Pace Work 7-D 25/03

Pace Work 7-D 26/03

Тема: Вивчення планет в сонячній системі (Сонце, Місяць, Меркурій, Венера,  Марс ).

 Reading

Pre-reading task

  Here you can see some new words:

- solar –  relating to the sun;

- to compare –  represent as similar;

- a hollow – having a hole, cavity, or space within; not solid;

- a sunspot – any of the dark cool patches, with a diameter of up to several thousand kilometres, that appear on the surface of the sun and last about a week. They occur in approximately 11-year cycles and possess a strong magnetic field;

- to revolve – to move or cause to move around a centre or axis; rotate;

- poison -  any substance that can impair function, cause structural damage, or otherwise injure the body

Reading

    Read and translate the text.

The Solar System

The sun is a star—a ball of hot gases. The sun gives light and heat to Earth. The sun is not a particularly immense star when compared with other stars. The sun is not a particularly bright star when compared with other stars. The sun seems particularly big and bright to us because it's the nearest star to Earth. When we approach the matter of size, we learn that the sun is only an average­ sized star. Average means in-between in size. Do you have any idea how big the average-sized star is compared with Earth? Try to imagine a hollow sun. Hollow means empty inside. If the sun were hollow, it would hold over a million Earths. Although the sun is only average in size, it's still the most important star to us. There are billions upon billions of stars which make up the universe, but no star is as important to us as is our sun.

     When Mr. Galileo built his first telescope in A.D. 1609, one of the first things he studied in the heavens was the sun. He could hardly believe his eyes when he made his first observations. For the first time, he saw dark sunspots on the sun. Men had always believed that the surface of the sun was the same all over. At that time, many men did not like the idea that there were spots on the sun. Sunspots come and go. They seem to move from one side of the sun to the other. Sometimes they disappear and then, later, appear again. Do you know why sunspots seem to come and go?

It's because the sun rotates like a spinning ball. It goes around one time every four weeks.

Sunspots are not really dark. Sunspots are cooler than the rest of the sun, so they do not shine quite as brightly. The areas covered by the sunspots only look darker because the rest of the sun is so much brighter.

     After people had watched the sunspots for 100 years or more, some new facts were discovered. Some years, there are many sunspots, and some years, there are hardly any. Sunspots seem to follow a pattern, or cycle, of eleven years. For six years, the number of sunspots on the sun increases. For the next five years, the number of sunspots decreases, or grows less. In the years 1969, 1980, 1991, and so on, the sun had, or will have, the most spots. Notice that there is a pattern of an eleven-year cycle.

When the number of sunspots increases, the temperature on the earth decreases about 3° Fahrenheit, or 1.7° Celsius, below the average temperature. Trees are reported to grow faster and taller when the number of sunspots increases. When the number of sunspots decreases, as in the last five years of the eleven-year cycle, the number of births among animals increases.

The moon is also a member of the sun's family. The moon is our nearest neighbor in space. Man has always been curious about the moon. In 1964, a rocket traveled to the moon, carrying cameras and other equipment. The rocket sent back to Earth a number of close- up photographs. These photographs were taken as the rocket approached the moon. Even with high-powered telescopes, men had never been able to see the things these photographs showed. It was very exciting when the first men walked on the moon in 1969. When scientists eagerly studied the moon soil and moon rocks, they found that the moon appeared to be about 6,000 to 10,000 years old. This was not surprising to scientists who were Christians, because the Bible indicates that Earth is also somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 years old. We know that our moon and Earth are about the same age, since God created Earth on the third day and the moon on the fourth day of creation.

Our closest planet neighbors in space are Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Even though we call them neighbors, they are still very faraway neighbors in space. The four planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Earth, are called the inner planets because they are nearest the sun. Mercury is the planet closest to the sun. Because Mercury is closest to the sun, it takes fewer days for this planet to revolve in its orbit around the sun. Mercury takes only 88 days to complete its orbit, while Earth takes 365% days.

Mercury was once thought to be the hottest of all planets because it is closest to the sun. However, we now know that Venus is hotter because its cloud cover will not let heat escape from its atmosphere.

Of all the planets, Mercury is the second smallest. It is about the same size as the moon. Mercury is like the moon in other ways, also. Like the Moon, Mercury has craters and mountains. Mercury has no winds and no rain. God did not put a blanket of air around Mercury to stop much of the sun's heat. There’s no oxygen or any kind of gas or atmosphere around Mercury. Mercury does not need to be protected from the sun's heat because no people live there.

Venus is the planet which is next in closeness to the sun. Venus is almost as big as Earth in size. However, whenever we see this planet in the sky, it looks like a tiny bit of light.

Venus looks brighter to us than any other planet because it is near to Earth. Venus is often visible when the sun goes down in the evening or at sunrise in the morning. Venus has often been called the evening star' or the 'morning star.' People long ago knew about this bright planet.

The surface of the planet Venus is sometimes hard to see clearly with a telescope because it is covered by thick clouds. When men look at Venus through a telescope, it appears to change shape just as does the moon. Venus is a hot planet which has no oxygen. There are only poisonous gases in the atmosphere around Venus. Poison can cause a person to become very sick. Poison can also cause a person to die.

As far as men know now, Earth is the only planet which has enough oxygen for living things. Men need oxygen in order to live and breathe. Plants and animals must also have oxygen to live.

Earth is the third planet in closeness to the sun. First is Mercury, then Venus, then Earth.

The planet Mars is fourth in closeness to the sun. This planet may be seen without a telescope. Look for a reddish heavenly body in the skies which does not twinkle.

Mars has large craters and volcanoes on it. Mars has two moons which revolve around it. It also has seasons. At the north and south poles of Mars, caps of ice melt in summertime. At that time, through high- powered telescopes, a greenish color can be seen on the surface of the planet. For this reason, some people thought that plants might grow on Mars. However, when spacecraft took photographs of Mars, no plant life or any other types of life were found there. Mars is a rocky, dusty desert where huge storms blow dust at high speeds. The dust makes the atmosphere around the planet look reddish in color. There are poisonous gases in the atmosphere around Mars. Mars is a lifeless planet and is fourth in closeness to the sun.

Post – reading task

2.Writing

     T.:  You have got the cards with the task. We have just read the text and now let’s complete the sentences. (card #2)

1. The sun which gives light and heat to Earth is a ball of ……………….. .

2. The ……………… is the most important and nearest star to Earth.

3. Sunspots are …………………… than the rest of the sun, so they do not shine as brightly.

4. The moon is a member of the ………………….family and our nearest neighbor in space.

5. The moon soil and moon rocks appear to be about ………………….to ………………years old.

6. …………………., ………………, …………………, and ………………. are called the inner planets because they are nearest the sun.

7. …………………. is the second smallest of all planets.

8. The planet which is second from the sun is …………………… .

9. Venus is called the …………. or ………………star.

10. ………………. is the third planet in closeness to the sun.

11. ………………. Is the fourth planet in closeness to the sun.

 Підведення  підсумків

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What do you know about the sun?

What can you say about the moon?

What features of Mercury do you know?

What characteristics of Venus do you know?

What have you learnt about Mars?

So, thank you for your hard work!