Coaching Centre
Chapter 6: The Earth, Sun and Moon Notes
Day and night, the seasons, phases of the Moon, tides and eclipses explained by the positions of the Sun, Earth and Moon; how models of the solar system changed from geocentric to heliocentric; the scale of the solar system; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander astronomy; and how telescopes, spectroscopes, probes and satellites have changed what we know about space.
Sections
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6A Day, night and the seasons Mastered
Rotation and revolution, why the Earth's spin gives day and night and time zones, how the tilted axis causes the seasons, solstices and equinoxes, day length and the height of the noon Sun in Sydney, the midnight sun, leap years, and why the seasons are not caused by distance from the Sun.
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6B The Moon and its phases Mastered
The Moon as Earth's natural satellite, moonlight as reflected sunlight, why we always see the same face, the eight phases of the Moon and the 29.5-day cycle, waxing and waning as seen from Australia, Galileo's observations, and human exploration from Apollo 11 to Artemis II.
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6C Tides Mastered
How the Moon's gravity makes two tidal bulges, why there are two high tides about every 24 hours 50 minutes, the Sun's smaller effect, spring and neap tides, reading a tide table, and Australia's extreme tides in the Kimberley.
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6D Eclipses Mastered
Solar and lunar eclipses, umbra and penumbra, total, partial and annular eclipses, why eclipses don't happen every month (the Moon's 5-degree tilted orbit), the red "blood moon", eye safety, eclipse myths, and Sydney's total solar eclipse in 2028.
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6E Models of the solar system Mastered
How ideas about the solar system changed with new evidence: observations by Babylonian, Chinese, Maya, Inca and Islamic astronomers, the geocentric model of Aristotle and Ptolemy, retrograde motion and epicycles, the heliocentric model of Copernicus, and the evidence from Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo and Newton.
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6F The solar system to scale Mastered
The Sun, the eight planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids and comets; rocky inner planets and giant outer planets; the astronomical unit and converting kilometres to AU; light travel times; and a true-scale model of the solar system.
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6G Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander astronomy Mastered
How Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have used the sky for tens of thousands of years: the Emu in the Sky and the seasons, Tagai in the Torres Strait, the Seven Sisters, seasonal calendars, tides and the Moon, variable stars, navigation, and respecting cultural knowledge.
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6H Exploring space Mastered
How technology has expanded what we know about space: refracting and reflecting telescopes, radio telescopes at Parkes and the Square Kilometre Array, the electromagnetic spectrum, spectroscopes and how starlight reveals what stars are made of, the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, the Space Race, probes and rovers, satellites and the International Space Station.
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6I The Earth, Sun and Moon review Mastered
A summary of the whole Earth, Sun and Moon chapter, key words, and a mixed test covering day and night, seasons, Moon phases, tides, eclipses, models of the solar system, scale, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander astronomy and space technology.