Earth Science – SHS STEM 12

Activity #1
Crash Landing
Directions: A meteoroid has hit your spaceship! This happened while you are passing through a
stellar system with one (1) star and seven (7) planets, some of which has moons.
You are running out of fuel, so you need to crash land on one of the planets. Listed
below are the planets and their characteristics. Which of these planets should be
your choice for crash landing? Support your answer. Write your answer on your
Earth Science Notebook.

Planet 1 (closest to the star) Planet 4:

Mass: 1.5 (almost the same size as earth)
Tectonics: Active volcanoes and seismic
activity detected
Atmosphere: None
Average temperature: 651˚C
Description: Due to extreme surface
temperatures, instead of an atmosphere, the
planet has a thin exosphere composed of
atoms blasted off from the nearby star.
Planet 2
Mass-0.5 (half the size of Earth)
Tectonics: No activity detected
Atmosphere: Thin CO2 atmosphere detected
Average Temperature: 10˚C
Description: Presence of ice caps in the polar
region, riverbeds with no water, and a
number of craters are observed from its orbit
Mass - 1.5 (almost the same size as earth)
Tectonics: Active volcanoes and seismic
activity detected
Atmosphere: trace amounts of nitrogen,
methane and carbon dioxide
Average Temperature: 2˚C
Description: oceans which are cooled solid
ice all throughout area
Planet 5
Gas giant with one large moon
Moon: sulfur dioxide (SO2) atmosphere
Many volcanoes and hot springs on surface
Temperatures in hot spots can be up to
600˚C. Other spots away from volcanic heat
can get as low in temperatures 145˚C

Planet 3
Mass: 1 (same size as earth)
Tectonics: Active volcanoes and seismic
activity detected
Atmosphere: CO2, H2O(g), O2
Temperature: 50˚C
Description: Liquid water, oceans cover much
of the surface, volcanic island chains
Planet 6
Gas giant with four large, rocky satellites
(moons)
Moons have no appreciable atmosphere
Ice detectable on one
Planet 7 (furthest from star)
Gas giant with two large moons
Moon 1: An atmosphere which is full of
methane gas with very high pressure to
maintain a methane ocean
Temperature: 2˚C
Moon 2: Covered in water ice, ice appears,
cracked and refrozen in parts, indicating a
potential liquid ocean underneath surface
Temperature: 1`˚C
Earth Science – SHS STEM 12

Activity # 2
Space Travel

Directions: Suppose you are an astronaut, and you have a trip into space riding through a
spaceship, and you are instructed to create a list of items you would need to bring
with you to survive on this extended trip. What supplies would be necessary for life to
continue this trip? Think beyond what humans would need and consider the needs of
other forms of life that humans might bring along. Write your answer on your Earth
Science Notebook.

Enrichment Activity

Directions: Watch a video entitled “Earth as a Planet of Life” through this YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCDVN7DCzYE`
In a short paragraph (min. 300 words; max 500 words), share thoughts about the formation of
the earth and the existence of life on earth.