Griffith Observatory Field Trip Guide
To enter the Griffith Observatory you must make a reservation for a seat on a shuttle.
There is a cost associated with each shuttle ticket and it is $8.00. There is no other way to
enter Griffith Observatory! There are three ways to make a reservation; either access the
reservation system online at
https://tix.extremetix.com/tix/SilverStream/Pages/pgIndex.html?siteID=1237 , call them at
1-888-695-0888 or buy tickets in person at the Griffith Reservation Center located at the
Griffith Observatory Satellite Parking Lot. The lot can be found at 4800 Western Heritage
Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90027. The reservation center hours are:
Tuesday - Friday 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday- Sunday 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Closed Mondays
Answer the following questions in the space provided below. Number your answers!
Outside Grounds at Main Entrance:
1. Who are the 6 scientists named on the Astronomer’s Monument?
2. What do you notice about the orbits of Neptune and Pluto?
Foucault’s Pendulum
3. How does Foucault’s Pendulum prove that the Earth rotates on its axis?
4. Why would the pegs not be knocked over if the pendulum was at the equator?
5. Why would happen if the pendulum were in Antarctica?
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Griffith Observatory Field Trip Guide
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Hall of the Eye
6. What was the original purpose of a Tesla coil? Is it possible?
7. What are the different types of waves in the electromagnetic spectrum?
8. How do we study the x-rays emitted from black holes?
9. Which 2 wave types can be detected by earth-based telescopes?
Extending the Eye
10. What does the spectrum of light tell us about an object?
11. How do objects look in bigger as opposed to smaller telescopes?
12. What do telescopes collect and focus into our eyes?
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West Wing
Day and Night
13. What are the three factors that determine how much daylight we experience?
14. Why do we have day and night?
Moon Phases
15. How long does it take for the moon to cycle through all its phases?
16. What is the difference between how the moon looks from Earth and how it looks from space at
different times of its cycle?
17. Why do we always see the same side of the moon?
Tides
18. What cases high and low tides?
19. What is the difference between Spring tides and Neap tides?
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Sun and Stars’ Paths
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20. Why do the sun and stars appear to be moving across the sky?
Seasons
21. What is the difference between the summer sun and the winter sun?
22. Why is it winter in the northern hemisphere when it is summer in the southern hemisphere?
23. Where on Earth would you experience the least amount of seasonal change? Why?
Eclipses
24. What is a solar eclipse?
25. What is a lunar eclipse?
26. If you don’t travel, how often will you see a lunar eclipse?
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Griffith Observatory Field Trip Guide
Our Sun is a Star
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27. What are the five types of stars?
28. What kind of star is our Sun?
29. How do stars shine?
30. Is our star likely to become a black hole? Why?
31. What types of stars live the longest?
The Active Sun
32. What do the light and dark spots on the sun mean?
33. What does a Spectroscope do?
34. What wavelength is Magnesium?
Hall of the Sky
35. What is the difference between the elements in stars and those in supernova?
36. What are the six most common elements in human bodies?
37. What do we consider to be the “fingerprint” of an element?
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Downstairs
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Edge of Space
38. How do Elliptical and Spiral galaxies differ?
39. How do stars appear differently from galaxies?
Our Moon
40. What is displayed in front of the model of the Moon?
41. How far away is the Moon from Earth?
42. Does the moon have air, liquid, water or gravity?
43. Why does the Moon look pitted?
44. How much would you weight on the moon? Why?
Milky Way Galaxy
45. How do we know that the Milky Way Galaxy is “milky” if we can’t leave the galaxy?
46. What is found in the middle of the Milky Way Galaxy?
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The Planets – Our Solar System
Fill in the chart.
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
47. Distance from Sun
48. Structure
49. Temperature
50. Mass
51. Volume
52. Length of Day
53. Length of Night
54. Axial Tilt
55. Your Weight
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