Earth Science Rocks!

Warm up March 26 Use the

table below to answer the question.

This table shows data for major characteristics of the nine planets in the solar system.

One revolution – the time to make one complete trip around the Sun

One rotation - the time required to make one complete

turn on its axis.

QUESTION: Which of the following

planets has the shortest day measured in Earth time? A. Pluto B. Earth C. Jupiter D. Mercury

Earth Science Rocks!MYP Unit Question: What’s out there?

Area of Interaction: Human Ingenuity

Learner profile: Risk Taker

Standard: Explore current scientific views of the universe and how those views evolved.

Earth Science Rocks!Learning Target:

Today I’m learning about comets, asteroids, and meteors because they are similar.

Opening: Where are we located in the universe?

Work Session: Notes: Comets, Meteors, Asteroids

Closing: Venn Diagram

Our Solar System is part of the Milky Way Galaxy

Where arewe located?

You are Here

Picture of the Milky Way from Earth

Picture of the Milky Way from Earth

Picture of the Milky Way from Earth

WHAT ELSE IS OUT THERE?Asteroids,

Meteors, and Comets

Pieces of debris left over from the formation of the solar system.

Too small to be considered a planet

The asteroid Vega imaged by NASA's Dawn spacecraft

Asteroids

Asteroids

Composition:

Rock fragments and metal

AsteroidsLocation: Between

Mars and Jupiter.

They orbit the sun

Asteroids Characteristics:

Small, planet-like bodies

Asteroids Examples:

The Asteroid Belt

Meteors, Meteoroids, Meteorites

Composition: Pieces of rock

or iron that enter Earth’s

atmosphere.

Meteors: Any asteroid that enters Earth’s atmosphere.

Meteorites: The remnants of a meteor that reach the Earth’s surface

Meteors, Meteoroids, Meteorites

Location: They fall all over Earth; come from

within our solar system

Meteors, Meteoroids, Meteorites

Characteristics:Produces a streak of light

Come from comets or asteroids

Meteors, Meteoroids, Meteorites

Examples: Leonid Meteor shower in November

Hoba: The World's Largest Meteorite

Discovered by a Farmer Plowing His FieldIn 1920, a farmer was plowing a field near Grootfontein, Namibia when his plow suddenly screeched to a halt. Curious about what he had run into he dug in the soil to find a large piece of metal. The large metal mass quickly attracted the attention of scientists and others, who identified it as a meteorite and removed the soil around it. 66-ton iron meteorite - the largest single meteorite ever found and the largest piece of iron ever found near Earth's surface.

Campo del Cielo

Chaco, Argentina37 tons

2nd Largest Meteorite

in the world

The Cape York Meteorite

3rd Largest Meteorite in the U.S. – 31 tons

4th Largest Meteorite in the World28 tons

Armanty, Xinjiang, China

Willamette Meteorite

Largest meteorite found in America –15 tons

Can you imagine watching

these things hit the ground??

Meteor over Milwaukee, Wisconsin April 10, 2010

Comets Composition: Chunks of ice and dust

Comets Location: Orbit the sun

in a long narrow ellipse.

Come from

the Kuiper belt

Comets Characteristics: Millions of

kilometers long. When near the sun,

a “tail” forms of gas and dust that always

points away from the

Sun.

Comets Examples:

Halley’s Comet (every 76 years)

The next one will be in 2061

Shoemaker-Levy

shoemaker-levy comet

Comet PanSTARRSNorthern Hemisphere – March 2013

March 28, the comet sets before the moon rises at around 9:30 p.m. (Next trip: 10,000

Look to the left of the moon

Heading toward the sun – November 2013.Comet ISON on the morning of December 10, 2013.

Comet Ison

Compare/ContrastAsteroid, Meteors, and Comets

Big Dipper

Moon