Name:

Form:

Teacher:

X School

<school logo>

Year 7 Science: Space

Homework may be marked on Firefly – check your feedback and make corrections to your work! This is your responsibility!

Scale of the Universe

Word MeaningA body which orbits a planet

An explosion at the end of a star’s life

A collection of Stars

The Star that Earth orbits

An object at the end of a stars life that light cannot escape from

A huge, bright ball of burning gas

A collection of planets orbiting one star

An object orbiting a star

Made up of billions of galaxies

Light Year

• Light travels very quickly (300 million metres every second)

• If you could travel at the speed of light, you would be able to circle the Earth’s equator about 7.5 times in just one second!

• 1 light year is a VERY long distance

• 1 light year = 9,500,000,000,000,000 metres!!

• Or… 63,000 times the distance from The Earth to The Sun

Days, Months, Seasons and YearsDay and Night:The earth spins on its own a………………… once every ………….. hours (1 full d…………..). The axis is an imaginary line running through the centre of the Earth from the N…………………. p……………. to the S………………….. p…………………..

Months:

Seasons:When England is tilted towards the sun we have summer. When England is tilted away from the sun we have winter.

Years:The Earth also rotates (o………………….) the S………… once every y……………… which is ……………….. days. The shape of the orbit is an e………………………………

We have a l……………… y……………….once every 4 years to account for this extra day.

Year length is different on different planets because…

Questions: Days, Months, Seasons & Years

Shadows and EclipsesShadows are formed when light is blocked by an opaque object

Extended light source:

Solar Eclipses:The sun, moon and Earth all line up with the moon in the middle.

Although the sun is much bigger than the moon, it is much further away, so looks the same size. Therefore, the Moon can completely cover the Sun for a few minutes.

Lunar Eclipses:• A Lunar Eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth and Moon are all lined up with the Earth in the

middle.

• The Earth blocks the Sun’s light to the Moon.

Practical: Shadows

Questions: Shadows and Eclipses

The Solar System

Postcard from another planet:

Questions: The Solar System

Asteroids and Comets

Asteroids Comets

Practical: Asteroids and CratersHow does the height the ‘asteroid’ is dropped from affect the size of the crater?

Independent variable (1) Dependent variable (1) 3 control variables (3) Table (2) Make your results reliable (1) Graph (4) Conclusion – what pattern do you see in your results (use “-er” words) (1) Independent work (2)

Questions: Asteroids and Comets

The diagram below shows part of the solar system

The Sun• The Sun is a star.

• It is 4,500 million years old

• It takes 8 minutes for its light to reach the Earth.

• 98.6% mass of the Solar System

• Consists of Hydrogen (74%) and Helium (24%)

• Surface Temperature: 5,500 °C

• Core Temperature: 15,500,000 °C

How our sun formed…1) Giant Clouds of Dust and Gas were pulled together by gravity2) It got denser and hotter, until it was hot enough for nuclear reactions to take place. 3) Our Sun was born!

Huge amounts of energy are produced due to nuclear reactions in the Sun.

Nuclear energy → Heat Energy

What is the structure of the sun?

Core – where the nuclear reactions take place.

Photosphere - The Sun’s surface - the layer of the Sun where most of the visible light comes from.

Corona – atmosphere of the sun – extends millions of km into space.

Solar Flares - sudden brightening observed over the Sun's surface

What are sun spots?• Temporary “blemishes” on the photosphere (Sun’s surface)

• Caused by intense magnetic activity.

• forming areas of reduced temperature

• The number of sunspots varies.

• The average length between 1 maximum and the next is…11 years!

How will our sun die?The fuel will run out and the Sun will expand and cool into a Red Giant…

The outer layers of the Red Giant will drift off, and leave behind a small core called a White Dwarf.

This will then gradually cool and fade away…

Our Sky At NightMake sure you can recognise:

The Big Dipper (USA) / The Plough (UK) (part of Ursa Major) Polaris – the North Star or Pole Star (found in the constellation Ursa Minor) Cassiopeia Cepheus Draco

Space ExplorationSpacecraft which carry

humansSpace Probes (unmanned)

Earth Telescopes Space Telescope

Questions: Space Exploration