Unit 3 Sun, Moon, and Planets (C 57-C83)

Vocabulary words (Pages C 57-C63)

1.Star: a ball of hot, glowing gasses

2. Planets: large bodies of matter moving around a star like our sun.

3. Solar System: This is made up of planets, their moons, and other objects orbiting a sun.

4, Milky Way: the name of our solar system. ( includes 8 planets, moons, asteroids, and other objects)( Pluto is no longer considered a planet.)

5. Crater: a large hole in the ground that is shaped like  bowl.  These are caused by rocks or meteors  hitting the surface.

6. Asteroids: a group of rocks found  between Mars and Jupiter.

7. Atmosphere: the layers of air around the earth.

Planet information

Mercury- First planet from the sun. It has no moons. Hot and dry with no atmosphere.

Venus- The second planet from the sun. Surrounded by thick clouds. It has no moons.

Earth- The third planet from the sun. It has 1 moon. It has an atmosphere containing oxygen. It is the only planet with life.

Mars- The fourth planet from the sun. Called the Red Planet because of a reddish surface color. It has 2 moons.  Rocky desert with volcanoes, valleys, and large dust storms.

Jupiter- The fifth planet. It is the biggest planet. It has at least 16 moons and a ring.

Saturn- It is the sixth planet. It has at least 18 moons. It is famous forth beautiful colorful rings of ice particles.

Uranus- It is the seventh planet. It has a few rings. It rotates on its side. It has at least 15 moons.

Neptune- The eighth planet from the sun. It is a large cold planet. It has rings and a pale blue color.  It has 8 moons.

Pluto is no longer considered a planet.   It was the ninth planet and it was considered the smallest. It had 1 moon.

Pages C66-C71

8. axis: An imaginary line that show how the earth is tilted.

9. rotates: to spin around

10. rotation: the earth's rotation takes 1 day or 24 hours to spin around one time. This causes day and night.

11. orbit: The path the Earth travels around the sun.

12. Revolution: to go around the sun one time.  it takes the earth 365 days to go around the earth one time. This is 1 year.

13 Calendars: These help people know important times of year. It was based on the the movement of the sun, moons, and stars. Our calendar has 12 months.

14. Season; a time of  year with certain similar climate and amount of sunlight.  We have 4 seasons. Seasons are a result of the tilt of the Earth's axis and the Earth's revolution around the sun. Each season lasts about 3 months.

C74-C81

15. Moon: a  mass that orbits a planet. The moon is a satellite of the earth. Moons have no light of their own. They reflect light from the sun.

16. Satellite: an object that revolves around another object.

17 Tide: The rise and fall of the water on the Earth along an ocean shore. The gravity of the moon is the cause of tides.

18.Phases of the moon: The appearance of different shapes of the moon. The moon does not really change shape. When you see only part of the moon, the earth is between the Sun and the moon so the sun can only reflect off part of the moon.

19. Telescope: a tool used to see far away objects. It magnifies the object to make it look nearer and larger.

20. Galileo: A scientist who used a telescope to look at the moon. He proved that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the solar system.

21. Keck Observatory: a huge building with a telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

22. Astronaut: A person who travels in space.

23. Hubble Telescope: A large observatory with a telescope orbiting the earth.