blog 5

 Lab:

This week in the lab we talked about the solar system more specifically the planters and where they are within the system.The main activity we did in class was creating our diagrams and examples of the four first planets from the sun. These planets are surrounded by an asteroid belt so they are grouped. Each group was asked to create models that were proportionally correct in size and spatial length so we had to do some math. My group made the planets and sun out of playdough. We made the playdough planets by converting their size to cm and the length between the sun and each plant to meters. Because of this, our planets were so small we had to use sticky notes to keep track of them. The length between the planets was so long we couldn't get them into one picture. 

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During the discussion this week we talked about the two tropics of Earth (cancer and Capricorn). We also talked about how the seasons are affected by the sun's rays. I learned that when the Tropic of Cancer is facing the sun it's winter in the north and summer in the south and then the opposite when it's the Tropic of Capricorn tilted towards the sun. We also talked about the moon. We talked about how the moon rotates around the earth. We see one side of the moon from Earth. I also learned that the distance between the planet and the moon has grown bigger. One day the moon will leave the Earth'sorbit. Lastly, we talked about how the moon was created from a combination of earth particles and they hit each other. 

1. What did you learn?

• One thing I learned about from this chapter was the different requirements. A plan has to have to be considered a real planet. These requirements included the need to orbit around the sun, have gravity that helps form it into a round shape and have gravitational dominance against the other stars and rocks around it.

2. What was most helpful?

• The YouTube video about the different sizes of planets and universes compared to us was very helpful because it gave me a better understanding of how huge everything is in comparison to one another. 

3. What do you need more information on?

• One thing I would like more information on is the planets and their distance from the sun. I’m curious as to what would happen if Saturn and Mercury were to switch spots and/or what changes would occur to both planets.

4. What questions/concerns/comments do you have?

• I’m curious as to why it took so long for scientists to determine that Pluto was not a planet. I also thought that at the beginning of the chapter, it was very interesting how the writer gave examples of different ways to memorize the order of the planets in our solar system and their distance from the sun.