Name:_______________________Date:____________ Period:________

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Study Guide & Key Ideas
Unit 3: Earths Place in Space

Directions: Take notes/answer the following questions to help review for
the exam.

Period 8: Study Guide due Thursday 10/30 & TEST Thursday 10/30
Period 3: Study Guide due Friday 10/31 & Test Friday 10/31



Answer Key for Matching:

1. A
2. E
3. B
4. C
5. F
6. G
7. H
8. D
9. I
10. J




a. Galileo created a telescope using lenses that magnified distant object to 3x the size
seen by the unaided eye.
i. Discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter, which fully disproved the
geocentric model of the universe.
ii. Discovered that the planets are circular disks, not just point of light, so they
must be Earth-like.
iii. Discovered that Venus has phases just like the moon, so Venus orbits it
source of light (the sun).
iv. Saw mountains, craters, and plains on the Moon so discovered that the
moons surface is not smooth.
v. Tracked the movement of spots on the Sun, so discovered sunspots.
Name:_______________________Date:____________ Period:________
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vi. Reasoned that no force was required to keep an object in motion, and that a
moving object will continue to move at a constant speed and in a straight
line (inertia).


b. Newton was the first to formulate and test the law of universal gravitation.
Described how every body in the universe attracts every other body with a force
that is directly proportional to their masses (Force = mass x acceleration).
i. Key ideas:
1. Gravity affects everything!
2. Gravitational force decreases with distance.
3. Gravity has a greater effect on objects with greater mass.
i. Thinker Question #2 Drop a ping pong ball and a golf
ball. Which will hit the ground first? They hit the ground
at the same time because gravity pulls both down at the
same rate (acceleration due to gravity on Earth is 9.8
m/s/s).
ii. Thinker Question #3 Drop a ping pong ball and a golf
ball into a pan of flour. Which will hit the ground harder?
The golf ball hits the ground harder (leaves a bigger
crater) because it has more mass and, thus, the force of
gravity on it is greater.

4. Newton proved that the force of gravity, combined with the tendency
of a planet to remain in straight-line motion, results in the elliptical
orbits that Kepler discovered.
a. Interactive Simulation:
http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/gravity-and-orbits
i. What would happen to Earths orbit if the Sun was a
larger/smaller star?

ii. What would happen to the gravitational force between
Earth and the Sun if Earth was a smaller/larger planet?



b. Thinker Question #4 How does the gravitational force on
astronauts in space compare to the gravitational force on you on
Earth?


11. Rotation
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a. Why does the Earth tilt?



b. What is the Earths tilt? 23.5 degrees


c. Why does the Earth spin on its axis?




d. What does rotation cause on Earth? Day and Night



e. How long does one rotation last? 24 hours



12. Revolution
a. Why does Earth revolve around the Sun?



b. In what shape does the Earth revolve around the Sun? Ellipse



c. How long does it take for the Earth to revolve around the sun? 365.25 days




d. What causes the seasons?
A. Result of the tilt of Earths axis


e. When it is winter, summer, fall, spring in the Northern Hemisphere?
* Summer Northern Hemisphere: MORE SUNLIGHT
*Winter: more sunlight on southern hemisphere
All seasons are for Northern Hemisphere
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Vernal Equinox: spring
Summer Solstice
Autumnal Equinox
Winter Solstice

f. What are the equinoxes?
Days in which day and night are of EQUAL duration. The two equinoxes
occur when the Sun crosses the equator.




13. Phases of the Moon
a. When is the moon illuminated?
One of moon is always illuminated by the sun

b. Why does the moon revolve around the Earth?
c. What is the difference between waxing and waning in phases?

*Waning phases of the moon appear to be lit from the left side of the moon (moon
appears to get smaller)

d. How are tides caused by the moon?
*Caused by the gravitational pull between earth and the moon

e.



14. Eclipses
a. What is a lunar eclipse?
*Can only happen during a Full moon
*occurs when the moon passes behind the earth so that the earth blocks the suns
rays from striking the moon
*The moon looks orange during a lunar eclipse because of the suns shadow

b. What is a solar eclipse?
*Can only happen during a New Moon
*Occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon
Fully or partially covers the sun

c. What is an umbra?
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*An area on Earth where a total eclipse is experienced
d.
15.