. Lesson summary Vocabulary Grammar Content Objetives Features of the Solar System and Earth Planets Seasons Present Simple Linking words: but Prepositions: in, on, at, between. Comparative and Superlative The lesson aims to help sutednts: Develop an understanding of where Earth is located within the Solar System in the Milky Way galaxy. Learn the names of the planets of the Solar System, and their positions in relation to each other and the Sun. Learn characteristics which make Earth habitable for humans. Develop an understandig of Earth s rotation on its axis, and how this gives us daytime and night tiem. Develop an understanding of Earth s orbit of the Sun, and how gives us seasons. Develop an understanding of eclipses. 1.- BRAIN STORMING Where is our planet? What is the Solar System? Where is a galaxy? What is a galaxy, star,... Jupiter is the biggest planets of our Solar System. Earth is smaller than... The planet nearest the Sun is... Esteban Calvo Marín. 1
Work in pairs: How much do you know about our Solar System? 1. The Sun is a: a) Galaxy. b) Star. c) Planet. 2. The centre of the Sun is: a) Hotter than the surface. 3. Earth is a: b) Colder than the surface. c) The same temperature as the surface. a) Galaxy. b) Star. c) Planet. 4. The number of planets in our Solar System is: a) 8. b) 9. c) 10. READING: THE SOLAR SYSTEM. Our Solar System is in the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy. It is approximately 100.000 light years (ly) wide and up to 25.000 light years thick. Earth is located on one arm of the spiral. The Milky Way has about 200 billion stars. Stars are big balls of hydrogen and helium gas. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. The Sun is very hot. The temperature of its surface is about 5.500ºC. Its centre is about 15.000.000ºC! The Sun is at the centre of our Solar System. Our Solar System consists of eight planets. The planets nearest to the Sun are Mercury, Venus, our planet Earth and Mars. These are called the inner planets. They are small planets and they consist mainly of rock. The planets furthest from the Sun are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These are called the outer planets. They are big planets and they consist mainly of gas. Each planet has its own satellites. They are objects which go around the planets. The Moon is a satellite of Earth. Esteban Calvo Marín. 2
Apart from the Sun and the planets, the Solar System also has asteroids. These are fragments of rock which move between the inner and outer planets. We call this area the asteroid belt. ACTIVITIES: 1. Read the text again. Write T for true or F for False. Correct the false sentences. a) The name of our galaxy is the Milky Way. b) Earth is located on one arm of the Milky Way spiral. c) Stars are big balls of hydrogen and ice. d) The inner planets are Mercury, Venus Earth and Mars e) The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Mercury f) The asteroid belt is between Earth and Mars Esteban Calvo Marín. 3
2. Re- order the letters to label the pictures. 3. Write a description of Solar System. Our Solar System is the. It has eight and a Su. The nearest the Sun are. The planets have their own. Between the inner planets and the outer planets is the. BUILD YOUR OWN GLOSSARY. Area Arm Asteroid belt Ball Between Billion Call Centre Consists of Fragment Furthest Galaxy Go around Inner Light year Located Mainly Milky Way Moon Move Nearest Outer Planet Rock Satellites Solar System Spiral Star Sun Surface Temperature Thick Wide Esteban Calvo Marín. 4
Work in pairs. Read and circle. How much do you know about Earth? a) Humans can only breathe on Earth b) Humans can breathe on Earth and some planets c) Humans can breathe on all planets a) Earth never moves b) Earth sometimes moves c) Earth moves all the time a) The Sun moves around Earth. b) Earth moves around the Sun c) Earth and the Sun don t move a) When it s summer in Spain, it s winter in Australia. b) When it s summer in Spain, it s summer in Australia. c) When it s summer in Spain, it s autumn in Australia. READING. EARTH. Our planet. Our planet is called Earth. We can live on Earth because there is water and oxygen. Earth is the only planet where we can breathe. Daytime and night time. Earth is always moving. It rotates on its axis. Its axis is an imaginary line between the North Pole and the South Pole. The axis is tilted. We have daytime and night time because Earth is rotating. It takes 24 hours to make a complete rotation. When one half of Earth faces the Sun, the other half doesn t face the Sun. The half that faces the Sun has light so it s daytime. The half that doesn t face the Sun doesn t have light so it s night time. The seasons. While Earth rotates on its axis, it also moves around the Sun. It takes 365 days for Earth to go all the way around the Sun. We have seasons because Earth moves around the Sun. Esteban Calvo Marín. 5
Earth has two hemispheres. The northern hemisphere is north of the equator and the southern hemisphere is south of the equator. We live in the northern hemisphere. When the North Pole is tilted towards the Sun, we get lots of light and the weather is hot. The days are long and the nights are short. It s summer for us, but it s winter in the southern hemisphere. When the North Pole is tilted away from the Sun, we don t get much light and the weather is cold. The days are short and the nights are long. It s winter for us, but it s summer in the southern hemisphere. ACTIVITIES. 1.- Read the text again. Match. 1. There is water and oxygen 2. Earth 3. Earth moves 4. Earth makes a complete rotation in 5. When it s daytime on one half of Earth, 6. The northern hemisphere 7. The southern hemisphere 8. When it s winter in the southern hemisphere it s summer a. around the Sun. b. is south of the equator. c. 24 hours. d. Is north of the equator. e. Rotates on its axis. f. In the northern hemisphere. g. It s night time on the other. h. On Earth. 2.- Complete the letters with the word in box. Winter hot short long summer long cold short Madrid, Spain 20 th July Dear Ross, How are you? It s here in Madrid. The weather is. The days are, and the nights are. I love this time of year! Pablo. Wellington, New Zealand. 30 th July Dear Pablo, How are you? It s here in New Zealand. The weather is. The days are, and the nights are. I love this time of year! Ross. Esteban Calvo Marín. 6
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BUILD YOUR OWN GLOSSARY. Always Away Axis Because Breathe Cold Complete Daytime Equator Face Go around Half Hemisphere Hot Move Night time Northern hemisphere North Pole Oxygen Planet Rotate Short Sothern hemisphere Summer Tilted Towards Turn Water Winter LISTENING. http://fisquimed.wikispaces.com/2%c2%ba+eso Write T for true or F for false. Correct the false sentences. a. George loves the space rockets. b. Grandpa Rabbit travelled in a really small rocket. c. Grandpa Rabbit went to Mercury. d. You can jump as high as a house in the Moon. e. Grandpa Rabbit had got a serious case of fever. ASSESSMENT. 1.- The average distance between Mars and the Sun is 228 million kilometers. Convert this distance into astronomical units (AU). 2.- Are this sentences true or false. Correct the false ones. a) Comets consist in hot gas. b) Comets come from the Kuiper Belt. c) A satellite is a natural object that orbits a planet. d) In the nuclear fusion inside of stars, the helium particles break into hydrogen particles. e) Light year is a unit of time. f) According to heliocentric theory, the Earth was at the center of the universe. g) We always see the same face of the Moon from the Earth. Esteban Calvo Marín. 8
3.- During a eclipse: a) The Moon is full. b) The Moon is waning. c) There is a new Moon. d) The Moon is waxing. e) The Moon can be in any phase. 4.- The diagrams bellow show three moments in the movement of our planet around the Sun. Which diagram represent the position of the Earth in June, in December and March. What season is in Spain and Argentina in each one? 5.- The illustration bellow show a shadow cast by a girl in Spain at two different times of day Look at the pictures and answer the following questions: a) Which one shows the morning? Explain your answer. b) Which one shows the end of the day? Explain your answer. Esteban Calvo Marín. 9