Archived Problems
Sorted by Category
Mars Orbiter: How Big is It? - Mars [PDF] - Grade level: 4-7
Students use an image of a crater wall on Mars to investigate ancient water gullies discovered in 2008 by the Mars Orbiter.
[Skills: image scales, metric measurement, division and multiplication, decimals]
Cassini - How Big is It? Io and Jupiter [PDF] - Grade level: 4 - 7
Students work with an image taken by the Cassini spacecraft of Jupiter and its satellite Io. They determine the image scale, and calculate the sizes of various features in the image.
[Skills: image scaling, multiply, divide, work with millimeter ruler]
Mars Orbiter - How Big is It? The Mars Rover [PDF] - Grade level: 4 - 7
Students work with an image taken by the Mars Orbiter satellite of the Spirit landing site. They determine the image scale, and calculate the sizes of various surface features from the image.
[Skills: image scaling, multiply, divide, work with millimeter ruler]
Quick Bird Satellite - How Big is It? Las Vegas Up Close [PDF] - Grade level: 4 - 7
Students work with an image taken by the QuickBird imaging satellite of downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. They determine the image scale, and calculate the sizes of streets, cars and buildings from the image.
[Skills: image scaling, multiply, divide, work with millimeter ruler]
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - How Big is It? - A Martian Avalanche! [PDF] - Grade level: 4 - 7
Students work with a satellite image to determine image scale, and
search for the smallest things seen in a photograph. This avalanche
was caught as it occurred on February 19, 2008!
[Skills: image scaling, multiply, divide, work with millimeter ruler]
International Space Station - How Big is It? - Washington DC up close.
[PDF] - Grade level: 4 - 7
Students work with an image taken by ISS astronauts to determine
image scale, and search for the smallest things seen in a photograph.
[Skills: image scaling, multiply, divide, work with millimeter ruler ]
The
Comet Encke Tail Disruption Event [PDF] - Grade level:
8-10 On April 20, 2007 NASA's
STEREO satellite captured a rare impact between a comet
and the fast-moving gas in a solar coronal mass
ejection. In this problem, students analyze a STEREO
satellite image to determine the speed of the tail
disruption event.
[Skills: time calculation, finding image scale, calculating speed
from distance and time]
The
Transit of Mercury[PDF] - Grade level: 9-11
As seen from Earth, the planet Mercury
occasionally passes across the face of the sun, an
event that astronomers call a transit. From images
taken by the Hinode satellite, students will create a
model of the solar disk to the same scale as the image,
and calculate the distance to the sun.
[Skills:image scales, angular measure, degrees,
minutes and seconds]
When
is a planet not a planet? [PDF] - Grade level: 9-11
In 2003, Dr. Michael Brown and his
colleagues at CalTech discovered an object nearly 30%
larger than Pluto, which is designated as 2003UB313. It
is also known unofficially as Xenia, after the famous
Tv Warrior Princess! Is 2003UB313 really a planet? In
this activity, students will examine this topic by
surveying various internet resources that attempt to
define the astronomical term 'planet'. How do
astronomers actually assign names to astronomical
objects? Does 2003UB313 deserve to be called a planet,
or should it be classified as something else? What
would the new classification mean for asteroids such as
Ceres, or objects such as Sedna, Quaoar and
Varuna?
Getting
A Round in the Solar System! [PDF] - Grade level:
9-11 How big does a body have to
be before it becomes round? In this activity, students
examine images of asteroids and planetary moons to
determine the critical size for an object to become
round under the action of its own gravitational field.
Thanks to many Internet image archives this activity
can be expanded to include dozens of small bodies in
the solar system to enlarge the research data for this
problem. Only a few example images are provided, but
these are enough for the student to get a rough
answer!
Asteroids
and comets and meteors - Oh My! [PDF] - Grade level:
9-11 Astronomers have determined
the orbits for over 30,000 minor planets in the solar
system, with hundreds of new ones discovered every
year. Working from a map of the locations of these
bodies within the orbit of Mars, students will
calculate the scale of the map, and answer questions
about the distances between these objects, and the
number that cross earth's orbit. A great, hands-on
introduction to asteroids in the inner solar system!
Links to online data bases for further inquiry are also
provided.
Beyond
the Blue Horizon [PDF] - Grade level: 9-11
How far is it to the horizon? Students
use geometry, and the Pythagorean Theorem, to determine
the formula for the distance to the horizon on any
planet with a radius, R, from a height, h, above its
surface. Additional problems added that involve
calculus to determine the rate-of-change of the horizon
distance as you change your height. [Skills: Algebra, Pythagorean Theorem, Experts:
DIfferential calculus) ]
Making a Model Planet [PDF] Students use the formula for a sphere, and the
concept of density, to make a mathematical model of a
planet based on its mass, radius and the density of
several possible materials (ice, silicate rock, iron,
basalt).
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