Sun-Earth-Moon Study Guide

Question 1

Explain why we experience day and night

Answer 1

The earth orbits the sun in 365 days. It spins on its axis.

Question 2

What is the difference between rotation and revolution?

Answer 2

-The spinning of the earth on its axis, called rotation, causes day and night.
-Earth’s yearly orbit (365 days) around the sun is the revolution

Question 3

What causes seasons?

Answer 3

The earth has seasons due to it’s axial tilt, not because it’s distance from the sun. The angle
of the earth’s axis in relation to it’s orbit around the sun is what causes season’s to change.

Question 4

What is Solstice?

Answer 4

-The solstice is the day when the sun reaches its greatest distance north or south of the equator
-It occurs in (winter) December 21st or 22nd and (summer) June 20th or 21st.
-Summer solstice is the longest day of the year and winter solstice is the shortest day of the year.

Question 5

What is equinox?

Answer 5

These are the days when the sun is exactly above the equator, which makes day and night of equal length. They occur about March 21st and about September 23

Question 6

Explain the characteristics of the earth’s moon?

Answer 6

-Mercury is the size of the moon.
-They found ice water on the moon
-The moon was landed on by Armstrong and Aldren in 1969
-The moon orbits the earth
-The moon has 8 phases
-There is dust and rocks on the moon
-The moon isn’t flat
-There are moon craters, seas of lava

Question 7

List in order the moon’s phases starting with The New Moon. Explain each phase.

Answer 7

1.) New Moon: this occurs when the moon is between earth and the sun. The moon is in the sky, but it cannot be seen.
2.) Waxing Crescent: You can see a thin crescent
3.) The First Quarter: You can see half of the lighted sign of the moon, or one quarter
4.) Waxing Gibbeous: When more than one quarter is visible
5.) Full Moon: Occurs when all the moon’s surface facing the earth is seen.
6.) Waning Gibbeous: begins just after the full moon. The moon begins to look like it begins to shrink.
7.) Third Quarter: When you can only see half of the lighted side
8.) Waning Crescent: You can only see a small slice of the moon.

Question 8

Explain what an eclipse is

Answer 8

-The revolution of the moon is what causes Eclipses. Eclipses occur when the earth or the moon temporarily blocks the sunlight from reaching the other.

Question 9

What happens during a solar eclipse?

Answer 9

-A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves directly between the sun and the earth and casts a shadow over part of the earth.

Question 10

What happens during a lunar eclipse?

Answer 10

-When earth’s shadow falls on the moon, a lunar eclipse occurs. A lunar eclipse begins when the moon moves into earth’s penumbra. As the moon continues to move, it enters the earth’s umbra and you see a curved shadow on the moon’s surface.

Question 11

Apollo 11

Answer 11

-The first Astronauts land on the moon
-Neil Armstrong is the first man to touch foot on the moon

Question 12

Apollo 12

Answer 12

The first major scientific experiment was set up on the moon.

Question 13

Apollo 13

Answer 13

An explosion causes the mission to abort (end). The astronauts barely make it home.

Question 14

Apollo 14

Answer 14

The first landing in the lunar mountains.

Question 15

Apollo 15

Answer 15

The first wheeled vehicle excursions

Question 16

Apollo 15

Answer 16

The first wheeled vehicle excursions

Question 17

Apollo 16

Answer 17

The first crew explored the mountains

Question 18

Apollo 17

Answer 18

The biggest and final Apollo mission to the moon.