Asteroids and Comets

Lab Brief #3

🎯 Your mission

Master the concept. Use it tomorrow.

⚡ The twist

Up there, the rules of down here stop working.

What you'll learn

Asteroids are rocky objects orbiting the sun, mostly found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Comets are icy objects that develop tails when they approach the sun.

Key words

orbit
The curved path an object takes around another in space.
asteroid
A rocky object that orbits the Sun, smaller than a planet.
comet
A ball of ice and dust that glows as it nears the Sun.

Make a hypothesis first

Predict: what would happen on the moon vs. on Earth?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Model Earth's tilt and seasons: hold a globe tilted at 23.5° and walk it around a lamp (the sun). Observe which hemisphere gets more direct light at each position.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Draw a detailed diagram of what you observe.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Write a conclusion: what did your results show? Did they match your prediction?

Question 1 of 3

What is a comet?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

What keeps planets in orbit around the sun?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

How long does it take Earth to orbit the sun?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🌟 The light from the closest star (after the sun) takes 4 years to reach you.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: The International Space Station All lessons

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: GPS, weather forecasts, and the seasons all rely on this.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Find a constellation in the sky. Look it up. Tell someone its story.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “If you could visit any planet, which would you pick and why?”

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