1. KS3 Physics
7L The Solar System
and Beyond
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2. Contents
7L The Solar System and Beyond
Days, years and seasons
The Moon
The Solar System
Satellites and probes
Summary activities
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3. The rotation of the Earth
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4. Day and night
How long is one day?
24 hours
How long is one year?
365¼ days
The Earth spins on its axis,
which is tilted at an angle of
23.5°, and also orbits the Sun.
This causes day and night and the seasons.
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5. Day and night
sunlight
It take the Earth 24 hours
to complete one rotation
about its axis.
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6. What time is it?
 It is 04:00 in London.
What time is it in other
parts of the Earth?
Place
GMT Time
Casablanca
+1
+2
06:00
Antanarivo
+3
07:00
Philippines
+8
Philippines
05:00
Pretoria
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Casablanca
12:00
Antanarivo
Pretoria
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7. The seasons
spring
in the UK
summer
in the UK
winter
in the UK
autumn
in the UK
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8. What is the season?
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9. The position of the Sun and the seasons
east
summer
west
autumn
winter
Copy the diagram above and add two ‘sun lines’
– one line for summer and one line for winter.
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10. Contents
7L The Solar System and Beyond
Days, years and seasons
The Moon
The Solar System
Satellites and probes
Summary activities
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11. The Moon
The Sun and the Moon look about the same size from Earth,
but they are not.
The Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon but is
400 times further away!
sunlight
The Moon takes just over 27 days to orbit the Earth.
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12. The Phases of the Moon
sunlight
These are
called the
phases of
the Moon
These are the views of the Moon from Earth.
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13. The Phases of the Moon – new Moon
new Moon
This is the view of the Moon from Earth.
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14. The Phases of the Moon – crescent Moon
crescent
Moon
This is the view of the Moon from Earth.
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15. The Phases of the Moon – half Moon
half Moon
This is the view of the Moon from Earth.
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16. The Phases of the Moon – gibbous Moon
gibbous
Moon
This is the view of the Moon from Earth.
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17. The Phases of the Moon – full Moon
full Moon
This is the view of the Moon from Earth.
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18. The Phases of the Moon – gibbous Moon
gibbous
Moon
This is the view of the Moon from Earth.
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19. The Phases of the Moon – half Moon
half Moon
This is the view of the Moon from Earth.
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20. The Phases of the Moon – crescent Moon
crescent
Moon
This is the view of the Moon from Earth.
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21. Phases of the Moon activity
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22. Questions about the Moon
1. The Moon does not produce its own light - how can we
see it?
2. How long does it take the Moon to orbit the Earth?
3. Why do we always see the same side of the Moon?
4. Why do we only see a full Moon once a month?
5. What is a new Moon?
6. What force keeps the Moon in orbit around the Earth?
7. Why is there very little atmosphere on the Moon?
Homework: Find out how the Moon causes tides.
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23. Eclipses
A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between
the Sun and the Earth. This casts a shadow over the Earth.
The last solar eclipse over the UK was on 11th August 1999.
Solar eclipses do not occur very often.
A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes between
the Sun and the Moon. This casts a shadow over the Moon.
Lunar eclipses happen in most years.
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24. What happens during a solar eclipse?
During the Moon eclipsea Moon moves directly
Where must a solar eclipse the solar eclipse to take place?
During a solar be for the Moon blocks the
Sun’sbetween the Sun and theof the Earth.
rays from reaching part Earth.
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25. Viewing a solar eclipse
Always use eclipse
viewers, NEVER look
directly at the sun.
The Earth
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26. What happens during a lunar eclipse?
During lunar eclipse the Moon is on the opposite light
During a a lunar eclipse the Earth blocks the Sun’s side of
Where must the Moon reaching lunar eclipse to take place?
a
from be for to the Sun.
Moon.
the Earth
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27. Questions about eclipses
1. Why do eclipses only last a few minutes?
2. Why do you think ancient people were frightened of
eclipses?
3. What causes an eclipse of the Sun (a solar eclipse)?
4. What causes an eclipse of the Moon (a lunar eclipse)?
5. What would a lunar eclipse look like if you were an
astronaut standing on the Moon?
6. Draw simple ray diagrams of a:
a)
b)
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solar eclipse
lunar eclipse
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28. Contents
7L The Solar System and Beyond
Days, years and seasons
The Moon
The Solar System
Satellites and probes
Summary activities
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29. The Solar System
Click on the Sun and each planet to learn more.
rocky
planets
gaseous
planets
Skip all planet slides
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30. The Solar System – the Sun
333000
Diameter
[km]
Sun
Mass
[x Earth]
1392000
Surface
Sun viewed in ‘soft’ X ray temp [ºC]
6000
return to Solar System
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31. The Solar System – Mercury
Mercury
Mass [x Earth]
0.05
Diameter [km]
4,880
Distance from Sun
58
[Million km]
Time taken to travel
88 days
around Sun
Time taken to spin
59 days
once on axis
0 moons
Surface temp [ºC]
350
return to Solar System
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32. The Solar System – Venus
Venus
Mass [x Earth]
0.81
Diameter [km]
12,112
Distance from Sun
107.5
[Million km]
Time taken to travel
224 days
around Sun
Time taken to spin
243 days
once on axis
0 moons
Surface temp [ºC]
460
return to Solar System
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33. The Solar System – Earth
Earth
Mass [x Earth]
1
Diameter [km]
12,742
Distance from Sun
149.6
[Million km]
Time taken to travel
365 days
around Sun
Time taken to spin
24 hours
once on axis
1 moon
Surface temp [ºC]
20
return to Solar System
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34. The Solar System – Mars
Mars
Mass [x Earth]
0.11
Diameter [km]
6,790
Distance from Sun
228
[Million km]
Time taken to travel
687 days
around Sun
Time taken to spin
24h 37m
once on axis
2 moons
Surface temp [ºC]
- 23
return to Solar System
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35. The Solar system – Jupiter
Jupiter
Mass [x Earth]
318
Diameter [km]
142,600
Distance from Sun
[Million km]
Time taken to travel
around Sun
Time taken to spin
once on axis
63 moons
[+ 1 ring]
Surface temp [ºC]
778
11.9
years
9h 50m
-120
return to Solar System
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36. The Solar System – Saturn
Saturn
Mass [x Earth]
95
Diameter [km]
120,200
Distance from Sun
1,427
[Million km]
Time taken to travel
29.5
around Sun
years
Time taken to spin
10h 14m
once on axis
46 moons
[+ rings]
Surface temp [ºC]
-180
return to Solar System
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37. The Solar System – Uranus
Uranus
Mass [x Earth]
14.5
Diameter [km]
49,000
Distance from Sun
2,870
[Million km]
Time taken to travel
84 years
around Sun
Time taken to spin
10h 49m
once on axis
27 moons
[+ rings]
Surface temp [ºC]
-210
return to Solar System
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38. The Solar System – Neptune
Neptune
Mass [x Earth]
17.5
Diameter [km]
50,000
Distance from Sun
4,497
[Million km]
Time taken to travel
165 years
around Sun
Time taken to spin
15h 48m
once on axis
13 moons
Surface temp [ºC]
-220
return to Solar System
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39. The Solar System – Pluto
Pluto
System
Mass [x Earth]
0.003
Diameter [km]
2,284
Distance from Sun
5,900
[Million km]
[variable]
Time taken to travel
248 years
around Sun
Time taken to spin
6.4 days
once on axis
1 moon
Surface temp [ºC]
-230
return to Solar System
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40. Which planet?
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41. Temperature in the Solar System
Using the information about the Solar System, plot a graph
of ‘surface temperature’ [y] against ‘distance from the Sun’ [x]:
surface temperature [ºC]
500
What happens to the
surface temperature
of planets as they get
further away from the
Sun?
400
300
200
100
Predict the surface
temperature of a
planet that is 7000 km
away from the Sun.
0
-100
-200
-300
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
distance from the Sun [million km]
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42. Planet postcards
1. Choose a planet you would like to know more about.
You cannot choose Earth.
2. Using books or any other sources of information find out
five facts about that planet.
3. Design a postcard from that planet. You need to draw a
front to the postcard that suits your planet.
4. Write a postcard to someone on Earth as if you are
visiting the planet you have chosen. You must use your
five facts in your postcard.
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43. Planet travel guides
1. Choose a planet you would like to know more about.
2. Find out about that planet using books and other
sources of information.
3. Design a travel brochure to encourage people to come
and visit the planet. You could tell people:
- how they can get there and how long it will take;
- the climate of the planet;
- where they will stay;
- what sights they can see on the planet.
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44. Contents
7L The Solar System and Beyond
Days, years and seasons
The Moon
The Solar System
Satellites and probes
Summary activities
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45. Beyond the Solar System
For thousands of years, humans have been fascinated
by the night sky and what lays beyond it.
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46. Satellites – science fiction to science fact
Science fiction writers first suggested the idea that artificial
satellites could be put into orbit around the Earth.
This only became reality in 1957 when the Soviet Union
placed Sputnik I and Sputnik II into orbit – Sputnik II carried
a live dog called Laika!
Today, artificial satellites are
frequently launched by space
shuttles and unmanned rockets.
Artificial satellites have many
uses including communications,
satellite TV, weather forecasting
and navigation.
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47. Using satellites to view space
Astronomical satellites, such as the Hubble Space Telescope
(HST), are large telescopes placed in a high orbit far from the
effects of the Earth’s atmosphere.
These satellites can
‘see’ much further into
space and give us
images of stars and
galaxies many light
years away, like this
cartwheel galaxy.
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48. Exploring space – mission to Mars
Our search for answers and clues to the origin of the Solar
System and the possibility of life elsewhere led to the
development of unmanned space probes.
For years, science fiction had brought us stories of Martians
- but could they really exist or have existed?
On 4th December 1996, NASA launched
the ‘Pathfinder’ Discovery Mission to Mars.
It cost $150 million and took 7 months to
reach Mars.
When it had landed, the ‘Sojourner Rover’
buggy tested Mars’ atmosphere, surface
and weather, amongst other things.
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49. Mission to Mars – about the planet
Mars
Mass [x Earth]
0.11
Diameter [km]
6,790
Distance from Sun
228
[Million km]
Time taken to travel
687 days
around Sun
Time taken to spin
24 h 37m
once on axis
2 moons
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Surface temp [ºC]
- 23
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50. Mission to Mars – the Sojourner Rover
The Sojourner Rover
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51. Mission to Mars – tests on Mars
The tests carried out by the Rover showed that Mars is
much more like the Earth than was expected.
Was Mars like
the Earth until
something
catastrophic
happened?
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52. Mission to Mars – volcanoes on Mars
The tests also showed that the crust of Mars is very similar
to continental crust on Earth and that volcanoes had played
a part in Mars’ formation.
Why did the
volcanoes stop?
Did the gases
they gave out kill
any Martian life?
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53. Mission to Mars – erosion on Mars
The surface of Mars has undergone intense erosion
by massive floods and by strong winds.
Did it rain on Mars?
How much water
was there on Mars?
Was there life in
the water?
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54. Questions about satellites and probes
1. Give two uses of artificial satellites.
2. Why can the Hubble Space Telescope ‘see’ much further
into space and produce much clearer images than
telescopes on Earth?
3. Why didn’t NASA send astronauts to Mars instead of
spending millions of dollars on the ‘Pathfinder’ Discovery
Mission?
4. Give two reasons why there is unlikely to be life on Mars.
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55. Contents
7L The Solar System and Beyond
Days, years and seasons
The Moon
The Solar System
Satellites and probes
Summary activities
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56. Glossary
axis – The line that the Earth rotates about, which is tilted
at an angle of 23.5°.
lunar eclipse – The blocking of the Moon’s light, when
the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon.
luminous – An object that gives out light.
orbit – The path of a planet around the Sun, or the path of
a satellite around a planet.
satellite – Any object that orbits another object.
seasons – The different periods of a year caused by the
tilt of Earth’s axis.
solar system – A star with planets and other objects
orbiting around it.
solar eclipse – The blocking of the Sun’s light, when the
Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun.
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57. Anagrams
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58. Multiple-choice quiz
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