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PHYSICS
1. Earth and beyond

Damsavi Jayashantha

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 DAY AND NIGHT
• We can observe sun, during the daytime and moon and stars during
night time, from earth.
Who are astronomers?
• ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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THE PATTERN OF THE DAY

• The sun rises in the east and the sun sets in the west.
How can you explain this pattern?
• The earth has an axis, which is a line joining the north pole and the
south pole

• When earth spins like this, one half of the earth will be facing the sun,
and the other half will not be facing the sun.

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 • So the part facing the sun will have day time, while the part not facing
the sun will have night time.
• This is why at the same time, it is day time for some countries and night
time for some countries.

STARS AND SKIES

Why can’t we see stars during the daytime?
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• Stars move in the night, across the sky.

What are constellations?

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MOVEMENT OF EARTH AROUND SUN
• The earth travels around the sun in a circular pathway called orbit.
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• The earth spins on its own axis, while traveling around the sun.

PLANETS
• ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
• The solar system is made up of the sun and the following planets.
1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Earth
4. Mars
5. Jupiter
6. Saturn
7. Uranus
8. Neptune

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• Each planet has its own pathway, called orbit.

• There are two types of planets.

1. …………………………………………………
2. …………………………………………………

1) Rocky Planets
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Planets : ………………………………………………………………………………………………..

2) Gas Giants
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Planets : ………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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 • The sun is called our local star because it is the closest star to us, than
other stars.
• Stars are sources of light. This means
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How do we see planets?

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THE MOON AND ITS PHASES
• The moon is made up of rock
• It travels around the earth in its own orbit. It takes 28 days for the
moon to travel around the earth, once (roughly 1 month)

• Phases of the moon

Only one side of the moon reflects light, so as it travels around earth,
the part it gets light changes shape. This is called phases of the moon.
The other part is in darkness, we cannot see it.

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Full moon – When the moon face is a complete circle, it is a full moon.
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New moon – When the moon face is completely dark, it is a new moon. You
can see the moon in the sky, on these days.
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New moon diagram

Full moon diagram

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 HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY
COPERNICUS
• Copernicus was one of the first astronomers to discover planets and
space.
• He came up with 2 conclusions:
1. ………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. ………………………………………………………………………………………………
• Earth and planets travelling around the sun, was explained by
Copernicus using the Haliocentric Model.

GALILEO
• Galileo was the first person to use a telescope to look at moons and
stars.

UNIVERSE AND GALAXY

• What is galaxy?
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o Our galaxy is known as milky way.

• What is universe?
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• What is asteroid?
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GOING TO SPACE

• The first person to go into space was, Yuri Gagarin.’

• Rockets are used to into space.
• Chemicals in the rocket (fuel) burn to supply energy for the rocket to
move upwards.

What is atmosphere?
• Atmosphere is the thin layer of air around the earth. You breathe air
from the atmosphere.

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TRAVEL TO MOON
• The moon does not have atmosphere, so it does not have oxygen to
breathe. Therefore, astronauts should take oxygen when going to the
moon.
• There is no gravity in the moon, so it is very easy for astronauts to walk.
• The first rocket to go to moon, is Apollo 11, led by astronaut, Neil
Armstrong

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SPECIAL NOTES

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