Study Guide for Mrs. Zall's and Mrs. Nagy's Class.  Test date will be written in student agenda/planner at least one week before test is administered.  It is important that children study ahead of time.  We will begin to cover this information beginning September 7th.

STUDY GUIDE FOR THE INNER PLANETS

THE EARTH

·        The Earth is the third planet from the sun and is the only planet in our solar system known to support life.

·        The Earth is the fifth-largest planet in the solar system.

·        The Earth’s rotation is slowing down slightly over time, about one second every 10 years.

·        It has an orbit that is close to being circular.

·        The tilting of the Earth is what gives us the four seasons of the year.

·        The three layers of the Earth are:  the crust, the mantle, and the core.

·        It takes 24 hours for the Earth to rotate completely on its axis.

·        It takes the Earth 365 days to orbit the sun.

·        The Earth is 93 million miles away from the sun.

·        A large part of the Earth’s atmosphere is made up of nitrogen.

·        The Earth is four times bigger in diameter than the moon.

THE MOON

·        The moon is the Earth’s natural satellite.

·        The same side of the moon always faces the Earth.

·        The first people to walk on the moon were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969.

·        The moon revolves around the Earth in about one month.

·        The moon is “silent”.  There can be no transmission of sound because sound waves travel through air.  There is no air on the moon.

·        The surface of the moon is full of impact craters caused by asteroids, comets, and meteorites.

·        There are two types of craters:  simple craters and complex craters.

·        There is no wind or erosion to wear away these craters because the moon has no atmosphere.

·        A blue moon is when a single month has two full moons during that time.

·        A lunar eclipse is when the moon enters the Earth’s shadow.  There are about two lunar eclipses each year (visible from somewhere on Earth).

MERCURY 

·        Mercury is the planet closest to the sun and the fastest moving planet.

·        It is a small, rocky planet with a thin atmosphere.  It is only slightly smaller than the Earth’s moon.

·        Since there is not much atmosphere on Mercury, the sky would look pitch black even during the day.

·        Mercury has no seasons because it does not tilt on its axis when it orbits the sun.

·        During the day, Mercury is hotter than an oven, but at night it is colder than a freezer.

·        Mercury has no moons.

·        Mercury was named after Mercury, the Roman winged messenger written about in myths.

·        Mercury is heavily cratered, just like the Earth’s moon.

·        If you weighed 100 lbs. on the Earth, you would only weigh 38 lbs. on Mercury.

VENUS 

·        Venus is the second planet from the sun in our solar system.

·        Venus is covered with fast-moving clouds made of sulphuric acid.

·        A person would choke from the poisonous atmosphere, be cooked by the extremely high heat, and be crushed by the enormous atmospheric pressure.  OUCH!!!!!!

·        Venus is also known as the “morning star” or the “evening star”.  This is because it can only be seen at dawn or dusk since it is closer to the sun than we are.  It is not a star, however.

·        Venus is closest to Earth in size and mass than any of the other planets.

·        Venus rotates very slowly.  IT IS A SLOWPOKE!!!!!!  Each day on Venus is 243 Earth days.

·        The same side of Venus always faces the Earth.

·        Venus rotates in the opposite direction of the Earth.  If you were on Venus, the sun would seem to rise in the west and set in the east.  This is the exact opposite of what happens on the Earth.

·        Venus has no moons.

·        Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love.

MARS     

·        Mars is known as the Red Planet.  It is the fourth planet from the sun.

·        Mars is about half the size of the Earth.  It has a rocky surface and a thin atmosphere.

·        The ground is dotted with impact craters.

·        Mars has a north and south pole, each covered by ice caps.  Although there is no liquid water on Mars, scientists think that the water on Mars is frozen in the land (as permafrost) and frozen in the polar ice caps.

·        Olympus Mons is the largest volcano on Mars and erupted about 200 years ago.

·        Mars is about half the diameter of the Earth.

·        Mars has two tiny moons, PHOBOS AND DEIMOS.  They were probably asteroids pulled into orbit around Mars.

·        PHOBOS means “fear” and DEIMOS means “terror”.

·        Phobos is 13. 8 miles across.  Deimos is 7.8 miles across.  They were discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877.  He was an American.

·        Mars was named after the Roman god of war.

·        A 100 lb. person on the Earth would weigh 38 lbs. on Mars (just like on Mercury)!