YKSD Earth Science Chapter 4 Lesson 4 "Other Objects in the Solar System"

Chapter 4 Lesson 4 "Other Objects in the Solar System"

Materials:

Workbook Activity, "Terms Review"

Objective:

Students will describe asteroids and comets.
Students will identify the position of the asteroid belt.
Students will explain the difference between meteors and meteorites.

Anticipatory Set:*

Show the students a marble and measure the diameter. Drop the marble from 1 meter into a pan of plaster of paris. Measure the diameter of the creator. Repeat the exercise dropping the marble from 2 meters. How big would the creator be if the marble were dropped from outer space. Look at the picture on Page 101 of the creator and introduce meteorite. Work backward to the asteroid belt.

Teacher Input:*

The teacher will discuss with the students the characteristics other objects found in the solar system. Here is a table the teacher will use as a guide:

Asteroids

A rocky objects, smaller than a planet, that orbits a star.
May be 1,000 kilometers across but most are smaller than a kilometer.
Most asteroids lie between Mars and Jupiter in an area known as the asteroid belt.
As many as a million asteroids make up the belt.
Asteroids leave the belt periodically when they collide with other asteroids or get pulled away by the gravity of planets.
Some of these get pulled in by Earth's gravity and as they travel through our atmosphere the heat up and become meteors.
The big ones that do not burn up entirely hit the Earth's surface and are then called meteorites. Meteor Crater, 80 ft in diameter asteroid, 1.2 Km creator.
In Meteor Crater Arizona a meteorite hit the Earth 50,000 years ago.

Comets

Comets are balls of ice, rock, frozen gases, and dust that orbits the sun.
Most comets follow huge orbits that take them way outside the orbit of the planets and they are often not in the same plane as the planets.
As comets near the sun some of the gases and ice melts and evaporates. This creates a dust that is visible as light reflects off it.
The solar wind pushes some of the particles away from the comet to formed the comet's tail.
The tail always points away from the sun.

Guided Practice:* Students will answer the questions on page 102 with the other students from around the district.

Discuss this article about the Holmes comet and what may have caused this. http://www.space.com/spacewatch/071025-comet-holmes.html

Independent Practice:* Students will complete the worksheet, "Other Objects in the Solar System: Terms Review"

Check for Understanding:* Students will complete the quiz, 04-03 Chapter 4 Lesson 4, "Other Objects in the Solar System"

Duration:

30 minutes + 10-15 for Independent Practice (Could be longer if taken for homework).

Alaska Content Standards Addressed in this lesson:

SCI A-3 STUDENTS WILL UNDERSTAND MODELS DESCRIBING THE COMPOSITION, AGE, AND SIZE OF OUR UNIVERSE, GALAXY, AND SOLAR SYSTEM AND UNDERTAND THAT THE UNIVERS I CONSTANTLY MOVING AND CHANGING.
SCI-A-4 Students will understand observable natural events such as tides, weather, seasons, and moon phases in terms of the structure and motion of the earth (EARTH).
SCI A5 Students will understand the strength and effects of forces of nature, including gravity and electromagnetic radiation.
SCI A6 Students will understand that forces of nature cause different types of motion and describe the relationship between these forces and motion.