Unit E: Background Information

 Learning Targets

Watch

The following videos may remind you that you have already learned much about Earth and space.

In Grade Six, you studied that Earth is one of eight planets in our solar system, which all move in elliptical orbits around a central star, our sun. The ADLC digital lesson: Solar System scale will remind you about how far apart (in scale) the planets are.

 
 
Just how difficult would it be to build an actual, proper scale model of the solar system? The following beautiful video show that it is quite a big job to build a proper scale model!




The size of space is difficult to imagine. How big is our solar system? The Milky Way galaxy? The universe? The video "Zooming out from Earth into the universe" reviews how truly small we are in the entire universe.


Interactive

Many cultures have stories about the patterns seen in the sky. The names given to these constellations might be animals or characters from mythology.  Astronomers use constellations to map the night sky. They have divided the night sky into 88 constellations used as references when tracking their observations. Many of the names and patterns that were given in ancient times are used today.


Constellations
 
  1. This BrainPOP video reviews the concept of Constellations. Click here to watch "Constellations".

    You will need a username and password to access the video.
    • Username: 0099
    • Password: students

  2. Click here to complete the quiz on Constellations.  Remember to check your answers at the end!

International Space Station

A great place to obtain background information about space and space travel is to follow what's new at the International Space Station. For a weekly update on what is currently happening on the space station, watch "NASA Johnson" by ReelNASA.


In Grade Eight, you learned about how concave and convex shapes can bend light. A good understanding of this concept will help you to understand the various telescopes that you will learn about in this unit. The following short video "Concave and convex mirrors" explains the effects of concave and convex mirror shape.