Space: The Final Frontier

The Earth, the Moon and the Sun

Section 1: The EarthYou will need to know:

• The shape of the Earth• It’s diameter•What it looks like• And the distance between the sun and the

earth

You should take notes on your whiteboard

The Earth

• The earth is shaped like a sphere•We know this because…

• Ships disappear over the horizon but don’t fall off the end of the earth• You can’t see mountains from anywhere, you

only see them as you approach

The Earth’s Size

• The earth is nearly 4 times bigger than the moon• The sun is more than 100 times bigger than the

earth• The earth’s diameter is 12, 742 km

Distance from the sun and moon

• The moon is 30 earth diameters away from the earth• The sun is 12 000 earth diameters away from

the earth

Section 2: Night and Day

• You will need to:• Explain why there are 365 days in a year• Be able to draw an example to explain this• Explain how we get day and night• Explain from which direction the sun rises and

sets•Draw a picture to show how we get night and

day

Night and Day

• The earth rotates on its axis and that takes 24 hours• To us, it looks like the sun rises in the east and

sets in the west

Seasons of the Year• The earth also rotates around the sun, which

takes 365 days a year• This is what determines our seasons

Section 3: The Moon

• You will need to know:•What shape the moon is and it’s size•Why there are 28 days in a lunar calendar

The Moon’s Size

• The moon is a sphere, just like the earth• It’s diameter is 3, 476 km• It is four times smaller than the Earth

The Moon’s Orbit• The moon orbits around the Earth• The only reason we can see it, is because of the

sun•How much of it we see also depends on the sun• It takes 28 days for the moon to orbit the earth

Section 4: The Sun

• You will need to know:•What shape the sun is and its diameter•What the sun gives the earth

The Sun’s Size

• The sun is a sphere, like the earth and moon but it is MUCH bigger• It is 1, 391, 684 km around

What does the sun give the earth?

• Light – which is the ultimate energy source• Light helps the plants grow, which give animals

oxygen• It also provides vitamin D•Heat – without the sun’s heat, we would cool

off to the same temperature as outer space – too cold to survive