Week 4: Our Solar System

Week 4: Our Solar System 

1. What did you do in the lab today?


In the week 4 lab, we conducted an activity to measure the distance and size of the Sun, Moon, and several planets. My group decided to use millimeters, so we started with our Sun being 170mm, and found the distance and size of the other planets from there. It was a really cool experience to get to see the size and distance (not to scale, of course) of the planets, Sun, and Moon. It was interesting to learn that the sizes of some of the planets are very similar, but that the Sun is way bigger than all of them. 
    At the end of the lab, Pheobe from the School of the Wild came to talk with us about our lessons. We reviewed the lesson plans and asked her any questions that we had.                                          





2. What was the big question?

How do the sizes of the planets compare to the size of the sun? 

3. What did you learn in Thursday's discussion?



4. Read the online textbook chapter 2: 

  • What did you learn?
    • The four inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) are rocky planets as they have a solid surface. 
    • The four outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are gaseous planets because they are mainly composed of hydrogen and helium. 
    • The rocky planets are much smaller than the gaseous planets. 
      • The gas planets attracted more material from space and grew larger in size because their gravity increased. 
    • Pluto is not a planet because it has not cleared the neighborhood
      • Large planets either attract or eject smaller bodies from that region of space. 
    • Key events in the formation of the universe: 
      • 13.7 billion years ago - Big Bang 
      • 13.5 billion years ago - First formation of black holes 
      • 13.3 billion years ago - Mass star formation 
      • 12.6 billion years ago - Milky Way Formation 
      • 4.5 billion years ago - The Sun, Earth, and Moon formed 
    • The Big Bang:
      • It was an expansion or inflation rather than an explosion. 
      • Earth was not formed during the Big Bang. 
        • There is a time lapse of 9 billion years between the Big Bang and the formation of the Earth. 
    • The Sun contains 99.8% of the mass in our solar system. 
      • In about 5-6 billion years, the sun will burn all of its fuel and become a white dwarf star. 
        • Currently, it is halfway through its fuel supply. 
  • What was most helpful? 
    • I found it particularly helpful that numerous pictures compared the sizes of the planets. Having these pictures has helped me understand the size differences between the four inner and four outer planets. 
  • What do you need more information on?
    • I would like more information about what it means for the planets to "clear the neighborhood". I find it confusing in the textbook. 
    5. What questions, concerns, and/or comments do you have? 
    I don't have any questions. 





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