. So poor, innocent Andromeda was chained to the rocks for Cetus to eat. Luckily, as Andromeda waited to die, Perseus came by, killed Cetus and rescued her. Of course, Perseus and Andromeda were married and lived happily ever after. The Greek goddess, Athene, placed Andromeda’s image in the stars, where she still appears, with her hands outstretched in chains.

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Astronomy

Other space bodies Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about asteroids, comets, meteoroids, meteors and meteorites. ✶✶ Follows poetry frameworks to write poems about space bodies.

Answers

✶✶ The largest object in the asteroid belt, Ceres, has been reclassified from an asteroid to a dwarf planet. (See pages 44–47 for further information.) Some asteroids have moons orbiting them. The first one discovered was Dactyl and its tiny moon, Ida. The asteroid belt is situated where there is a gap in the spacing between planets. Many astronomers believe a planet should be located here and that the asteroids are pieces of a planet that didn’t form or the remains of one that collided with a huge comet. It is believed the strong gravitational pull of Jupiter and the weak gravitational pull of Mars keep the asteroids apart and orbiting the sun in a doughnut-shaped area. ✶✶ A part of a comet melts each time it comes close to the sun, so eventually it will completely disappear. Some comets come close enough to Earth to see them. The most well-known comet is Halley’s Comet, which can be seen every 76 years (due 2061). ✶✶ Very bright meteors are called ‘fireballs’. A sonic boom can sometimes be heard following a fireball sighting. Meteor showers occur roughly at the same time each year. ✶✶ The Hubble Space Telescope which orbits above the Earth’s atmosphere has dozens of dents from meteoroids colliding with it.

Page 62 1. (a) C (b) C (c) A (d) C (e) A (f) A (g) C (h) A 2. Teacher check. Possible answers: (a) What are pieces of rocky, metallic material that are smaller than asteroids called? (b) What are meteoroids called when they enter Earth’s atmosphere? (c) What are meteors or any part of them that doesn’t burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere called? 3. (a) They are material that didn’t form into a planet. (b) They are pieces of a planet that had a collision with a huge comet. 4. They are believed to be made up from pieces of material left over when the sun and planets formed. 5. We can see meteors at night as they glow in the sky because of the heat produced from friction between them and atmospheric gases. Page 63 1.–2. Teacher check 3. hi, showed, Goodbye

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Background information

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✶✶ View images of asteroids, comets, meteoroids, meteors and meteorites on the Internet to compare and contrast. ✶✶ Research to find out information about meteorite strikes on Earth in the past. Examples include: Tunguska, Siberia in 1908 when a meteor exploded just above the Earth’s surface; the Meteor Crater (incorrectly named) in Arizona, USA; Nebraska, USA in 1948 when a meteorite was recovered buried about three metres in the ground; Wolfe Creek Crater, Western Australia.

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Other space bodies – 1 Besides the planets, dwarf planets and moons there are objects in our solar system. These include asteroids, comets, meteoroids, meteors and meteorites.

Comets

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Comets are chunks of rock, ice, gas and dirt (dirty snowballs!). Thousands have been discovered. They are believed to be made up from pieces of material left over when the sun and planets were formed. Comets have long elliptical orbits. When they orbit closer to the sun, the ice starts to melt and this pushes out from the comet and forms a ‘tail’, which can be thousands of kilometres long. Comets do not have their own light—what you see is reflected sunlight from the ice particles.

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Asteroids

Asteroids are solid, rocky or metallic objects that orbit the sun. They can also be called minor planets or planetoids. So far more than 90 000 have been properly identified. They can range in size from metres to hundreds of kilometres in diameter. Most of them are found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Some astronomers believe they are material that didn’t form into a planet. Others think they are pieces of a planet that had a collision with a huge comet.

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Meteors

Meteorites

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outside the Earth’s atmosphere at different speeds in different orbits around the sun. Some meteoroids orbit together while others orbit on their own. Meteoroids come from a variety of sources, including parts of comets and pieces of asteroids that have collided with others. When meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere they become meteors. The meteors are heated by friction between them and the atmospheric gases until they glow and become visible as bright streaks of light at night. People refer to them as ‘falling’ or ‘shooting stars’. Most burn up as they pass through the Earth’s atmosphere. Meteor showers are swarms of meteoroids which make showers of sparks as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

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Meteorites are meteors or any portion of meteors that do not burn up after they enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Most meteorites are too small to make any impact when they fall to ground—many are the size of grains of sand but a small number can be boulder-sized or larger. Meteorites give scientists a lot of information about how the rest of the solar system was formed.

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Astronomy

Other space bodies – 2 1. Write A for asteroid or C for comet next to the correct fact.

(a) chunk of rock, ice, gas and dirt....

(b) dirty snowball....

(d) has a ‘tail’.........

(e) minor planet or planetoid............

r o e t s Bo r e p ok (h) huge range in size..................... u S 2. Write a question for each answer. (f) most found in asteroid belt...........

(g) long elliptical orbit.....................

(a) meteoroids

(b) meteors

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3. What are two theories that explain how asteroids were formed?

o c . c e her r (b) o t s super 4. How do astronomers think comets were formed?

(a)

5. When and why can we see meteors? Astronomy

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Space body poetry Use the facts you have discovered about asteroids, comets, meteoroids, meteors and meteorites to help you write different types of poems. A haiku is a Japanese poem about nature that uses a set number of syllables for each line. A haiku has a title followed by three lines and does not rhyme.

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1. Follow the instructions to write a haiku about one of the space bodies.

Line 1:

Line 2:

Line 3:

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Title:

(five syllables)

(seven syllables)

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(five syllables)

A cinquain is a poem that describes something and uses a set number of words or syllables for the title and each line. It has five lines and does not rhyme.

2. Follow the rules to write a cinquain about one of the space bodies.

Line 1:

(one word or two syllables for the title)

(two words or four syllables to describe the topic)

Line 3: (two words or four syllables to describe the topic)

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Line 4:

(three words or six syllables to describe the topic)

Line 5:

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(one word or two syllables with a similar meaning to the title)

3. Use rhyming words to complete this limerick about a meteoroid. A meteoroid high up in the sky

Came down to Earth to say

It got so hot it glowed And streaks of light And that was the end! R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

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Astronomy

Telescopes Indicators ✶✶ Reads and completes answers about telescopes. ✶✶ Completes research about observatories around the world.

Answers

✶✶ Other forms of optical telescope include instruments such as spotting scopes, monoculars, binoculars, camera lenses and spyglasses. ✶✶ Although there are many other forms of telescope apart from reflector and refractor telescopes, these have been chosen as the focus for the student page. Other telescopes include compound/catadioptric telescopes which are made from a combination of mirrors and lenses, radio, infrared, UV, X-ray and gamma ray telescopes. X-ray and gamma ray telescopes are commonly used in satellites which orbit the Earth, or in high-level balloons. ✶✶ Radio telescopes do not have a long tube with an obvious eyepiece. They have a concave reflecting device (dish) at one end and a point where all the radio waves, instead of light rays, are concentrated to form an image. They are mostly used to look at objects which don’t emit enough light to be observed in the usual manner. Radio telescopes also pick up radio waves which are emitted by one source, hit an object and bounce back to the receiver. Radio telescopes work in the same way as radar. Satellite dishes are a modified version of radio telescopes. Signals picked up by radio telescopes are usually processed by computers and used to generate detailed images which can describe the surface and composition of objects. ✶✶ Large telescopes are found all over the world and in space. The most well-known space telescope was named after the astronomer, Edwin Hubble. This space telescope was launched on the Space Shuttle in 1990. It orbits the Earth and aims to give astronomers detailed information about the universe. It carries cameras to take pictures of objects billions of light years away, runs on solar power and is controlled from Earth using radio signals. Astronauts from the Space Shuttle regularly visit the Hubble Space Telescope to make repairs or check to see if it is working properly. ✶✶ Explain any unfamiliar vocabulary to the students so they can follow the information text easily. ✶✶ Students may also wish to include problems associated with observatory sites in their research as well.

Page 66 1. A telescope is an instrument for making distant objects appear nearer and larger. 2. Hans Lippershey, Galileo Galilei 3. (a) optical (b) Teacher check. Written answers should include that reflector telescopes use curved mirrors to reflect light and refractor telescopes use a lens to bend light. (c) Answers should include: cloudy weather, pollution, atmospheric blurring of images, inability of many kinds of light to pass through the atmosphere. 4. (a) Cameras take digital pictures which can measure faint objects and give information about brightness and colour. (b) Spectrographs detect and split light into the different colours of the spectrum. The colours give information about the temperature and atomic make-up of objects. 5. Teacher check Page 67 Teacher check

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

✶✶ Using library or Internet resources, select a variety of pictures of different types of telescope. Choose those with different shapes, such as radio, small home-use telescopes or large-scale professional telescopes. If desired, select pictures which are drawn in different styles—realistic, cartoon, stylised or geometric. Select one medium, such as crayon, chalk, pen, lead pencil or oil pastel, to copy and reproduce the telescope design repeatedly on a sheet of art paper. Use different sizes for effect. Display on a large, starry background. ✶✶ Investigate how binoculars or monoculars work then complete a diagram to accompany an oral explanation.

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Telescopes – 1 We know that astronomers use telescopes to try to understand the things that can be found in space. But what do we really know about what telescopes are and what they do? A telescope is an instrument or device for making distant objects appear nearer and larger. Telescopes allow astronomers to see fainter objects in space more clearly, and to see more details than are visible with the unaided eye. They detect visible light and different forms of radiation that move through space in waves.

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distant objects in the sky.

Optical telescopes are the most common form of telescope. They collect large amounts of light and use mirrors (for reflecting) or lenses (for refracting) to focus (bring together at one point) the light which enters them.

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r o e t s Bonamed Hans Lippershey in r e The first telescope was invented by a German lens maker p olook or see; teleskopos— 1608. However, the u name ‘telescope’ (tele—far; skopein—to k Sto describe the instrument first used by Galileo Galilei to view far-seeing) was used

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Refracting telescopes use a lens to gather and focus the light of the object being observed. (See diagram.)

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eyepiece to magnify it. (See diagram.)

The Earth’s atmosphere makes viewing objects in space difficult. Cloudy weather, pollution, atmospheric ‘blurring’ of images and the inability of many kinds of light to pass through the atmosphere are just some of the problems. For these reasons, very large telescopes are usually located on high mountains, in country areas or on islands where the sea keeps the atmosphere stable. A common way to overcome the atmospheric problems is to put telescopes into satellites and launch them into space.

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The first telescopes were used by astronomers to observe space, but today most large telescopes generally have special instruments on them. These are used to detect many different kinds of light, such as radio waves or X-rays, and to take different types of measurements. Special cameras on telescopes take pictures which can measure faint objects in space and give information about their brightness or colour. Spectrographs detect and split light into the colours of the spectrum. These colours helps astronomers to find out about the temperature and atomic make-up of an object such as a star. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Telescopes – 2 1. What is a telescope? 2. Name two people who are considered important in the development of the telescope.

r o e t (b) s Bo r e ok 3. Complete the answers. p u Sform of telescope is the (a) The most common (a)

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telescope.

(b) Explain the difference between a reflector telescope and a refractor telescope. Use diagrams if you wish.

•

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scale telescopes.

4. Name two different kinds of instruments which can be found on large-scale telescopes and the purpose of each.

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5. In your opinion, how important are telescopes to the future of humankind? Astronomy

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Observatory research Select two observatories from the following list to research: • Arecibo Observatory

• South African Astronomical Observatory

• Lovell Telescope

• Canary Island Observatory

• XMM-Newton telescope

• Hubble Space Telescope

• Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii

r o e t Ensure that you choose observatories which s B r e o use different types ofo telescopes (optical, radio, p catadioptric, X-ray, gamma ray etc.). Make notes u k S in the table below.

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• Mount Graham International Observatory

Observatory 1

Observatory 2

Type of telescope:

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Location and reason for choice:

Dimensions of the telescope:

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Dimensions of the telescope:

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Purpose of the observatory:

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Purpose of the observatory:

Astronomy

Technology for astronomers Indicators ✶✶ Reads and comprehends information about different tools or instruments used for space observation. ✶✶ Follows steps to create a topographic map to demonstrate radar imaging.

Answers

✶✶ Astronomy is a science which uses both mathematics and science to study the universe. New technologies need to be developed constantly to advance humankind’s knowledge of the universe. Many of the kinds of technologies developed for space study have been incorporated into everyday life. Also, many of the activities on Earth rely on spacerelated technologies. Weather station satellites, GPS systems, satellite televisions and some long distance communication systems rely on space infrastructures to work. Advances in computer technology could be directly attributed to the need for computer technology in space exploration. ✶✶ It is not expected that the students will completely understand how the different instruments or machines on page 69 operate. It is sufficient for them to know that there are many different kinds of machines other than telescopes used by astronomers and other scientists. ✶✶ All the machines mentioned on page 69 have been built to operate in alien environments. They can withstand extremes of temperature, radiation, vacuums in space and the vibrations caused by blast off and the landings of spacecraft. ✶✶ In points 7 and 8 on page 71, make sure students maintain the original alignment of each slice of hill. This will ensure the topographical map is an accurate representation of the hill.

Page 70 1. Answers will vary but should include: cameras, radars, spectrometers, X-ray spectrometers, drillers, scrapers, corers, rock crushers NOTE: Larger machines such as crewed and uncrewed spacecraft and probes have not been included in these answers. 2. (a) a spectrometer (b) an X-ray spectrometer (c) cameras 3. rock crusher 4. Teacher check. Possible answers: (a) A driller breaks up solid materials to be examined. (b) A scraper collects samples from the surface of a material. (c) A corer collects samples from deep in the ground. Page 71 Teacher check

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Background information

Astronomy Astronomy

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✶✶ Design an instrument with a specific purpose for a space mission—determining if there is water on a planet, determining what form the water takes (liquid, solid or gas), determining the temperature of the surface of a planet, determining what material covers the surface, determining the brightness or colour of a planet, a space orbiter, a lander for collecting specimens etc. ✶✶ Research some specific crewed and uncrewed spacecraft which have provided data for astronomers. For example, Mariner 2, Voyager I and II, Pioneer 11, Viking probes, the Mercury Program, the Gemini Program, Skylab etc.

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Technology for astronomers – 1 Over many years, astronomers have tried to build up a complete picture of the universe. To do this, they use many different tools, other than telescopes, to find out about space. • Special cameras are used to sense light, such as infrared and ultraviolet light, that our eyes cannot see. The cameras can tell how bright, what colour, what shape or what the surface of a space body or planet is like. Some cameras can measure the temperature of the surface by the amount of infrared light given off as heat.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S • Radars on spacecraft can send out radio waves to clouds

or the surface of a planet or space body. They then listen to the echoes as the waves bounce back. Some waves can also go inside the surface of the planet to find out about it. The radars can measure distances from one part of the surface to another or from the surface to the clouds around the planet. This data can be used to make 3-D maps of the surface of a planet or space body as the spacecraft flies by.

• Light travels in waves. Light is made up of many different wavelengths of colour. A spectrometer is able to find out which light waves (colours) are absorbed or pass through a substance. This gives valuable information about the substance.

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• An X-ray spectrometer sends X-rays through an object (such as a rock). The energy that bounces back tells what the substance is made from. • Drillers, scrapers and corers collect samples for later examination and rock crushers can find out how hard a material is or crush it ready to be analysed by a spectrometer.

o c . c e r As well ash these special tools, astronomers also gather e o t r s s r up e technology. data using much larger

• Uncrewed spacecraft and probes have been sent to other planets and throughout the solar system to take pictures and send back data. • Crewed spacecraft have landed on the moon, Skylab orbited the Earth as a research ship, the Space Shuttle conducted experiments in space and, in the future, Orion will visit the moon and Mars. The International Space Station is currently under construction to provide a facility for many countries to use for space research. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Technology for astronomers – 2 1. Name six different instruments astronomers use to find out about space. 2. Write the name of an instrument next to each explanation.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S (b) an instrument which sends X-rays through an object to find out what it is made

(a) an instrument used to find out which light waves are absorbed or pass through a substance

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from

(c) an instrument that can use infrared or ultraviolet light to find out about the brightness, colour, shape, temperature or surface of a planet

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(b) A scraper ...

Astronomy

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Radar imaging a hill An imaging radar can be flown over a planet in a spacecraft to create a (topographic) map of the surface. The signal bounces off the surface and is measured to find out how strong it is and how long it takes to bounce back. This will tell if the surface is high or low, wet or dry, rough or smooth, has hills or is flat and what is covering the surface. Follow the steps to make your own topographic map of a hilly surface. Tick ( ) each step as you complete it.

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1. Collect your materials.............................................

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• a lump of playdough or clay • a ruler • a length of dental floss or fishing line • a sheet white paper • a square of cardboard or tile to work the clay on • one long pencil • 2 toothpicks

2. Place clay on board/tile and create a hill about 10 cm high.......................................................... 3. Use the pencil to poke 2 holes in the centre of the hill through the top of the hill to the board..................

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10.0

5. Holding the dental floss very tightly between the hands and as horizontally as possible, cut through the hill at the top marking........................................

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6. Place the ‘sliced off’ section of the hill in the centre of the white paper and carefully trace around it. Then push the pencil through the 2 holes in the top and mark 2 dots on the paper..................................

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4. Use the ruler to measure and mark 2.5-cm dents down the hill from top to bottom. .............................

. te o c 7. Slice off the second section of the hill. Place it over . c e the first tracing and line up the holes with the first h r e o t r dots by using the toothpicks poked through ther s su pe pencil holes. Trace around it....................................

8. Repeat until all ‘slices’ have been traced around on the white paper................................................. 9. Restack the clay slices in the correct order to recreate your hill.................................................... 10. Display the topographic map with the clay hill............ R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Astronomers Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about the work of astronomers. ✶✶ Creates a geostationary satellite using recyclable materials.

Answers

✶✶ Astronomy (astrophysics) is the study of natural phenomena outside the Earth’s atmosphere and the creation and expansion of the universe. ✶✶ Astronomy has been studied since ancient civilisations used observations of the night sky to plan their cultural and agricultural seasons. ✶✶ The invention of the telescope in the 17th century was the catalyst for the increased rate of learning about space. Since that time, many hypotheses about the universe have been made and theories proved and disproved. ✶✶ Astronomy has two main parts: –– observational astronomy collects and analyses data using the principles and laws of physics.

Page 74 1. science and mathematics 2. navigation (sea and air), weather forecasting, satellite communications 3. (a) university as a lecturer, planetarium as a guide, aerospace industry, observatory (b) Teacher check 4. (a) to observe (b) to collect 5. Vehicles that fly in the Earth’s atmosphere and travel into space are designed, manufactured and maintained. 6. Teacher check. Possible suggestions: sun, planets (individual names), moons, stars, comets, asteroids, meteors, constellations, quasars, pulsars, black holes, galaxies, supernovas, nebulae Page 75 Teacher check

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Background information

–– theoretical astronomy uses mathematical principles and theories to describe phenomena. ✶✶ Theoretical astronomy strives to explain observations while observational astronomy can prove or disprove mathematical theories.

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Astronomy Astronomy

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✶✶ Choose a celestial body to describe. Collect pictures to illustrate your work. Present to the class. ✶✶ Create a miniplanetarium. Dress like a scientist and explain to younger students how the planets spin on their own axes while orbiting the sun.

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Astronomers – 1 Astronomers use the laws of science and mathematics to learn about the universe. They design equipment needed to observe and collect information about the sun, moon, planets, stars and galaxies. Information provided by astronomers has been used in many ways here on Earth. Sea and air navigation, accurate weather forecasting, space flight and satellite communications are all possible because of work done by astronomers.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S Many astronomers spend their working lives explaining astronomy to others. This may be as a lecturer in a university, teaching students who want to become astronomers or as a guide in a planetarium which people of all ages visit because they are interested in space and everything in it. Some astronomers work in the aerospace industry, which designs, manufactures and looks after vehicles that fly in the Earth’s atmosphere and travel into space.

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In observatories, as information is collected from satellites, astronomers analyse the data and photographs that are sent back to Earth. The more information they receive about the universe, the more questions they ask about it. A theory is an idea someone has about how something works. Astronomers use very complicated mathematical formulas to develop theories which may provide answers to their questions.

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Because the universe is so vast, it would not be possible for an astronomer to become an expert in everything. Astronomers usually specialise in one area such as the sun, particular planets or any of the other fascinating phenomena recently discovered. They may prefer to use their knowledge to develop more specialised instruments for collecting data. More has been discovered in the past halfcentury about the mysterious world beyond Earth’s atmosphere than had been known since the days of the first humans, many thousands of years ago. Galileo would surely enjoy working as an astronomer today, studying quasars, pulsars, black holes and other mysteries of deep space! R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Astronomers – 2 1. If you wanted to be an astronomer, which subjects would you have to do well in at school? 2. Name three ways in which astronomy has helped life on Earth.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok 3. If you were an astronomer: u S (a) name four possible places where you could work.

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(b) If you were analysing data and writing theories about space, which area would you be most interested in? Explain why.

4. Find words from the text that mean:

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(a) to watch

5. What happens in the aerospace industry?

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(b) to gather

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6. If you were an astronomer, you would know about different bodies in space. Name as many celestial bodies as you can think of.

Astronomy

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Make a satellite Geostationary satellites appear to remain in the same position above the Earth but they are actually rotating at the same speed as Earth spins on its axis. These satellites are used to beam television signals to satellite dishes on Earth and to receive and send signals between mobile phones. Make a collection of recyclable household material to make a geostationary satellite and record what material you will use for each part of the satellite.

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r o e t s Bused r e Part of satellite Recyclable materialo p o u k Command antenna S Communication antenna Solar cells Body

Main rocket motor

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COMMAND ANTENNAS

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BATTERIES RADIO RECEIVERS & TRANSMITTERS ROCKET FUEL TANK

MAIN ROCKET MOTOR CAMERA

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ROCKET THRUSTERS Astronomy

Famous astronomers Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about famous astronomers. ✶✶ Writes a biography of a chosen astronomer.

Background information

Answers

✶✶ Ancient astronomers studied the night sky using the unaided eye. –– They used their knowledge of the stars to help with navigation at sea and on land.

Page 78 1. (a) True (c) False 2. crossword

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–– The study of the phases of the moon gave rise to concept of the calendar.

~~summer and winter solstices (longest and shortest days),

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–– Megalithic stones were erected, believed to have been aligned precisely to indicate:

–– Obelisks were built as sundials, casting their shadows with the apparent changing of the sun’s position in the sky, giving us the first clocks.

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(b) False (d) True

~~solar and lunar eclipses.

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✶✶ With the invention of the telescope in the middle of the last millennium, astronomy took a huge leap forward and astronomers were able to look deeper into space to study the extent and content of the solar system. ✶✶ With the technology to send people and machines into space, the understanding of the universe and our place within it has increased beyond the scope imagined by ancient or early modern astronomers. ✶✶ In Question 2 on page 78, only the last name of each astronomer is required for the puzzle except in clue 3 Down. Galileo Galilei is generally referred to by his first name.

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Page 79 Teacher check

Additional activities

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~~equinoxes, when the hours of daytime and night-time are equal,

✶✶ Find out how Edward Charles Pickering helped women become more involved in astronomy. ✶✶ Create an astronomy timeline of key events in our discoveries of the universe. Include the names of famous astronomers associated with these events.

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Famous astronomers – 1 If you asked some people to name a famous astronomer, they may think of: Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) who suggested that the sun and not Earth is the centre of the solar system. He stated that the planets spin on their axes as they orbit the sun.

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Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) who was the first to successfully create and use a telescope. Among his discoveries were the existence of craters on the moon and Jupiter’s four largest moons.

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Nicolaus Copernicus

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Edmond Halley (1656–1742) who used mathematics to explain how comets orbit the sun. He predicted when they would be visible again in the night sky.

They may think of more recent astronomers:

Carl Sagan (1934–1996) who played an important role in searching for extraterrestrial life. He helped with space missions to Mars and the outer planets.

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Hypatia of Egypt (c. 400 BCE) located, tracked and devised charts of the movement of stars. She invented a number of scientific instruments, including the astrolabe. For over a thousand years, sailors used her charts and the astrolabe for navigation.

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It is unlikely that many people would name any famous female astronomers, but there are lots of them!

Hypatia . te o Caroline Herschel (1750–1848) and Mary Somerville c . (1780–1872) were the c first women to gain membership of the e hr r Royal Astronomical Society. e o t s super Maria Mitchell (1818–1889) explained sunspots and eclipses and was the first to describe the surfaces of Jupiter and Saturn.

Maria Mitchell

The research of Nancy Roman (1925–) and Margaret Burbidge (1919–) led to the design of the Hubble space telescope. Carolyn Shoemaker (1929–) has identified many comets and asteroids on their destructive paths to planets within the solar system. Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter in 1994. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Carolyn Shoemaker Astronomy

Famous astronomers – 2 1. Answer True or False to each question.

(a) Jupiter had been discovered by the mid-17th century.

(b) We have known for over a millennium that the sun is the centre of the solar system.

(d) Women have played an important role in astronomy for a very long time.

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2. Answer the clues to complete the puzzle.

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1. She is jointly responsible for the design 11. of the Hubble space telescope. 4. The charts of which astronomer were used by sailors for over a millennium? 5. He helped with space missions to Mars. 6. One of the first two women to be given membership to the Royal Astronomical Society 8. Famous for his research of black holes 9. She has identified the destructive paths of many comets and asteroids. 10. He destroyed the myth that Earth is the centre of the solar system. 11. She is jointly responsible for the design of the Hubble space telescope.

Astronomy

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Down 2. She was the first to describe the surfaces of Jupiter and Saturn. 3. He is accepted as being the first to use a telescope. 7. One of the first two women to be given membership to the Royal Astronomical Society 8. He predicted the appearance of comets R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomer biography 1. Research to write a report on a famous astronomer. Use the headings in the table to plan your report. Name Born/died Country of birth Family

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Main areas of research

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Picture

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2. Present your report to the class. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

The calendar Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about the calendar. ✶✶ Matches weekday names with their origins ✶✶ Considers the pros and cons of an eight-day week, suggesting a name for the extra day with an astronomical origin.

Background information

Answers

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Page 82 1. We have calendars to help us to remember when things happen, to be organised today and plan for the future. 2. A day is the time it takes Earth to spin once on its axis. 3. A lunar month is the time it takes the moon to move around the Earth, which is about 29.5 days. 4. A solar year is the time it takes Earth to make one complete orbit of the sun. 5. M

✶✶ One of the major uses of astronomy in ancient (and modern) societies is the development of the calendar. The calendar is a system of organising time by giving names to periods of time, usually days, weeks, months and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually synchronised with the cycles of some astronomical phenomenon, such as the cycle of the moon and the seasons. ✶✶ For page 81, teachers might like to have an old calendar to display and discuss with the students. ✶✶ For page 83, students read the descriptions and write below each one the weekday name it corresponds to. Discuss some of the pros and cans of an eight-day week and allow students to share some of their ideas. Encourage them to think of an astronomical link when creating a name for the extra day of the week.

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Page 83 1. Saturday, Monday, Friday, Thursday, Tuesday, Sunday, Wednesday 2. Teacher check

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✶✶ Students could investigate the Germanic gods behind the Old English weekday names. How do they compare to their Roman counterparts? ✶✶ Hold a class debate discussing the suggestion of an eight-day week.

Astronomy Astronomy

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The calendar – 1 Calendars help us to remember when things happen (like birthdays!), be organised today and plan for the future.

Aztec calendar

Calendars are an important part of our lives, and astronomy is an important part of every calendar. Long before we had clocks and bright calendars on our walls, objects in the sky were being used to measure and organise time.

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seeds and harvesting crops.

Days The smallest unit of time on the calendar is the day. This is the time it takes the Earth to rotate once on its axis One day is made up of daytime, when that part of the Earth is facing and receiving light from the sun, and night-time, when that part of the Earth is not facing the sun and receives no light. The day is divided into 24 hours.

Weeks Seven-day weeks are thought to be based on the times between the different phases of the moon

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r o e t s Bo r e p oplanets and stars Ancient people used the apparent movement of the sun, moon,k u through the sky to work out days, months and years. For these farming communities, S knowledge and understanding of the night sky was important for the timing of planting Months For people all over the world, the regular cycles of the moon visible in the night sky were the basis of many of the very early calendars.

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it takes the moon to travel once around the Earth. One lunar month is equal to 29.5 days.

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Years A solar year is the time it takes Earth to make one complete orbit of the sun. One solar year is about 365 days and six hours.

o c . c e hsixehours r Every four years, the extra are added together to give an extra day. When o t r s s r up this happens, the year is called a leap year.e The date of this extra day is always 29 February. People who are born on this date have to choose 28 February or 1 March as days to celebrate their birthday in years that are not leap years. It has taken centuries to create the calendar we use today where days, months and years fit neatly together. Our calendar uses parts of many 'old' calendars, including the Egyptian (which had twelve months each of thirty days, plus an extra five days at the end of the year for celebrating birthdays of the gods) and Roman calendars. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

The calendar – 2 1. Why do we have calendars? 2. What is a day?

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3. What is a lunar month?

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4. What is a solar year?

5. Answer the clues to complete the crossword.

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6. 29.5 days is a

7. 365 days and six hours is a year.

8. The Earth takes 24 hours to rotate once on its

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o c . Down che e r o t r 1. In one lunar , the moon s s r u e p makes one orbit of the Earth.

month.

2. This is the smallest unit of time on a calendar.

3. One day is added to the end of February in a

4. A

7. Earth takes 365 days and Astronomy

year.

is used to organise time. hours to orbit the sun. 82

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The Latin ‘dies The Latin ‘dies The Latin ‘dies Veneris’ (day of Jovis’ (day of Martis’ (day of Venus), in Old Jove), in Old Mars), in Old English ‘Frize English Thunres English Tiwes daeg’ (Freya’s daeg (day of daeg (day of the Day, the goddess Thunor or Thor, god Tiw, who who was similar who was similar was similar to the to the Roman to the Roman god Roman god Mars) Venus) Jove)

Latin dies solis (day of the sun) in Old English Sunnan daeg

The Latin ‘Mercurii dies’ (day of Mercury), in Old English Wodnes daeg (day of Woden, who was similar to the Roman god Mercury)

2. Some people think there should be a new calendar, with an eight-day week, so there can be three weekend days every week.

m (a) What name would you give the extra. day and why? u (b) What are some positive and negative things about this idea?

The Latin ‘lunae dies’ (day of the moon), in Old English ‘Monan daeg’

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The Latin ‘Saturni Dies’ (day of Saturn), in Old English ‘Saetern daeg’

1. Read the descriptions below. Below each, write which day of the week the description is for.

The days and months have had different names throughout the ages. When the Romans (who spoke Latin) invaded England, they took their calendar and its names (mostly from gods or astronomical objects) with them. These names were adapted to fit the English language and culture.

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Naming the days

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Astronomy

Astronomy in culture Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about astronomy in culture. ✶✶ Creates a mask, based on a myth, symbolising an astronomical feature

Answers

✶✶ Humans in the past looked to the ‘heavens’ above to find relationships between the events in the sky and those they saw on Earth, and to explain events in life such as the growth of crops and animals, the changes in days and seasons, birth and death. As such, the stars, moon, sun and planets feature heavily in myths, some religions and all aspects of cultures around the world, from song to dance and literature. ✶✶ For page 87, teachers will need to provide students with a variety of materials, such as glitter, stars, glue, streamers, craft-sticks, pipecleaners, coloured paper and cardboard, material off-cuts, and a cardboard template of a face mask with eyeholes for the students to use. ✶✶ Teachers might wish students to make a mask for a particular culture or religion. In this instance, read or allow students to research these cultures or religions so they can incorporate their knowledge into their artwork. ✶✶ The masks can be worn or used as a class display.

Page 86 1. The moon was often connected to birth, crops, spring and death. 2. Ra was the Egyptian sun god and creator of everything, who was worshipped in Heliopolis, the great City of the Sun in Ancient Egypt. 3. The sun played an important role in Inca culture; they believed their ruler was a relative of the sun, and The Temple of the Sun was the centre of life. The feast of the sun was the biggest, most important and magnificent festivity in Inca times. 4. F E S T I V A L

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5. Teacher check, answers will vary. 6. Some people believe the position of the stars, moon and planets determines when to plant crops, and that they can affect our personalities, decisions and life events. Page 87 Teacher check

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✶✶ Students could research Stonehenge and find out how it is connected to rites involving the sun and the moon. ✶✶ Students could write narratives about werewolves and other creatures that have a connection to the moon, sun or stars.

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Astronomy in culture – 1 For as long as there has been life on Earth, there has been the sun, moon, planets and stars in the sky. They play such an important role in the lives of people, plants and animals that they have been an essential part of both ancient and modern cultures. Many cultures in the world and across time have myths about the moon, sun and stars; about how they came to be in the sky, why the moon has phases and features on its face, why the sun shines more brightly than the moon, and how the planets came to be. In fact, many ancient cultures were based on the sun, stars and planets.

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the great City of the Sun in Ancient Egypt, where Ra, the sun god and creator of everything, was worshipped.

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r o e t s Bo r e The sun p o u The religions and myths of the Ancient Egyptians centre on the k Sstars, and the Nile River. Heliopolis was earth, sky, moon, sun,

The ancient cultures in South America honoured the sun, moon and Venus. The Incas of Peru believed their ruler was a relative of the sun, and The Temple of the Sun was the centre of life. The feast of the sun was the biggest, most important and magnificent festivity in Inca times. In Mexico, the sun, moon and Venus were honoured as gods. People shared food and drink with them and offered them sacrifices.

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The moon The moon was often an important god or goddess in old religions, connected to birth, crops, spring and death. The Chinese still have a Moon Festival on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. The festival is based on the legend of Chang Er, who flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. Traditional festivals based on such myths are an important part of Chinese culture.

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Stars and planets The position of the stars, moon and planets has been used to decide when to plant crops, how to get from place to place and even to tell the time of night. Today, many people still believe the position of the stars, moon, planets and sun can affect our personalities, decisions and life events. Astronomy is not just measuring the stars; it’s an important part of arts, music, dance, festivals, religion and many other aspects of world cultures. R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Astronomy in culture – 2 1. What was the moon often connected to in old religions? 2. Who was the Egyptian god of the sun, and where was he worshipped?

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3. What role did the sun play in Inca culture?

4. Find these words in the word search.

religion music cultures goddess crops Inca art events festival

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G O

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6. What are some beliefs about the positions of the sun, moon stars and planets in the sky? Astronomy

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Astronomy, myths and art Mythology has influenced the arts around the world from the earliest days of human culture. The sun, an important feature in many cultures, is often symbolised in art by a wheel, disc, eye or circle, sometimes with radiating rays. To the Aztecs, the rising sun was symbolised by an eagle. Complete this plan to design an artistic mask based on a myth involving the sun, moon, stars or planets. Make the mask after you finish the plan.

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r o e t s Bo r e p okmoon, stars and 1. Reflect on some u of the myths you have read about the sun, Sa character or thing you like. planets. Choose

2. Write which colours will represent the sun, moon, planet or star aspect of the character in the myth on your mask.

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4. Draw your mask design.

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Astronomy

Light pollution Indicators ✶✶ Reads information and answers questions about light pollution. ✶✶ Evaluates lights based on how much light pollution they create.

Answers

✶✶ Light pollution is excess or obtrusive light created by humans. It is also known as photo-pollution or luminous pollution, and further subclassified into glare, light-trespass and skyglow. Light pollution is a side effect of industrial civilisation, caused by light spilling outside the areas it is meant to illuminate. Its sources include building exterior and interior lighting, advertising, commercial properties, offices, factories, streetlights and illuminated sporting venues. Like other forms of pollution, light pollution damages the environment and has possible negative human health side-effects. It is also linked to energy waste and disruption of ecosystems ✶✶ This has had an impact on astronomy, which relies on observations of extremely faint objects that can be made only with large telescopes at sites free of air pollution and urban sky glow. Most telescopes have to be located far from urban areas. ✶✶ For page 91, students are required to walk around the school grounds and look closely at the lights. The lights do not need to be on, as the students should be able to evaluate the lights based on the shape of the light and the direction it is pointing. Teachers may wish to provide more pictures of different type of lights to discuss with the students before they complete the worksheet.

Page 90 1. Light pollution is artificial light that goes up into the night sky, where it’s wasted. It pollutes the night sky environment by changing the normal amounts of light. 2. Light pollution prevents us from seeing details such as stars in the night sky, can possibly cause medical problems in humans, affects nocturnal wildlife, uses natural resources, costs a lot of money and contributes to air pollution. 3. Answers will vary but should mention that Picture A has homes with bright lights and street lights that shine upwards, creating light pollution and reducing the number of stars that can be seen in the sky. In picture B, the lights shine downwards and homes have their lights off, so there is less light pollution and more stars can be seen in the sky. 4. Answers will vary but students should mention that some of their outdoor lights could be replaced with lights that are shielded and directed downwards, at the target, with energy efficient bulbs and that they can turn off lights that don’t need to be on Page 91. 1. A – 4, B – 2, C – 3, D – 1 2. Teacher check

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✶✶ Students can find out more about light pollution on the International dark-sky association’s website, <http://www.darksky.org/mc/page.do>

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Light pollution – 1 Radio DJ 1:

We’re here today with astronomer, Hailey Rafell, to talk about light pollution ...

Radio DJ 2:

Hey, hang on, how can light be pollution? Pollution is waste that makes an environment unclean or contaminated in some way. I’ve never seen light clogging up streams and harming animals!

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Hailey Rafell: I’ll explain. First, tell me some of the lights we use at night.

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OK, well, at night we turn on lights inside and outside our homes, our televisions, car lights and garden lights. Then there are neon signs, streetlights, and office, factory, carpark and sporting venue lights, too.

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Radio DJ 2:

Hailey Rafell: That’s a lot of light! A lot of this artificial light goes up into the night sky, where it’s not needed. It pollutes the night sky environment by making it much brighter than it should be, so it is called ‘light pollution’. Radio DJ 2:

Okay, lots of light goes up into the sky, but why is that bad?

Radio DJ 1:

Hey, I know the answer to that! It gets so bright we can’t see the planets or stars in the night sky. Astronomers worldwide are worried about light pollution making it hard to see stars at night. Many constellations can no longer be seen from cities and towns because of light pollution.

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Hailey Rafell: That’s right. But there are other problems, too. Think of all the natural resources, like oil and coal, that are used up to make the energy for all this lights that is wasted. Plus the air pollution that is created when we burn these fuels, and the millions of dollars it costs to run all these lights! Radio DJ 1:

I also heard light pollution affects nocturnal wildlife. Many of them can’t live in an area that’s too bright, and some won’t have babies if their habitat is destroyed by overly bright lights.

. tescientists believe light pollution causes medical problems o Hailey Rafell: Some in humans, too. c . Maybe even as serious as cancer. ch e r e o t Radio DJ 2: Wow, whoever would have thoughtr light could be so dangerous! So, the next r s s u e p question—is there anything we can do? Hailey Rafell: All outdoor lights could be replaced with lights that are shielded and directed downwards, at the target, with energy-efficient bulbs. Sign-lighting should be aimed down on signs, not upwards. People everywhere can turn off lights that don’t need to be on. Humans have been able to see the stars at night since the beginning of time. It would be a shame to lose our connection with the rest of the universe! Radio DJ 1:

Okay, that’s all we’ve got time for. Thanks for your time, Hailey.

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Astronomy

Light pollution – 2 1. What is light pollution? 2. What are some of the problems light pollution causes?

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3. Write about the differences in light pollution between these two pictures.

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4. What sort of things could you do at home to reduce light pollution? Astronomy

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Help stop light pollution Lights are usually put in place to light a specific area. Often, there are too many lights, or the lights shine over a bigger area than they need to, creating light pollution. Some cities and companies are now trying to make lighting better to reduce light pollution.

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1. Look at the different kinds of lights and rate them from the least amount of wasted light (pollution) created (1) to the most (4).

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2. Look around your school. Can you see any lights that could be changed to reduce light pollution? Draw two lights, then write about or draw ways to decrease the amount of wasted light they create.

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Improvements:

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Improvements:

Astronomy

Astrology and the zodiac Indicators ✶✶ Reads and understands information about astrology and the zodiac. ✶✶ Identifies negative and positive adjectives to describe the personalities associated with the signs of the zodiac.

Background information

Page 95 1.

Negative

Aries

enthusiastic determined

impatient intolerant

Taurus

warm-hearted reliable

stubborn resentful

Gemini

friendly imaginative

tense moody

Cancer

loving sympathetic

clinging touchy

Leo

generous hardworking

bossy interfering

Virgo

intelligent dependable

worrier fussy

Libra

easygoing sociable

lazy indecisive

Scorpio

wise exciting

secretive compulsive

Sagittarius

honest optimistic

Capricorn

patient trustworthy

unwilling gloomy

Aquarius

entertaining inventive

impractical unpredictable

Pisces

sensitive kind

vague exaggerative

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careless restless

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Page 94 1. (a) Astrology is the study of the way objects in space affect people and events on Earth. (b) Astronomy is the study of celestial bodies in the universe. 2. belief, opinions, Astronomy, observations, measurements, universe 3. People realised there was a difference when scientists made discoveries about the universe. 4. The zodiac is a part of the sky through which the sun, planets and moon appear to travel that contains 12 constellations or star groups. 5. A star sign is the zodiac constellation that the sun was in when a person was born. 6. Gemini, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius (half human/ half horse), Aquarius 7. A horoscope is a diagram of the zodiac an astrologer uses to reveal a person’s character and predict the future.

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Zodiac sign

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✶✶ Although astrology has been part of society 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 further increased in the late 1960s as alternative forms of spirituality became popular. ✶✶ Many scientists discredit the idea of distant planetary objects affecting human behaviour and contend there is no evidence proving a relationship between the position of planets at a given time, and the events, personality or actions of individuals at that time. Others, however, believe in a connection between human life and the physical universe. ✶✶ Chinese and Indian societies have different zodiac signs as well as different numbers of signs of the zodiac.

✶✶ Students collect horoscopes from the daily newspaper to study how they are written with the content being very general and optimistic. They can write a horoscope for a classmate to read and see if anything comes true!

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Astrology and the zodiac – 1 What is astrology and how is it different from astronomy? Astrology is the study of the way objects in space such as the sun, planets, moon and stars affect people and events on Earth. It is a belief as it involves people’s opinions and interpretations. Astronomy is the study of the sun, planets, moon, stars and other celestial bodies in the universe. It is a science as it involves accurate observations and measurements to explain how the universe works.

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It is interesting to note that until about 400 years ago astrology and astronomy were the same. People used the movements of the sun, moon, stars and planets to predict events such as wars and natural disasters and to know when to plant crops. After discoveries about the universe by scientists such as Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton, people realised there was a difference between the science of astronomy and ‘predicting’ the future through astrology. What is the zodiac? The zodiac is a part of the sky through which the sun, planets and moon appear to travel. The belt contains 12 constellations, or star groups. Astrologers divide the zodiac into 12 parts, one for each part of the year. Each has a name related to its constellation. Astrologers use diagrams of the zodiac as an aid in revealing a person’s character and predicting the future to create a horoscope. A person’s star sign (or sun sign) is the zodiac constellation that the sun was in when he or she was born. For example, if you were born on 14 April, your star sign is Aries. Each star sign is represented by animal or person; e.g. Aries is a ram.

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Aries – the ram Taurus – the bull

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Virgo – the virgin Libra – the scales

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Scorpio – the scorpion Sagittarius – the archer Capricorn – the goat Aquarius – the water carrier Pisces – the fish R.I.C. Publications® — www.ricpublications.com.au

Astronomy

Astrology and the zodiac – 2 1. Finish the sentences to write a definition for each word.

(a) Astrology is

(b) Astronomy is

r o e t s Bbetween astrology and r 2. Fill in the missing words to explain the major difference o e p ok astronomy. u S as it involves people’s and Astrology is a

is a science as it involves accurate

interpretations. works.

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to explain how the

3. What made people realise there is a difference between astrology and astronomy?

4. Describe what is meant by the term ‘zodiac’.

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7. What is a horoscope? Astronomy

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Zodiac signs and their meanings Each sign of the zodiac has different personality characteristics that are associated with it. Sometimes these seem to match someone’s personality—and sometimes they don’t! 1. There are many adjectives and phrases that can be used to describe each sign of the zodiac. Four adjectives have been chosen next to each in the table below. Two of them can be positive personality characteristics and two of them can be negative. Highlight the positive ones in yellow and the negative ones in blue. You can use a dictionary to help you.

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(March 21 – April 20)

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Aries

enthusiastic, impatient, intolerant, determined

(April 21 – May 21)

warm-hearted, reliable, stubborn, resentful

Gemini

(May 22 – June 21)

tense, moody, friendly, imaginative

Cancer

(June 22 – July 23)

loving, clinging, sympathetic, touchy

Leo

(July 24 – August 23)

bossy, generous, hardworking, interfering

Virgo Libra

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Taurus

Scorpio

(August 24 – Sept. 23)

(Oct. 24 – Nov. 22)

secretive, wise, exciting, compulsive

Capricorn (Dec. 23 – Jan. 20)

patient, unwilling, gloomy, trustworthy

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careless, restless, honest, optimistic

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Sagittarius (Nov. 23 – Dec. 22)

entertaining, inventive, impractical, unpredictable . te o c (Feb. 20 – March 20) vague, sensitive, kind, exaggerative . che e r o t r 2. (a) What ise your birth sdate and zodiac sign? su r p

Aquarius (Jan. 21 – Feb. 19) Pisces

Virgo

(b) Write adjectives to describe your personality. You can use those above or others you think describe you.

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Astronomy