Earth and Space Spherical Bodies The birth of

Earth and Space Spherical Bodies

The birth of the Solar System https: //www. bbc. co. uk/programmes/p 005 xh 69

What shape is the Earth?

Is the Earth flat? How do we know?

Before science advanced, and photographs from space were taken, many people believed the Earth was flat.

So when ships sailed off into the distance, and people lost sight of them they assumed they had fallen off the Earth.

Is the Earth spherical? How do we know?

Activity 1 Flat Earth vs. Spherical Body What are the arguments for a flat Earth? What are the arguments for a spherical Earth? Read through the Evidence Cards and sort them into two groups – Support of the flat Earth theory - Support of the spherical Earth theory

Activity 1 Flat Earth vs. Spherical Body Which theory had the most evidence to support it? What do you think based on the evidence you have read?

Scientists now know that the Earth, Moon and Sun are spherical. But are they perfectly spherical?

Is this a perfect sphere? From a distance it does look like a perfect sphere, but let’s take a closer look…

Can you see the gaps and imperfections on the surface? Imagine this is the surface of a planet like Earth. What might these imperfections on the surface be?

RECAP How do we know that the Earth, moon and sun are approximately spherical? https: //www. bbc. com/bitesize/clips/zd 3 fb 9 q

LQ: Can I explain how we know that the Sun, Earth and Moon are approximately spherical? Questions to think about: What is the Flat Earth Theory and why did people believe it? What shape do we now known the Sun, Earth and Moon to be now and what evidence is there for this? How do we know that the Sun, Moon and Earth are approximately spherical and not perfectly spherical? Key Vocabulary: Earth, Sun, Moon, sphere, approximately spherical, circle, evidence, flat, round, evidence, support, refute. ©Miss Bake 2018