Objects Orbiting the Sun
Comets
- Read about comets in the book on pages 90-91.
- Reread the pages, look for details about the comets and fill in the table on the worksheet called Asteroids, Comets, and Meteroids
- Research when Halley's comet will return.
- What happens when a comet melts?
- View what happens to the Earth when we go through the debris left behind from a comet. (Meteor showers occur.) https://drive.google.com/a/ryejrhigh.org/file/d/0BzAmgzDY_e_hWjkybGJHeEdLNGc/view?usp=sharing
- Look for recent photos from the Rosetta spacecraft. Rosetta released the Philae lander on the comet. Is it still working? What happened to it?
Meteoroids, Meteors and Meteorites
- Read about these on pages 91-92.
- Reread to add details to the worksheet table.
- Read - It Came from Outer Space on pages 96-97.
- Meteorites can be classified a "falls" or "finds." A fall means it was witnessed by someone. A find means it was found on the ground but no one witnessed it. What would you classify the Burnwell meteorite?
- Complete the worksheet for meteors, etc to understand the differences between the 3 forms.
Asteroids
- Read the book pages 92-93.
- Reread to add details to the worksheet table.
- Watch the video about asteroids which come close to Earth. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50156579n
- Check out spaceweather.com to find out if there any asteroids near Earth.
- Research NEAR, a spacecraft that orbited an asteroid. When done, the scientists tried to land it on the asteroid. Watch what happened as it got closer. http://near.jhuapl.edu/