Quiz: Earth, Moon, Sun

Earth, Moon, and Sun
(SOL 4.7)


Revolution & Rotation
There are two important motions in the solar system – revolution and rotation. Revolution takes place when the Earth moves around the sun and the moon moves around the Earth. It takes about 365 days for Earth to make one revolution around the sun. The moon makes one revolution around the Earth once every month. Because Earth is tilted on its axis as it moves around the sun, we experience the seasons. The other motion is rotation. The turning of Earth on its axis is an example of rotation. One complete rotation of Earth takes 24 hours or one day. Rotation causes day and night.

Phases of the Moon
The phases of the moon are caused by its position relative to the Earth and sun as it revolves around Earth. The eight lunar phases are new, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full, waning gibbous, last quarter, and waning crescent.

The Sun
The sun is an average size star about 110 times the diameter of Earth. It is a yellow star and composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. The sun is about 4.6 billion years old.

The Moon
The moon is the Earth’s only satellite. It is rocky and about ¼ the diameter of Earth. It has extremes in temperature, very little atmosphere, and no water or life.

The Earth
Earth is the third planet from the sun and one of the four rocky inner planets. It is located about 150 million kilometers from the sun. It is a geologically active planet with a constantly changing surface. It has large amounts of water, an atmosphere, and many types of life.

Scientists
Aristotle and Ptolemy thought the Earth was the center of the solar system. Copernicus and Galileo discovered that the sun was the center of the solar system.

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