Earth and Space Systems: Tutorial

Think about the systems around you. For example, you're reading this text on a computer system. Write a definition for the word system.

A system is a group of related parts that work together as a whole.

The table shows the diameters of the planets in our solar system. Assume that a basketball whose diameter is 25 centimeters represents the planet Jupiter. Find the scale (ratio) between Jupiter and the basketball. Then use this ratio to find the scaled diameter of the other planets. Enter these numbers into the table. (Saturn has been done for you.) Finally, choose a real-world spherical or nearly spherical object that matches the scaled diameter of each planet.Saturn is shown as an example. To find what Saturn's size would be after adjusting it to scale, follow these steps. Let the scaled diameter of Saturn be d centimeters. If Jupiter's diameter, 142,984 kilometers, is scaled to 25 centimeters, Saturn's diameter of 120,536 kilometers will be scaled to about 21 centimeters:

Mercury: .85 pea Venus: 2.1 gumball Earth: 2.2 gumball Mars: 1.2 marble Uranus: 9 grapefruit Neptune: 8.6 softball

In the video, you saw that models must sometimes be changed. Why does that happen?

Models often need to be changed and updated based on new evidence.

Why is the solar system considered a natural system? Look to the word nature for clues.

Natural systems are not made by humans. The solar system is not made by humans, so it's considered a natural system.

Scientists refer to half of the planets as inner planets because they are relatively close to the Sun. They refer to the other half as outer planets. Using the data in the table, classify the planets into one of the two groups

One-half of eight is four. So, there are four inner planets and four outer planets. According to the distances in the table, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are inner planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are outer planets.

What problems might you face when modeling the Sun and the revolving planets to the same scale? What assumptions might you have to make in your model?

Planets such as Mercury are so much smaller than the Sun that it would be difficult to draw them to the same scale. On the same piece of paper or computer screen, Mercury would appear as a mere dot if the Sun were included in the model.

What did the yellow ball in the center of the model represent? an asteroid a comet Earth the Sun

The Sun Kepler's model had the Sun at the center and the planets moving around the Sun in elliptical orbits.

When one part of a car fails, the rest of the car doesn't run properly. Explain why this happens in terms of systems.

The car is a system that has many parts. In a system, all of the parts function together to make the system work. If one part breaks down, the rest of the system doesn't function properly. An incorrect or missing input results in the wrong output. For example, if the car battery is dead, the engine won't turn on, and the car won't move.

Think about plotting the distances as points on a number line where 0 represents the position of the Sun. Based on your scaling work in question 1, what is one challenge of modeling the distances of inner and outer planets using the same scale? You can create a rough sketch to guide you.

The distance between an inner planet and the Sun is small compared with the distance between an outer planet and the Sun. If inner and outer planets are drawn to the same scale on a number line, the inner planets will bunch near zero (the Sun's position) and might appear on top of one another.

Based on parts A and B, how many planets are larger than Earth? How many planets are smaller than Earth?

The planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are larger than Earth. Mercury, Venus, and Mars are smaller. Venus and Earth are similar in size, as are Mercury and Mars.

The Sun has a diameter of about 1,400,000 kilometers. Based on the scale established earlier, how tall do you think a sphere that represents the Sun would be? What would a real-world example of this measurement be?

The sphere would be about 250 centimeters tall. That's about the height of a doorway.

a small, rocky object that orbits the Sun, most often found between Mars and Jupiter

asteroid

an icy, rocky object that has a tail and orbits the Sun

comet

a smaller object that orbits the Sun and shares its orbit with other objects

dwarf planet

a natural satellite that orbits an object other than a star

moon

How many stars are in our solar system? Make your best guess. one two ten countless

one The Sun is the only star in our solar system. The rest of the stars in the night sky are beyond our solar system.

a large object that orbits the Sun and has no other large objects in its orbital path

planet

the only star in our solar system

sun