Study Guide: Earth’s Place in the Universe

Grade 6 Team A – Michalski & Drummond

Our solar system is made up of many different objects other than our planets!

Objects in our solar system:

Meteoroids​ – Pieces of rock from space,
becomes a meteor if enters Earth’s atmosphere
and burns.
Sun​ – star at the center of our solar system
Planets​ – Rocky Planets and Gas Giants
Comets​ – a.k.a. Dirty Snowball, mixture of
frozen gases and dust particles revolve around
the Sun.
Dwarf Planets​ - small rocky bodies that orbit
the sun. We know of Pluto and 4 others.
Moons ​- Natural satellites of planets.

Our Earth experiences Equinox and Solstices each year.

 Rotation –​ When a planet or moon spins on its axis one time. Earth rotates 1 time every 24 hours.
Revolution ​– To go around. The Earth revolves in a counter clockwise direction or orbit around the sun. It takes 365.25
days.
The Seasons
The Earth experiences its seasons due to the ​23.5 degree tilt​ which points towards the ​North Star​ along with
revolving​ around the sun. The Earth experiences four different seasons throughout one full year. The seasons
are ​Summer, Spring, Fall/Autumn, and Winter​. The Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere
experience ​different seasons​ at the same time of the year.
Use the diagram below to help you understand how the Earth revolves around the Sun in a counter-clockwise
way to have the seasons.

Moon Phases
● The lunar month is 29 ½ days
● The moon revolves around the Earth in a
counter-clockwise motion.
● There are 8 different phases of the moon.
● On Earth, we see the Moon move from the
East to the West in the sky.
● Waning​ – The decrease in size, shrink
● Waxing​ – To increase in size; increasing
illumination
● Gibbous​ – Between a full moon &
half-moon; “swollen face” appearance
● Crescent​ – Between half-moon & new
moon; “croissant” appearance.
 Tides & Gravity
The ocean tides are caused by the gravitational pull between the Moon and the Earth. There is both a high tide
and a low tide. High tides occur 2 times a day. Low tides occur 2 times a day. They occur every 6 hours.