ACTIVATING STRATEGY:

On your notes write out your address…

Now what country…

What continent…

What planet…

What galaxy?

After today’s lesson, you should be able to

answer all of these questions and more!

HOW IS OUR SOLAR SYSTEM POSITIONED IN THE MILKY WAY GALAXY

AND THE UNIVERSE?S6E1b. Describe the position of the solar system in the

Milky Way Galaxy and the universe.

LET’S REVIEW

Turn to a seat partner and discuss the

theory on how the universe was formed.

THE BIG BANG THEORY

The most commonly accepted theory today of the formation of the universe is

the Big Bang Theory.

The theory states that the universe originated sometime between 10 billion

and 20 billion years ago from an enormous explosion of a small volume of matter at extremely high density and temperature.

Let’s review the formation of other objects

within the solar system.

THE UNIVERSE AFTER ITS BIG BANG…

As millions of years passed, the dense areas of the universe

pulled in material because they had more gravity. Finally, about 100 million years after the Big Bang, the gas became hot and

dense enough for the first stars to form. Large clusters of stars soon became the first galaxies.

Scientists believe that Solar Systems formed in similar ways.

Giant clouds of dust and gas began to collapse under the

weight of its own gravity. As it did so, the matter contained within it began to move in a

giant circle, much like the water in a drain moves around the

center of the drain in a circle.

At the center of this spinning cloud, a small star began to

form. This star grew larger and larger as it collected more and more of the dust and gas that

collapsed into it.

Further away from the center of this mass where the star was

forming, there were smaller clumps of dust and gas that were also

collapsing.

The star in the center eventually ignited forming our Sun, while the

smaller clumps became the planets, minor planets, moons, comets, and

asteroids.

In short, after the Big Bang, dense clouds of gas and dust from the

“bang” either collapsed or stuck together to form the parts of the

universe we know today.

The Universe contains billions of galaxies, each containing millions

or billions of stars.

Therefore, the galaxy in which our solar system and essentially all of

us live, is just one of billions.

Distributed Summarizing: Turn to a seat partner and come up

with a comparison of our galaxy within the universe.

Our galaxy is called the Milky Way Galaxy.

THE MILKY WAY GALAXY Contains single

star systems, double stars, and dust and gas

It is a spiral galaxy because it has spiral arms that wind outward from the center

THE MILKY WAY GALAXY Why is our galaxy called the

Milky Way? Thousands of years ago people

thought the stars appeared as a patchy band of light like a flowing river of milk, thus the name Milky Way.

Also, the word galaxy comes from the Greek word gala, meaning milk.

OUR SOLAR

SYSTEMOur solar system is a single star system located on an outer rim

(arm) of the Milky Way Galaxy.

OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

Here is another view of the location of our solar system in the Milky Way Galaxy.

STUDY JAMS: THE SOLAR SYSTEM

EXAMINE THE MILKY WAY GALAXY AT DIFFERENT SCALES

SCALE OF THE UNIVERSE ANIMATION

DIGITAL UNIVERSE

DISTRIBUTED SUMMARIZING:

The map to the right shows Troup County.

The lines and numbers represent

interstates and major roads running through Troup

County.

Imagine that the circle in the middle of the map is the center

of the Milky Way Galaxy. Draw an

asterisk (*) showing where the Solar System might be

located on our Troup County map.

SUMMARIZING STRATEGY

Universe Match-up