A New Form of Blogging!!! (2/1/10)

We are changing the format of our blogs!!! Now we have to....

+ Imagine that you can travel back in time and talk to yourself about one of the concepts below. What would you tell yourself about the concepts that who make it easier to learn.

* Comparing and Contrasting Inner/Outer Planets
* Characteristics of the moon
* Causes for planetary Orbits
* Comparisons of Comets/Meteors and Meteorites

+ What experiment was helpful/might be helpful in constructing this concept.


+ Include a representation (picture, video, music, etc).

Comparing and Contrasting Inner/Outer Planets

- The inner planets are mecury, venus, earth and mars
- The inner planets are the planets that are inside the milky way
- The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
- Dwarf planets are like regular planets they are just not massive enough to round their own gravity

Characteristics of the Moon

-Craters are basically dents in the moon caused by impact
-Rays are the bits of the moon that fly off in all directions when a crater is formed
-Maria’s are the dark valleys of the moon, if the moon had liquid water on it then those areas would be the seas
-Mountains are the same as mountains here
-The far side of the moon is the side of the moon that is never seen from earth also known as the dark side of the moon which isn’t true because it is actually light some of the time

Causes for planetary Orbits

Planetary orbit is caused when a very massive object pulls a less dense object towards it. Since the less massive object already has motion it goes somewhere in between continuing on its current path and crashing into the more massive object. In result the less massive planet circles (orbits) around the more massive object.

Comparisons of Comets/Meteors and Meteorites

Meteors- large bits of rock that move very quickly, when the are coming twards the earth they burn up in the atmosphere

Metiorites- meteors that actually hit the earths surface
Comets- are made of ice and/or gas, are generally smaller than meteors

The planetary orbit simulation showed us the outcome of planets speed to distance ratio and that if the planet was not going fast enough compared to the distance it would crash. Also making the motion diagrams explained why planets orbit well.