Term | Definition |
Systems | a group of parts that work together as a unit |
Pattern | something that happens in a regular and repeated way |
Model | a representation of an object or what something looks like |
Solar System | a group of objects (a system) in space that move around a central star |
Star | a huge, burning sphere of gases; for example, the Sun |
Planet | a large object that moves around a star |
Astronomer | a person who studies stars, planets, and other objects in the sky |
Telescope | an instrument people use to observe distant objects with their eyes |
Rotation | the spinning of a planet on its axis |
Axis | an imaginary line that runs through both poles of a planet |
Revolution | the action of one object moving around another in an orbital path |
Orbit | the path an object, such as a planet, takes as it
revolves around a second object |
Ellipse | the shape of the Earth's orbit around the Sun |
Seasons | caused by the different hemispheres of the Earth being tilted toward or away from the Sun |
Shadow | a dark area where light is blocked |
Lunar Eclipse | occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow during a full Moon |
Solar Eclipse | occurs when Earth passes through the Moon’s shadow during a new Moon |
Lunar Cycle | the period of time it takes for the Moon to complete one full revolution around Earth |
Phases | the different shapes the Moon appears to have
in the sky when observed from Earth |
Tide | repeated rise and fall in the level of the ocean |