Astronomy Web-Based Activities
Name:
Per:
Date:
You will use the directions posted on your teacher’s website to move through the activities. Throughout, you will be
working to improve your understanding of the following:
1. The order of the planets in the Solar System
a. Their names and order
b. General characteristics of the inner and outer planets
c. How far apart and small they are relative to each other and the Sun
2. What kinds of objects exist in our Solar System that are not planets
a. What they are made of
b. Where they are and what size they are
c. How we experience them here on Earth
3. What kids of objects make up our galaxy, the Milky Way, and the Universe
a. If the galaxy were said to be made of something, what it would be
b. The number of stars in the Milky Way
c. How small and far apart the stars are from one another
d. The Sun’s location in the Milky Way
e. What other kinds of objects exist in the Milky Way
f. The number of galaxies in the Universe
g. How small and far apart they are from one another
If the Moon were a Pixel:
1. It would take 17 minutes to scroll all the way through the whole map out to Pluto. At the end it tells you that it
would take scrolling through 6,771 more maps like the one from the Sun to Pluto to get to the next nearest
object. That object is Proxima Centauri, the star closest to our own Sun. How long would it take to scroll through
that many maps? If one map took 17 minutes, how long would 6,772 take?
2. Describe in your own words how small the objects in our Solar System are relative to how far apart they are. As
Mr. Smith says, “If you aren’t using the word ‘stupid’ [as in ‘stupid big,’ stupid far,’ etc.] you’re doing it wrong.”
3. The map is actually a bit misleading. There actually are objects on beyond Pluto. List some of those objects
below. Hint: You can’t answer this question yet. Come back to it when you’ve learned more.
A Bit of Reading:
Object or
Structure
Name
Asteroid
Belt
Asteroids
Kuiper
Belt
Dwarf
Planets
Comets
Oort
Cloud
What they’re
made of
How big/small
they are?
Where they can
be found
How we here on Earth experience this
kind of object
A Beautifully Designed Infographic.
1. Astronomical Units (AUs) are a convenient unit for measuring distances on the scale of a Solar System. One AU
equals about…?
2. If you were out at Jupiter, about how long would it take a message you were sending back to Earth to get there?
3. Stuff in space is crazy far apart and stupid small. What’s wrong with the picture of the Kuiper Belt?
4. When you get beyond Pluto you run into other Dwarf Planets. There may be hundreds of them. Two of them
shown on the infographic are Haumea and Makemake. Go visit the Wikipedia articles for Haumea and
Makemake. In the contents list click on “Name.” Who are Haumea and Makemake and where do the names
come from?
a. Haumea
b. Makemake
5. The Kuiper “Belt” and the Oort “Cloud” are well named. Why does it make sense to call the one a belt and the
other a cloud?
6. What’s special about Voyager 1?
By the way, Voyager 1 is travelling at 38,610 miles per hour. At that speed it would take Voyager 1 73,664 years
to get to the next nearest star, Proxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri is 4.24 light years away. A light year is the
distance (not a time) that light travels in one year.
Now, remember the drawing of the Solar System and Universe you did during the Astronomy Pre-Assessment? It’s time
to do another one. You DO NOT need to do this from memory this time. Feel free to use any of the sites you’ve been to
to help you.
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Use a single sheet of printer paper. Put your name and period in a corner.
Your drawing should represent both the “stuff” in our Solar System, The Milky Way, and the Universe.
Your drawing should show the following
o Relative sizes of things
o Relative distances of things
o Relative locations of things
Two Other Representations of Scale. Your teacher will lead the whole class in looking at two additional resources about
the scale of things in the Universe. You should have your completed drawing in front of you. As you look at what your
teacher is showing you, take note of things you now recognize you should change/add in your drawing. List them below.
Things I would change/add in my drawing:
Now, Review the List of Objectives for this lesson below. Check the boxes of the items you feel confident you’ve “got.”
□ The order of the planets in the Solar System
□ Their names and order
□ General characteristics of the inner and outer planets
□ How far apart and small they are relative to each other and the Sun
□ What kinds of objects exist in our Solar System that are not planets
□ What they are made of
□ Where they are and what size they are
□ How we experience them here on Earth
□ What kids of objects make up our galaxy, the Milky Way, and the Universe
□ If the galaxy were said to be made of something, what it would be
□ The number of stars in the Milky Way
□ How small and far apart the stars are from one another
□ The Sun’s location in the Milky Way
□ What other kinds of objects exist in the Milky Way
□ The number of galaxies in the Universe
□ How small and far apart they are from one another