Module 2 Assignment: The Earth in Space
Don’t forget your name, school, date and title at the top of your completed work. Write full sentences, with correct spelling and grammar. Edit and proof-read all your work before submitting files to the dropbox.
PART A
1. a. Describe each of the following units of distance in space: light year parsec astronomical unit
b. Explain the meaning of the statement, When you gaze up at objects in the night sky, you are really looking back in time.
2. a. Using simple language, describe the details of the Big Bang theory.
b. Briefly, how does the Steady State theory differ to the Big Bang theory?
3. Describe the details of the Nebular Hypothesis.
4. Using the various links on …show more content…
Review this great video to explain how Earth’s moon was formed (look specifically at 4:40 through 7:00 min): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4pt0fFn_a4&feature=related 6. Explore these sites about the famous “northern lights”: http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/jf13/solar_maximum.asp http://www.earthonlinemedia.com/ebooks/tpe_3e/earth_system/solar_wind_auroras.html
a. What produces the northern lights?
b. Why is Canada the best location on Earth to view the auroras borealis?
7. Why must pilots take the Coriolis effect into consideration when plotting a flight path? Provide an example flight path in your explanation. 8. a. Briefly, what causes night and day? b. In some detail, what causes the seasons?
9. Why can we only give the distance from the Earth to the Sun as an average number (include “perihelion” and “aphelion” in your response)? 10. a. Complete the following table comparing each of the eight planets, and Pluto, with respect to the criteria shown. Use NASA’s planetary factsheet at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/ .
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune