SCIENCE TEST 1
VOCABULARY
1. Satellite: A body that orbits a planet.
2. Star: A giant ball of superheated gas or plasma, composed of hydrogen and helium.
3. Planet: A giant object that orbits the sun, is large enough to have become rounded
by its own gravity, and has cleared the area of its orbit of any debris.
4. Meteor: A streak of light produced when a small piece of rock or ice, known as
meteoroid, burns up as it enters Earth’s atmosphere.
5. Comet: A cold mixture of dust and ice that develops a long trail of light as it
approaches the sun.
6. Constellation: A pattern or group of stars that people imagine represents a figure,
animal or object.
7. Geocentric model: An Earth-centered model.
8. Heliocentric model: A sun-centered model.
9. Ellipse: An oval shape.
10. Axis: Imaginary line that passes, from the North pole, through the Earth center, to
the South pole.
11. Rotation: Spinning of the Earth on it own axis.
12. Revolution: The movement of one object around another.
13. Orbit: The path of an object as it revolves around another object in space.
14. Solstice: One day per year when the sun appears highest in the sky.
15. Equinox: Halfway between the solstices, neither hemisphere is tilted toward the
sun.
16. Gravity: The force that attracts all objects toward each other.
17. Law of Universal Gravitation: States that every object in the universe attracts every
other object.
18. Inertia: The tendency of an object to resist a change in motion.
19. Phases: The different shapes of the moon we see.
20. Eclipse: When an object in space comes between the sun and a third object, it
cases a shadow on the third object.
21. Umbra: The very darkest part of the shadow where the light from the sun is
completely blocked.
22. Penumbra: The area of the shadow where the sun is only partially blocked.
23. Spring tide: Tide with the most significant difference between consecutive low and
high tides.
24. Neap tide: A tide with the least difference between consecutives low and high
tides.
LESSON 1
- The moon is the only Earth’s natural satellite.
- There are 8 planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
Difference between Meteor and Comet
Meteor:
- A streak of light produced by the burning of a meteor
- Common
Comet:
- A cold mixture of dust and ice that develops a long trail of light along as it
approaches the sun.
- Rare
Constellations
- Constellations don’t have any scientific meaning.
- For many believes, such as ancient Roman and Greek culture, these patterns of
stars are very meaningful.
- Some constellations like, Pegasus and Perseus are named after people or animals
from Greek myths.
- Some famous constellations are: Ursa Mayor, Scorpius, Leo, Gemini, Cancer.
Seasonal Changes
- Constellations or star patterns always remain the same.
- We perceive that the change because of the Earth revolution, as time is passing we
perceive that that patterns change of place.
Models of the Solar System:
- Geocentric: Earth-centered solar system model
- Heliocentric: Sun-centered solar system model.
Scientists:
- Aristotle: Aristotle thought simply that Earth was the center of the universe, with
all the planets and stars circling it.
- Ptolemy: Developed a geocentric model just like Aristotle but planets made small
circles called epicycles. This model was widely accepted 1,500 years after Ptolemy
death.
- Aristarchus: A Greek scientist who proposed a heliocentric model of solar system
where planets revolve around the sun, this model wasn’t well received because he
didn’t have the fame of Aristotle.
- Copernicus: Polish scientist who developed a heliocentric model, where planets
had their own orbit, revolutions of Earth around the sun, and that every day the
Earth do a spin around its own axis.
- Kepler: Assistant of Tycho Brahe, developed a model where planets doesn’t orbit in
a perfect circle but, in ellipse, an oval shape.
- Galileo: Galileo Galilei discovered by his telescope, how moons orbit Jupiter and
how Venus has phases, similar to the moon ones.
LESSON 2
- Everyday the Earth completes a rotation around its own axis, an imaginary line that
passes from the North Pole, through the Earth’s center, to the South Pole.
- Each rotation or day last 23 hours and 56 minutes, almost 24 hours.
- The rotation of Earth has a 23.5° tilt. So it doesn’t rotate in straight line.
- The side facing the Sun experiences day, while the side in shadow experiences
night.
Revolution
- Every year the Earth completes a revolution around the sun.
- The cycle of revolution completes every 365 days.
- The speed of Earth at revolution is of about 107,000 km/h.
Equinox
- Occurs the day the sun aligns directly with the terrestrial Equator, making that light
and heat distribute equally in both hemispheres.
- Both, night and day, last 12 hours each.
- Summer equinox (North hemisphere): March, 21
- Winter equinox (South hemisphere): September, 23
Solstice
- Occurs the day where the sun reach it point more to the north or south of the
Equator and Earth’ axis is tilted toward or forward the sun.
- Summer solstice (North hemisphere): Longest day and shortest night, June 21
- Winter solstice (South hemisphere): Shortest day and longest night, December 22
Orbital Motion
- Orbit is caused by gravity, example Moons, orbit Earth because Earth’s gravity pulls
moon towards Earth.
- But, another important fact is inertia, because without it moon, wouldn’t have a
constant speed, it is stated a Newton’s law: An object will stay at rest and an object
in motion will stay in motion with a constant speed and direction, unless acted on
by a force.
LESSON 3
Motion of the Moon
- Like Earth, Moon also rotate and revolves.
- We always se the same side of the moon because a “day” on the moon is the same
length as a “year” on the moon.
Phases of the Moon
1. New Moon: The Moon is between the Earth and the Sun. Its dark side faces us,
making it virtually invisible.
2. Waxing Crescent: A thin sliver of the Moon becomes visible on the right side. It is
"waxing," or growing.
3. First Quarter: Half of the Moon's near side is illuminated (the right half). It is one-
quarter of the way through its lunar cycle.
4. Waxing Gibbous: More than half of the Moon is illuminated, but it is not yet full. It
continues to wax.
5. Full Moon: The Earth is between the Sun and the Moon. The Moon's entire near
side is fully illuminated by the Sun.
6. Waning Gibbous: The illumination begins to decrease ("waning") after the full
moon. The left side starts to darken.
7. Third Quarter: Half of the Moon's near side is illuminated (the left half). It is three-
quarters of the way through its cycle.
8. Waning Crescent: Only a thin, fading sliver on the left side is visible before the
Moon returns to the New Moon phase.
Eclipses
- An eclipse occurs when an object in space comes between the sun and a third
object, causing shadow on the third object.
- An umbra is the very darkest part of an eclipse where the sun is completely
blocked.
- A penumbra is the area of the shadow in an eclipse where the sun is only partially
blocked.
Tides
- Tides are affected by the moon’s gravity, at the side moon pulls more strongly
water bulge and also at the weakest pull side of the moon.
- Spring tide: A tide with the most significant difference between consecutive low
and high tides.
- Neapp tide: A tide with the least difference between consecutive low and high
tides.