Exploring our Solar System Part 2

Page
2

Slide 11

Confused about weight and mass?

Slide 12

What are mass and weight?

Slide 13

Teacher notes

This click and reveal activity could be used to check students’ understanding of weight and mass.

Please note that the classification of Pluto as a planet was still being addressed at the time of publication and so it has still been included as part of this activity.

Slide 14

Why does weight vary?

Slide 15

Teacher notes

This two-part sequence shows how gravity affects an astronaut’s movement on the Moon.

Slide 16

How do we calculate an objects weight?

Slide 17

Photo credit: © 2006 Jupiterimages Corporation

Slide 18

Photo credit: © 2006 Jupiterimages Corporation

Image shows astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. walking on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969.

Slide 19

Teacher notes

This multiple-choice quiz could be used as a plenary activity to assess students’ understanding of weight and mass calculations. Class voting or the use of coloured traffic light cards could be used to make this a whole-class exercise.

Slide 20

Outcomes

Foundation Paper

You should now be able to

qDescribe that radio signals take a long time to travel through the Solar System

qExplain that manned spacecraft need to take food, water and oxygen

qKnow that unmanned spacecraft can withstand conditions that are lethal to humans

qState that unmanned spacecraft can send back information on: temperature, magnetic field and radiation; gravity, atmosphere and surroundings

Higher paper

qDescribe what a light-year is and its use in measuring very large distances

qExplain the advantages and disadvantages of using unmanned spacecraft to explore the Solar System