TOPIC: EARTH AND SPACE

PRIMARY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMME

SUBJECT: SCIENCE

LESSON: 1 WEEK 6

Name: ___________________________ Date: _____________________________

GRADE SIX WORKSHEET TERM 3

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

FACTS/TIPS

- The solar system primarily consists of eight planets that orbit or

revolve around the sun, their moons, millions of asteroids,

comets and meteoroids.

- The sun is the largest and brightest star in the middle of the solar

system. It provides all the planets in the solar system with heat

and light.

- The sun is so big that all the planets and moons in the solar

system can fit inside of it. Gravity on the sun is very strong

because of its great size. This gravity helps hold the objects in

the solar system in orbit.

- Stars are big balls of hot gas that give out heat and light.

- A planet is a large body of rock or gas that orbits the sun. Planets

do not give out light but reflect light from the sun. Earth is a

planet.

- Orbit is the path an object takes as it moves around another in

space.

- Gravity is the force that keeps the planets revolving around the

sun.

Planets

- Planets are grouped as Terrestrial Planets and Jovian Planets.

- Terrestrial Planets are small, rocky and closer to the sun.

- Jovian Planets are larger and further away from the sun.

Did you know?

- Of all the planets Mercury moves the fastest around the sun. If it

doesn‘t move fast enough the gravitational pull of the sun would

suck it right in!

Planets

(Terrestrial Planets)

Mercury

- Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and is also the smallest of

the eight planets in our solar system. Its orbit around the Sun takes 88

Earth days, the shortest of all the planets in the Solar System.

Venus

- Venus is the hottest planet because of its gases. Also known as the

evening star. Venus spins clockwise on its axis. Venus also orbits the

Sun anti-clockwise, but its unusual axis rotation is due to being upside

down - it was knocked off its upright position earlier in its history.

Earth

– Earth is the only planet to have life on it. Also known as the green

planet. Earth is special because it is an ocean planet. Water covers

70 percent of Earth's surface. Earth's atmosphere is made mostly of

nitrogen and has plenty of oxygen for us to breathe. The atmosphere

also protects us from incoming meteoroids, most of which break up

before they can hit the surface.

Mars

– Mars is sometimes called the Red Planet. It's red because of rusty

iron in the ground. Like Earth, Mars has seasons, polar ice caps,

volcanoes, canyons, and weather. It has a very thin atmosphere

made of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon.

(Jovian Planets)

Jupiter

– This is the largest planet. It is made primarily of gases and is

therefore known as a ‗gas giant‘. Jupiter‘s stripes and swirls are

actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an

atmosphere of hydrogen and helium.

Saturn

- A unique feature of Saturn is that it is the least dense planet in the

Solar System. Although Saturn may have a dense, solid core, the

large outer layer is gaseous. As result, Saturn is lighter than water.

Uranus

- Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and the first to be

discovered by scientists. Although Uranus is visible to the naked eye,

it was long mistaken as a star because of the planet's dimness and

slow orbit. The planet is also notable for its dramatic tilt, which causes

its axis to point nearly directly at the sun.

Neptune

- More than 30 times as far from the Sun as Earth, Neptune is the only

planet in our solar system not visible to the naked eye.

Neptune's thick atmosphere is mostly hydrogen, with smaller

amounts of helium and methane. It is the absorption of red light by

methane that gives Neptune its very blue colouration. The average

temperature on Neptune is a brutally cold -373 degrees F.

Planet Earth

- With a radius of 3,959 miles, Earth is the fifth largest planet in

our solar system, and it's the only one known for sure to have

liquid water on its surface.

- Earth orbits the sun once every 365.25 days. Since our

calendar years have only 365 days, we add an extra leap day

every four years to account for the difference.

Earth’s movements

Rotation

- This is the movement of the Earth on its axis.

- Rotation results in day and night on Earth.

- The axis is the imaginary line through the centre of the Earth

from the North Pole to the South Pole.

- The Earth takes 24 hours to spin around once, so 24 hours is the

length of one day. This movement is called rotation.

- As the earth spins, the side of the Earth facing the sun is lit up

and so it is daytime on that side of the Earth.

- The side facing away from the sun is in darkness, so it is night

time on that side. The earth‘s axis is tilted to one side.

Revolution

- This is the movement of the Earth around the sun.

- Revolution causes the four seasons to occur. These are winter,

spring, summer and autumn.

- This movement takes 365 and a quarter days. In a leap year, it

takes 366 days.

- There is an imaginary line running around the middle of the

Earth called the equator. The half of the Earth above the

equator is called the Northern Hemisphere and the lower half

below the equator is called the Southern hemisphere.

- If you live closer to the equator the temperature is about the

same all year but if you live far from the equator in the

northern or southern hemisphere there is a big difference in

temperature between summer and winter. Summer is much

warmer than winter.

- Because the earth axis is tilted, there is a time of year when the

northern hemisphere is pointing towards the sun and the

southern hemisphere is pointing away from the sun.

- When this happens it is summer in the northern hemisphere

because the northern hemisphere gets more heat and light

from the sun.

- It is winter in the southern hemisphere because it is pointing

away from the sun and so gets less heat and light.

- As the Earth orbits the sun the positions change. When the Earth

gets to the other side of the sun, the southern hemisphere points

towards the sun and the northern hemisphere points away. Now

it is summer in the southern hemisphere and winter in the

northern hemisphere.

The Earth and the Moon (Natural Satellite)

- Earth has one moon. The moon is Earth‘s closest neighbour and

its natural satellite.

- A satellite is a body that orbits around the Earth.

- The moon travels in an anti-clockwise direction around the

Earth within 29 and a half days. This time taken for the moon to

orbit around the Earth is called a lunar month.

- As it orbits the Earth, we see different phases of the moon.

- The Moon is rotating at the same rate that it revolves around

Earth, so the same hemisphere faces Earth all the time.

- The brightest and largest object in our night sky, the Moon

makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home

planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable

climate.

- It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans

for thousands of years.

- The Moon was likely formed after a Mars-sized body collided

with Earth several billion years ago.

- Earth's Moon is the only place beyond Earth where humans

have set foot, so far.

- With a radius of about 1,080 miles (1,740 kilometres), the Moon

is less than a third of the width of Earth.

Artificial satellites

- Artificial satellites are man-made and placed to orbit the Earth.

- They are used for weather forecasting, communication and

military navigation.

- If damaged they can affect all of these things e.g. weather

forecasting.

- Damaged satellites are very expensive to repair hence they

often build up as junk in space.

- Space junk can crash into functioning satellites, causing even

more damage. They can even fall out of space.

Phases of the Moon

- As the moon moves around the Earth, it also spins on its axis.

The moon spins around once on its axis every time it orbits the

Earth. In other words, it takes the moon exactly the same time

to spin round once on its axis as it takes the Moon to orbit the

Earth. This means the same side of the moon always faces the

Earth.

ON YOUR OWN

1. The diagram is a representation of a section of the solar system.

Study the diagram then answer the questions.

1. Name the planet labeled C. ______________________

2. Which letter represents the hottest planet? ____________________

3. Which planet has the fastest orbit? _____________________

4. Which letter represents the Red planet? _____________________

5. List the planets by name from A – D. state the category these

planets belong to. (A) ________________________

(B) _________________________

(c) _________________________

(D) _________________________

2. Study the diagram then answer the questions.

1. Label the diagram correctly.

2. The diagram shows

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3. Name the satellite in the diagram. State its type.

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4. Give two functions of artificial satellites.

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HOMEWORK

1. What is the solar system?

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2. Name the Jovian Planets.

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3. Define these terms:

a. Rotation

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b. Revolution

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4. Describe how we get night and day.

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5. In about three lines describe the ‗Green planet‘.

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6. What are comets?

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7. Explain why Venus is described as the hottest planet.

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8. Differentiate between the two types of satellites.

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9. Explain one importance of man-made satellites.

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