Mercury, Craters, and Light 9/18

Today's class covered quite a bit. We reviewed the reading from the book and discussed facts about Mercury. We talked about it's speed of rotation, length of days, temperature, exterior features, type of orbit - elliptical, etc...

We then moved outside to make "craters" in flour. This was the activity suggested in the book reading. Hopefully, even with issues, they were able to see how craters are formed and some of the things that affect how craters are formed (size of object, distance, speed).

Once we returned inside, we continued to talk about Mercury's core. Currently, astronomers believe that Mercury's core is one of the largest of any planet in our solar system. It is made of iron and nickel, so it is extremely dense. Mercury's mass is very great. I passed around a heavy cast-iron skillet so that the students could grasp the dense nature of iron.

Additionally, scientists believe that the core extends out to the crust of Mercury. There are not additional layers as in Earth and the Sun. I sliced an orange and showed them that the inside resembles the core of Mercury. The outside of the orange resembles the exterior of the planet as well because it is pitted!

One question still remains for scientists; is Mercury's core a solid or liquid? The children made their own guess and ate an orange slice if they thought Mercury's core is solid and drank orange juice if they thought it is liquid. :-) (Yes, I found this idea in a book!)

We ended today's class with a short Magic School Bus video. It is called "MSB Makes a Rainbow" and it is the best source I have found to explain color to children. Last week, they were amazed by the color spectrum refractions, so I thought we would "go a little deeper" with it. They were able to see how all of the colors separate out of white light and combine to make white light.

For extra focus on Mercury, have your child play the game in the link below! It's really neat!

Don't forget next week begins the presentations! Yeah! I'm bringing popcorn! Parents are welcome to join us for presentations! We would love to have you!