Planetary Science Notes Part 1
Name__________________________
Class______________
Date___________________________
I.
Round Earth/Flat Earth
A. Sailing Ships
1.
The___________________is where the sky and Earth appear to meet.
2. Your____________________ is the straight path taken by light from an
object to your eye.
3. Ships sailing out to see appear to _____________________on the horizon.
4. If the Earth were__________, you’d see the entire ship out on the horizon.
B. Shadow Evidence
1. Eratosthenes found the circumference of the Earth using sticks,
______________, some geometry, and feet!
2. Light rays travel in ________________lines.
3. Because the Sun is so large and so far away, all rays of light hitting
anywhere on Earth are ________________ to one another.
4. A pole only casts a ____________ when the sun shines on its ________,
not on its top.
5. Poles on a _____________ surface cast shadows of different
__________.
6. The shadows are longer at higher _________________.
7. ___________________ is when the sun is directly overhead in the sky
(does not mean 12pm noon!)
8. Shadows in _________________ are longer than shadows in summer due to
the changes in the ____________of the sun.
II.
Day and Night
1. Earth ___________, or spins on its axis in a
___________________ direction. (West to East)
2. Day and ___________ are a result of ____________________
3. The _______ appears to move across the sky from _______ to
_______ due to Earth’s ______________.
4. Shadows change during the day due to the changing position of the
________ in the sky.
5. The _______is a source of _________ that illuminates Earth during
the day.
6. When light falls on a _____________ object, like a ___________,
exactly _________ is in the light and half is in the dark.
7. The Earth ___________ on its __________ once every _______,
giving the illusion of a _________ that rises and sets.
8. One complete _____________ of our planet describes one complete
_________. One rotation of _________ is one day, or about _____
hours.
III. Seasons
1. The earth ________________ (orbits) around the ________-about _____________ days--one ___________.
2. The ___________ axis --________ gives us _______________.
3. The angle of ______________ affects _______________--the
more direct the __________ of sunlight the ___________ it is.
The angle varies due to Earth's spherical shape.
Ex. It is warmer at the _____________ because it gets more
____________ sunlight, and cooler at the poles because the sunlight
is at an angle.
4. Earth's ______ affects not only the intensity of sunlight falling on
earth, but also the number of ______________________.
5. The number of daylight __________ changes from ___________to
season.
6. In the No. Hemisphere around _______________ is longest day of
year. This is called the Summer_________________.
7. In the No. Hemisphere around _____________________ is the
shortest day of the year. This is called the
__________________Solstice.
8. The Vernal Equinox, or __________________ is around
__________ 21 and _______________ Equinox, or Fall is around
___________ 21. Sunlight spreads ____________ across equator
and there is about 12 hours of _________ and night across the globe.
The amount of daylight varies due to refraction of light in the
____________________.
9. The Earth is actually a little ____________ to the sun in its orbit
during __________. This is called ___________________.
10. The Earth is a little ____________ from the sun in
_________________. This is called _________________.