Week 7 Blog Post

What did you do in lab? What was the big question?

- Big question: How big is the solar system?

- This week in lab we created a model of the solar system, including the sun, the four inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth), and the moon. Our model included the specific sizes of the sun, planets, and moon, as well as the specific distance between them. We started by assigning our sun's diameter as 250mm, and the other sizes and distances were determined from that. To create our sun we drew it on a whiteboard, using the tape measurer to make it to scale. From there, we created mercury with playdough at 0.874mm at 10.41m away from the sun. Next we did Venus which was 2.174mm in size and 19.42m away from the sun. Then was Earth which ended up being 2.289mm in size and 26.86m away from the sun, with the moon being a short distance after the Earth. Lastly, we created mars at 1.2mm and 40.92m away from the sun. 

What did you learn in Thursday's lecture?

- This week in lecture we went over the formative assessment answers from lab. From these, something new I learned is that while I thought the moon does not rotate, my thinking was false and the moon does rotate. We only ever see one side of the moon due to the speed of rotation, which is why it may seem that the moon doesn't rotate. Something else I learned was how the moon was formed, which was by a collisions between the Earth and an object that was the same size as Mars. Lastly, something else I learned was a few different theories about how the moon was created. Some of these theories were that the moon was formed around a different planet and then pulled by the gravitational pull of the earth, and another one is that is was formed right by the earth by gas and dust coming together. 

Textbook questions:

1. What did you learn?

- Something I learned is why Pluto is not a planet anymore. This is because it only meets two of the three requirements to be considered a planet. The requirements it meets is that it orbits the sun, and it formed its circular shape because of its gravity, however, it is missing the requirement about "clearing the neighborhood", as it is not big enough and is not considered a dwarf planet. 

2. What was most helpful?

- What I found the most helpful was the video comparing the size and distance of the planets on campus. It can be hard to visualize these in our head from pictures we have seen before, so seeing a physical object that is to scale is very helpful. I also felt that the distance between the planets became clearer as we are more aware of the campus and how far he is traveling from the sun (lindquist), so that put a better picture in my mind. 

3. What do you need some more information on?

- Something I would like more information on is rocky vs gaseous planets. The reading explained that the rocky planets are smaller and the gaseous planets are larger, and a theory to describe why this is is that the gas planets were blown away by the sun becoming a star. Once this happened the rocky planets became smaller planets, while the gaseous planets kept their composition as they were farther away from the sun. The gaseous planets grew in size because of how they attract matter as a result of their increase in gravity. Something I would like more information on is all of the other theories that surround this idea of the size difference between rocky and gaseous planets.

What questions, concerns, and/or comments do you have?

- I think its been really beneficial to take a formative assessment during lab and then go over the correct answers in lecture. I think it allows me to check my understanding and correct any misconceptions I have.