STATUS OF THE EARTH AND ORIGINALITY IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Knowledge All solar system bodies orbiting the Sun.
Material Website: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/index.cfm
Aim of the activity: From the use of the website:
- Highlight the various objects that compose the solar system and the situation of the Earth among these objects.
- Complete the line of the board concerning the planet that the teacher attributed to you.
- Highlight two major groups of planets and search for the singularities of the Earth within its group.
Help for pupils if they need it.
Write a small text presenting the element of the solar system
Complete the table and surround by two different colors both lots of planets
Write a short text describing the singularities of the Earth
Make a conclusion about water in the solar system
The solar system bodies
Name / Distance from Sun (in………) / Diameter(in .…..) / Volumic mass
(in g/cm3) / Composition
(atmosphere) / Any chance to find
water there ? / An interesting feature
You should describe your planet to the others (you must do sentences "The average distance of my planet, Saturn, to the Sun is .." "it is made of..").
Cultural remark with students
Attention on the difference between volumic mass and density, which we make in France but not in the United States. I preferred to keep in the board the " volumic mass " term because the term exists in English and because our colleagues of physics often have to insist, in French, on the nuance between these terms. We can indicate to the pupils that on websites, the term " density " is used as being synonymic of " volumic mass ", because units follow. We prefer then the term of " volumic mass ". Besides we can discuss that is the NASA (national aeronautics and strange administration) its historic importance, its last missions.
Is there water in the solar system beyond Earth?
Except on Earth and comets, is there water on other planets?
We can look first on the terrestrial planets. In view of the temperature data, we try not to Mercury or Venus. Mars seems more welcoming to human missions.
Water on Mars
At present, Mars is too cold and its atmosphere is too thin to allow liquid water to exist at the surface for long. More water exists frozen in the polar ice caps, and enough water exists to form ice clouds. Images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft suggest that underground reserves of water may break through the surface as springs*. The answers may lie deep beneath Mars' red soil.
Unraveling* the story of water on Mars is important to unlocking* its past climate history, which will help us understand the evolution of all planets, including our own. Water is also believed to be a central ingredient for the initiation of life; the evidence of past or present water on Mars is expected to hold clues about past or present life on Mars, as well as the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. And, before humans can safely go to Mars, we need to know much more about the planet's environment, including the availability of resources such as water.
From the internet site of the nasa : www.nasa.gov ; 2001.
*To unravel : tirer au clair, débrouiller les fils * a spring : une source * to unlock : ici, découvrir * soil : sol
You can also use this website: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/mars-20070315.html
1- Is there water on mars today?
2- Why is it interesting to "unravel the story of water on mars"
This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) aboard ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft in October 2004, from an altitude of 350 km with a resolution of 15 metres per pixel. / This image was published on : http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/http://www.linternaute.com/science/espace/photo/immersion-au-coeur-de-la-planete-mars/vue-imprenable-sur-le-pole-nord.shtml
Photo 1: valleys carved
Mars Express, European satellite returned to Earth pictures of Echus Chasma, one of the largest valleys on Mars. This site covers 3,000 km to the north.© ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
Photo 2: View of the pole
Incredible view from the North Pole of Mars. One sees distinctly the layers of ice (white) and dust. © ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
Photo 3: successive layers of material
Here layers of sediments filling the bottom of an impact crater of the Meridiani Planum region on Mars. © NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Photo 4: Reconstruction of a Martian landscape
This image is from a video simulation that traces the journey inside the Grand Canyon of Mars. © NASA/JPL/Arizona State University
Write a comment of the picture, using the words: "valleys" "water" “to carve out". Express a possibility. Does the picture remind you of a place on Earth? Where? Do you have an idea of what formed that landscape?
The water in the solar system: what about the terrestrial bodies?
Study of a satellite of Jupiter: Europe. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qf5wp
Thanks to the audio document, identify the satellite of Jupiter (Europe) among several pictures, and justify