WHERE IN THE UNIVERSE ARE WE???

To prepare for the first part of your STAR mission, you must determine where you are in the universe. If someone were to ask you where you lived, you would probably say the name of your town. Beyond the town, you think of the state, and then the country, and finally Earth. But, what about your place in space? If we looked at your location right now, we would find that you are but a very small part of a vast universe. The universe is composed of many different celestial objects. In this investigation, you will determine how these celestial objects fit together to make up what scientists call the hierarchy of the universe.

Objective

When you have completed this investigation, you should be able to describe the components of the universe in order to determine the hierarchy of the universe.

Activity 1

1.  Define the term hierarchy using available resources.

2.  Predict the hierarchical order of the universe by placing the following terms in the organizer.

galaxy / planet / solar system / star / universe

Activity 2

3.  Use the resources provided by your teacher to create a working definition for the words below.

galaxy: ______

______

planet: ______

______

solar system: ______

______

star: ______

______

universe: ______

______

4.  Review your prediction in Activity 1. Complete the organizer to show the correct hierarchy of the universe.

Analysis

Label the ovals in the organizer below with “galaxy”, “solar system”, “universe”, and “planet” to show their relationships to each other. (The ovals do not represent orbits.)

If you were to add “star” to the organizer above, where would you place it? ______

______

______

Explain why you would choose this location in the diagram. ______

______

______

ESS -27