Science - Where are we, in Space?

 Today we began our new unit of learning, 'Earth and Space'. We discussed questions we had, and shared what we already knew about our solar system, galaxy and the universe. We modelled the distance of the moon from Earth, learning that is is 400,000km away, a lot further than we had guessed! We then went on a virtual trip from Gurnard Primary School, to the edge of the observable universe, travelling at the speed of light (300,000m/s). 

We learnt that if we were travelling at the speed of light, it would take us:

- 41 minutes to get to Jupiter

- just over 4 hours to get to Neptune, our furthest planet

- 4.2 years to reach our nearest star, Alpha Centauri

- 27,700 years to reach the centre of the Milky Way

2,500,000 years to reach our nearest galaxy - Andromeda!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Science - What is aerodynamics, and how can we use understanding of it to make our cars faster?

Image
 Today was the day the children have been looking forward to - getting into their Formula 1 group and beginning their research into Aerodynamics of a car.  Working in teams, the children used a range of secondary sources to explore what aerodynamics actually is, and how we can apply this knowledge to make our car design better.  Children looked at streamlining, wings, spoilers, tyre warming, air flow and inspiration from nature - as well as looking at the newest, and most aerodynamic car to date - the LightYear 0, learning that a teardrop is actually the most aerodynamic shape, rather than the classic 'wedge' of the F1 cars. The children will be working on this research until Christmas, when they will present these, as part of their final presentation, and as part of their table display on race day.
Read more

I can explain why some parts of Scandinavia have 24 hours of darkness.

Image
This week the children used globes to identify how the tilt of the Earth has an effect on the amount of light/ darkness in Northernmost part of Norway and Sweden which are north of the Arctic Circle. The polar nights lasts for about 28 days and the midnight sun can last for 50 days.  The Earth is on an axis - 23.5 degrees. Which means that when the Earth is tilted away from the sun, there are parts of the northernmost points that do not receive any sun for parts. When the Earth is tilted towards the sun the northernmost points will receive sun most of the time.  This was quite a tricky concept to learn so the children used torches and a globe to act out how the tilt has an effect of the Earth.
Read more