PWC 4.5.2
SOL 4.7 The student will investigate and understand how the Earth is related to other components of the Solar System.

Key Concepts include:

     The relative size, position and composition of the sun, the Earth's moon planets.

        Earth's motions in space (rotation, revolution, tilt and the role of gravity)

        Planetary orbits in outer space.

        Historical contributions to the exploration of the Solar System.
 
 

Critical Attributes:

A solar system is a relationship between stars, planets, and satellites.  Our solar system includes the Sun, nine planets, and various satellites (moons, comets, asteroids, and meteors).  The sun is a medium size yellow star of hydrogen gas that serves as the center of our solar system and the source of heat and light.

The sun exerts a gravitational pull on the planets, which causes each to travel in orbit around the sun. This travel within an orbit is called revolution.  In our solar system, the planets (generally) lie in order of orbits from the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.  Planets are grouped into two types: gas planets and rock planets.

Together, revolutions and tilt of the planets, including Earth, allow seasons to occur.  The tilt of the Earth causes some parts of the Earth to get more direct light rays from the sun.  Rotation is the turning of a planet on its axis, which causes night and day.

THe study of the solar system is believed to have begun with the observations of Copernicus and moved forward with Galileo's perfection of lens.  The first human in space was Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.  John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth in space.  Neil Armstrong was the first human to walk on the moon.  Sally Ride was the first American woman to take part in an orbital mission.  Christa McAuliffe was the first educator involved in an orbital mission, which tragically ended when the space shuttle Challenger exploded during lift-off.

Recent advancements in space exploration include man-made satellites, modern telescopes and spacecraft.  The Hubble telescope was the first general purpose orbiting telescope.  The RUssian space station Mir was the first space station designed for expansion from one module workstation to seven.  Astronauts from all over the world have docked at Mir.  Satellites such as Voyager I and Voyager II have explored all outer planets and 48 moons, as well as the rings and magnetic fields of the planets.