GRADE 5 EARTH SCIENCE UNIT
Test Date: ______________
Astronomy Study Guide
Know the difference between these two views of the solar system: Geocentric and
Heliocentric. Use Twinkle 101/Astronomy 101 log book notes.
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos
(a mnemonic device for remembering the order of the planets in our Solar System)
Neptune
Uranus
Jupiter
Mars
Earth
Venus
Mercruy
Sun
Saturn
Outer Planets or Gas Giants
Inner or Rocky Planets
Asteroid: a small rocky object that orbits the sun.
Asteroid Belt
Be able to draw or explain a picture that models the relationship between the universe, the
galaxies, solar systems, planets and moons. Study Twinkle 102 log book notes. Our solar system
is in the Milky Way galaxy.
galaxy
solar system
planet
moon
universe
star
Only 2 types of objects in the universe make their own light: stars and meteors. All
the other objects (planets, moons, comets, etc.) just reflect light from the stars.
Rotation: the spinning of an object around its
axis. Earth’s rotation is why the Sun appears to
rise in the East and set in the West.
Day: the amount of time it takes a planet or
moon to complete one rotation around its axis.
Earth’s rotation takes 24 hours.
axis
Day
Night
Revolution: one complete orbit of an object
around another object in space.
Year: the amount of time it takes a planet to
complete one revolution around the Sun.
Earth’s revolution around the sun takes 1
year or ~365 days.
Gravity is the
force that keeps
objects in orbit.
Objects with
greater mass
have more
gravity.
Sun
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Spring: Northern Hemisphere
Fall: Southern Hemisphere.
SEASONS
Summer: Northern
Hemisphere
Winter: Northern
Hemisphere
SUN
Winter: Southern
Hemisphere
Fall: Northern Hemisphere
Summer: Southern
Hemisphere
Spring: Southern Hemisphere.
If Earth’s axis was not tilted we would not have seasons. We have seasons on
Earth because our axis is tilted AND because we revolve around the sun. As
Earth revolves around the Sun, sometimes the axis points towards the sun and
sometimes it points away. This way we revolve through the four seasons of winter,
spring, summer and fall in one year.
Earth’s ROTATION causes
the sun to appear to move
across the sky,
rising in the East and
setting in the West.
Shadows are longer when the
sun is lower in the sky. And
shift direction as the sun
moves.
THE SUN: The star at the center of our solar system.
Study textbook pages p 318-321
sunspots: dark, cooler spots on the surface of the sun.
solar prominence: bright loops of plasma that flow up from the sun’s surface.
solar flares: brief bursts of energy from the sun’s surface
solar wind: streams of charged particles (plasma) thrown into space from the sun that can disturb
Earth’s compasses and communication systems and can produce auroras (northern and southern
lights) in the polar skies.
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Meteoroid: mini-asteroid that orbits the sun.
Meteor: a meteoroid that has been pulled by gravity towards the surface of a planet
or moon and is burning up due to the force of friction with the planet’s atmosphere,
commonly called a “shooting star”. Meteors and stars are the only objects that are
a true source of light in space. They PRODUCE light, they do not just reflect it.
Meteorite: the part of a meteor that doesn’t burn up and crashes into the surface of a
planet or moon making an impact crater.
Phases of the Moon
(The Lunar Cycle)
Phases of the Moon: the
different shapes of the moon you
see from Earth. The phase of the
moon depends on how much of
the sunlit side of the moon you
see from Earth. It takes about*
one “moonth” for the moon to orbit
around the Earth and complete a
full lunar cycle.
Phases of the Moon occur as
the moon revolves around the
Earth.
1st Quarter
Earth
Full Moon
New Moon
Last Quarter
“Last Left Lit”
Ocean Tides: changes in the water level at the shoreline caused by the moon’s gravitational pull
on Earth. The water comes up higher on the beach at High Tide and lower on the beach at Low
Tide. The tides change as the Earth rotates. There are two High Tides and two Low Tides each
day… that is a total of 4 tidal changes.
Atmosphere: the blanket of
Earth
Both
Moon
gases that surrounds Earth
Atmosphere
Impact Craters
No Atmosphere
Maria: flat dark areas of the
Weather
Gravity
No Weather
moon that are covered with
Wind
Mountains
No Liquid Water
hardened lava. People used
Liquid Water
Rocks
Maria (Mare)
to think these were seas.
Moving Water/Rivers
Plains
Rays
Impact crater: bowl shaped
Weathering/Erosion
Valleys
Moonquakes
hole in the surface of moons
Life
Extinct Volcanoes
Diameter =3,476
and planets made by
Active Volcanoes
Rotate
(1/4 size of Earth)
meteorites.
Diameter =12,742km Revolve
See Textbook
Earthquakes
Extinct Volcanoes
Rays: fine rock blown out in
p322-325
Soil
Frozen Water
straight lines from a crater
Blue Sky
after a meteorite hits.
Clouds
STUDY THIS GUIDE, LOG BOOK NOTES, GREEN FOLDER PAPERS AND CH 7
in your TEXTBOOK!