Activity+5+The+Sun

=Activity 5 The Sun and It's Effects on Your Community pg E47= =-Clara B=

- Sam Sanneman

Goals
- Sam Sanneman
 * Explore the structure of the sun and describe the flow of solar energy in terms of reflection, absorption, and scattering.
 * Understand that the sun emits charged particles called the solar wind, and how wind affects "space weather."
 * Explain the effect of solar wind on people and communities.
 * Understand sunspots, solar flares, and other kinds of solar activities and their effects on earth.
 * Learn to estimate the changes for solar activity to affect your community.

__Think About It__
 * In what ways does solar radiation benefit you?
 * Solar radiation benefits you by giving you vitamin D, heat, and energy. Without solar radiation, the Earth would be all icy and cold because there wouldn't be any heat to warm it up. You could also use solar power to generate energy by using solar panels. All of Earth's systems depend on solar radiation to function. Solar energy creates the weather, circulates the ocean, and powers the water cycle as well. The sun supplies most of the energy needed for human civilization. -Barbara V


 * In what ways can solar radiation be harmful or disruptive?

When someone is exposed to too much solar radiation at one, it can have temporary/permanent affects to the person's skin and health. Even though it does provide someone with Vitamin D and heat, it can give someone a sunburn. If that happens and it is very strong, it could also lead to Skin Cancer. Some people that when they put suntan lotion on and they go to the beach that they have long lasting protection. That is not completely true because the suntan lotion's protection can soon wear off and that will cause you to loose protection from the radiation. When someone goes to the park, to the pool, to the beach, etc., thye should have a plan mfor how long they will be exposed to the sun's radiation. - Katie C.

Activity Six Digging Deeper Outline Structure of the Sun Energy scattering and reflection Albedo Solar Radiation (beneficial and harmful effects) -Elizabeth Moreno
 * The center of the Sun is a nuclear fusion occurs
 * The core is the Structure of energy
 * The Sun is the Earth's main external energy source
 * All the Sun's energy is absorbed by Earth's surface
 * Scattering causes the blue sky
 * The Sun doesn't heat the Earth directly-> Esmeralda O
 * dust and gas in the atmosphere interfere with some of the incoming solar radiation by changing its direction
 * the atmosphere scatters shorter visible wavelengths of visible light
 * the reflective property of the non-luminous object
 * a perfect mirror would have an albedo of 100 % while a black hole would have 0 %
 * Albedo is expressed as the percent of the light reflected
 * -emily soupal
 * The albedo of particular surfaces on Earth varies. Thick clouds have an albedo of 0.8, and freshly fallen snow has an even higher albedo. The albedo of a dark soil, on the other hand, is as low as 0.1.- DanielNguon
 * Damaging effects of solar radiation are mainly from UV rays
 * Solar energy is the source of energy for almost all life forms on Earth
 * Plants capture solar energy to build plant tissue by photosynthesis.
 * Animals feed on it and on one another
 * All of Earths Systems depend on the energy of the Sun.
 * The ozone layer protects from the Sun's dangerous UV rays.

The atmosphere of the Earth
 * The Sun os the main external source of energy.
 * Molecules of dust and the gas in the atmosphere interfere with some of the incoming solar radiation.
 * The scattering of dust and gas which is called Scattering explains the blue sky.
 * Low horizon light has to travel through a greater horizon.
 * The Sun heats the Earth not directly but rather by warming the Earth's surface.
 * The air that returns from the ground that in turns heats the air near the ground. - Jennifer Tipton

__Digging Deeper Notes__ The sun has three layers. The photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. The photosphere is the visible surface of the sun. The chromosphere is a layer in the suns atmosphere, the transition between the outermost layer of the suns atmosphere or corona. The corona is the outermost atmosphere of a star, millions of kilometers in extent. The sun is the earths main energy source. -Lauren Cowart

Picture by Hannah Johnson

__Activity 5 Digging Deeper Notes__ __The Earth's Energy Budget__
 * the energy budget is the amount of energy received by the earth and delievered back into space.
 * monetary budget moves from place to place in various ways.
 * the energy budget's location changes everyday and every season.
 * the earth gains energy from the sun and loses energy to space.
 * also the amount of energy entering the earth is equals to the energy leaving.
 * plants capture solar energy by photosynthesis.- Kelsey Lester
 * it is usually cooler in the morning warmer midday and cooler at night.-kaylarosa
 * solar energy creates the weather,drives the movement of oceans, and powers the water cycle.-kaylarosa
 * there were more sunspots around the year 2000 than in any other year.-kaylarosa

__Harmful Solar Radiation__


 * Just as there are benefits t receiving energy from the Sun, there are dangers.
 * The ill effects of sunlight are caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which causes skin damage.
 * The gas called ozone found in the upper atmosphere shields the Earth from much of the Sun's harmful UV rays.
 * Scientist have recently noted decreasing levels of ozone in the upper atmosphere.==>Diamond Bouyer

__Sunspots and Solar Flares__
 * Sunspts are small dark areas on the Sun's visible surface.
 * Sunspots are are formed when magnetic field lines just below the Sun's surface are twisted and poke through the solar photosphere.
 * Sunspots last a few hours to a few months.
 * The number of sunspots varies from year to year and tends to peak in 11-year cycles along with the number of dangerously srong solar flares.---Diamond Bouyer

__Collecting Data about the Sun__
 * When they are on the ground, astronomers use solar telescopes to detect different kinds of solar activity.
 * There are a lot of solar telescope sites all around the world.
 * The McMath solar telescope in Arizona and the Mount Wilson solar observatory in California are two of these sites.
 * Astronomers study from space by using orbiting spacecraft and the International Space station.---Dalton Goss

__Geo Words__
 * Photosphere- the visible surface of the Sun.
 * Chromosphere- a layer in the Sun's atmosphere which produces much of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation.
 * Corona- the outermost layer of a star, which includes the Sun, that consists of gas which is heated to temperatures of millions of degrees.
 * Albedo- the reflectivity of a surface.
 * Plasma- a state of matter, a mixture of free electrons and free atomic nuclei.
 * Ionosphere- a layer of the atmosphere 80 to 400 km above the Earth's surface.
 * Ion- an atom with one or more electrons removed or added, giving it a positive or negative charge.
 * Aurora- the charged particles from the solar wind which end up in an oval-shaped area around the Earth's magnetic poles. -Trudy Morse

__Check Your Understanding 3__ Describe the Earth's energy budget. The Earth's energy budget is basically the amount of energy received by the Earth and delivered back into space. You can kinda call it a bank because the energy resides in various places and moves from place to place in different ways and amounts. The energy budget can differ by the location or the season. Like freshly fallen snow would reflect more sunlight back to space because it has a higher albedo then dark soil. -Diana Kangaroooooooo-

__Check Your Understanding #1__ Q: How do solar flares interfere with communication and power systems? A: When there are enormous quantities of solar flares they can cause devastation to Earth- orbiting satellites and astronauts. Also they can knock out power. For example in 1989 a major solar flare caused a surge of power that knocked out a power grid in Canada leaving alot of people without power.> Destini Jones

__Check Your Understanding #2__ In your own words, explain what is meant by the term "solar wind." how does the sun contribute to "space weather?" __Inquiring Furthur Act. 5__ Research this ozone hole. Is there a northern hole? If so, could your community be endangered in the future? There is a a northern ozone hole, but it is not as large as the one over Antarctica. The ozone holes could grow much larger much faster if more chloroflourocarbons as well as many other chemicals are pumped into the atmostphere. If there is a continuation of the depletion of the ozone, then we may find our part of north America not having as much ozone. This would cause many people to get skin cancer much easier. Tanner A.
 * The term solar wind means, the flow of plasma from the sun, it goes out to the solar corona in all directions and is responsible for "space weather". Solar flares can intensify the solar wind which causes the ionosphere to thicken and get stronger. Space Weather is the environment outside of our planet, space weather can cause problems for earth's system. - Charles Putnam Rivera

//**__The Sun:__**//


 * **//The sun is orbited by nine major planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto Which is no longer an official planet. //**
 * **//The sun contains approx. 99.85% of the mass in our solar system. //**
 * The sun is in fact considered a medium sized star.
 * The sun is estimated to be 4.6 billion years old, halfway through its life cycle. -Amanda Medina(:
 * The sun has three layers. The central region is where nuclear fission occurs. The core is the source of energy for the sun to work off of. Energy can also escape or travel out from the core. [[image:http://www.oup.co.uk/images/oxed/children/yoes/atoms/fission.jpg width="364" height="213"]] - Mary Kate Ponder

Inquiring Further #5 Q: Research the life of British physicist Edward Victor Appleton, who was awarded the Noble Prize in physics in 1947 for his work on the ionosphere. Other important figures in the discovery of the properties of the upper atosphere include Oliver Heaviside, Arthur Edwin Kennelly, F. Sherwood Rowland, Paul Crutzen, and Mario Molina. A: Appleton had observed that the strength of the radio signal from a transmitter on a frequency such as the medium wave band and over a path of a hundred miles or so was contant during the day but that it varied during the night. This led him to believe that it was possible that two radio signals were being recieved. One was traveling along the ground, and another was reflected by a layer in the upper atmosphere. The fading or variation in strength of the overall radio signal recieved resulted from the interference pattern of the two signals. ---Emily Harvey

//__Information about the Northern Lights, Aurora! (Additional information, not found in book)__// An aurora is a beautiful display of "dancing lights", with many beautiful colors. The sun has a major effect on auroras, auroras become more distinctive, brighter, and spread over a large area 2 days after a large amount of solar activity. When solar activity isn't as big, or dies down, the aurora disappears in the north. Auroras last from between 10-15 minutes and are best to watch from December to march. During this time period, nights are very long, and the sky is extremely dark. These occur alongside the north and south geomagnetic pole regions. Many tourist come to view the auroras because of the beautiful colors and twisting and turning patterns called "Rayed bands".

By Justine Gomez, p.3a

__** Digging Deeper Notes pg. E50-E55 **__
 * The sun has a core, radiative layer, and a convection zone. it has 3 outer layers: photosphere, chromosphere, and corona.
 * The photosphere is the sun's visible surface.
 * The chromosphere of the sun produces its Ultra Violet (UV) rays
 * The corona is the super heated upper most layer of the sun.
 * Scattering of energy, is when molecules of dust and gas in the atmosphere interfere with some of the incoming solar radiation by changing its direction.
 * Energy scattering and reflection cause the blue color of the sky.
 * Albedo is described as the reflectivity of a surface.
 * 30% albedo from earth varies with thickness
 * Bad side effects fom UV radiation is that it causes skin cancer and damage.
 * Positive side effects of UV radiation, is that it supports life (photosynthesis)

Digging Deeper Notes Sunspots continued. -Courtney M. Digging Deeper Notes Solar Flares -Courtney M.
 * [[image:http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcStc_rcCGkq3IQMVfplvkWNp0FWb4g6mGcYJPgjKslS5cki7ynuzpzRlvsz width="135" height="103" link="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/sunspots_recent_history.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/2009/09/24/sunspots-global-warming/&usg=__y5_rzLWxnJRudycEWg-XHr-fYOI=&h=456&w=600&sz=39&hl=en&start=19&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=z1LZVhZwVo1X-M:&tbnh=103&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsunspots%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=VmiCTejoC9CutweNkZjYBA"]]
 * Sun spots can range in size anywhere from as small as the Earth to as large as Uranus or Neptune
 * Thesunspots appear dark because they are about 1500K cooler than the surronding surface of the sun.
 * the flow of charged particles (plasma) from the sun is called solar wind
 * solar flares intensify the solar wind, which makes the ionosphere thicken and strengthen
 * Solar activity can be a problem for satellite operations
 * Astronauts orbiting the Earth and others have to worry about the space weather
 * Charged particles from the solar wind end up in an oval shaped area around the Earths magnetic poles this results in aurora

The chromosphere is one of the outer layers of the sun. It is in the suns atmosphere. It is basically a transition zone between the actual sun and the corona, or outermost part of the suns atmosphere. The chromosphere is key to the sun. It produces most of the suns ultraviolet light.
 * __ Chromosphere __**



Plasma- a state of matter wherein all atoms are ionized; a mixture of free electrons and free atomic nuclei. -- kevin boe

Inquiring Further #5 History of Science Edward was born in Bradford, England, on September 6th 1892. His first school he attended was Hanson Grammar school. Later on he graduated from St. john's college with a B.A. in Natural science. He was the first scientist to run an experiment to prove the existence of the upper atmosphere called the ionosphere. later in his life he discovered another layer in the atomsphere called the Appleton Layer. Named after him. He was the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1947 __//**- BLAKE WEIL**//__