Investigation 4: Finding Our Place in Space

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To learn more about the Earth's position as the third planet from the sun, visit the following web sites:

Build a Scale Model of the Solar System, Exploratorium
The solar system calculator will let you put in how ever large you want the sun to be, in inches or millimeters, and it will calculate the scale diameter of the 9 planets and their distance from the sun.


To learn more about how some planets are larger than the Earth and others are smaller, visit the following web sites:

Planet Size Comparison, AAAS
Find a clear demonstration about the relative sizes of the planets.


To learn more about how the planets all orbit the sun and are different distances from the sun and each other, visit the following web sites:

Your Weight On Other Worlds, Exploratorium
Ever wonder what you might weigh on Mars or the moon? Here's your chance to find out. There is a good discussion of the difference between mass and weight.

Midnight Sun, Alaska Stock Gallery
See a multiple exposure of the sun moving across the sky during the summer solstice in "the land of the midnight sun."

Total Solar Eclipse of March 29, 2006, NASA
View archived data, images, tables paths and animations of this 2006 event.

Eclipse: In a Different Light, NASA
The site highlights how eclipses have inspired people to observe and understand the sun-Earth-moon system. Join us in an extraordinary journey of exploration, discovery, and understanding as we prepare for a total solar eclipse. NASA is committed to providing you with the essential materials needed to help your students see our sun in a different light! Using this link, teachers can find lesson plans for grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. You will also find other helpful web resources and educational hooks that demonstrate how today's technological marvels in solar viewing were built upon the foundation left by our ancestors.

IES Astronomy Cover
It's About TIme/AGI
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AGI's professional development programs for teachers are supported by generous contributions from corporate contributors of the American Geosciences Institute Foundation and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation.