Name:
Date:
Period:
THE SUN WEBQUEST
DIRECTIONS
Answer the following questions by reading the information at the Web sites provided.
Answer each question IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
Nine Planets: The Sun
1. What type of star is our Sun?
2. How much of the mass of the solar system is contained in the Sun?
3. What did the Greeks call the Sun? What about the Romans?
4. What elements make up the Sun, and in what percentage?
5. Each second about
tons of hydrogen are converted to about
____________________tons of helium.
6. What is the name of the surface of the Sun?
7. What is the narrow region on the Earth from which a total eclipse is visible?
8. What is the solar wind?
9. How has the Sun’s output changed over the history of the solar system?
10. How much of its fuel has the Sun used up?
NASA SOHO Website
11. Is the Earth always the same distance from the sun? Explain your answer.
12. How many Earths would you need to line up side-by-side to equal the diameter of
the sun?
13. Which element is most abundant in the sun?
14. List the six layers of the sun, in order, starting with the core.
15. What is the temperature of the sun’s core?
16. Which layer of the sun is the visible layer?
17. How long is a solar cycle?
Astronomy Picture of the Day Feb. 23, 2008
18. What gives this large prominence its unique shape?
Window on the Universe - The Sun
19. What is fusing inside the sun to make helium?
20. What causes graininess on the sun?
21. Give at least one fact about each layer of the sun as you go through this site.
22. What effects does the sun have on Earth?
23. What do you think is the future of our sun?
Watch the video
Solar Cycles
24. What is a sunspot?
25. What is the difference between solar minimum and solar maximum?
26. What is the average length of a solar cycle?
27. When will the current solar cycle end?
Watch the video Solar Wind
28. What is Solar wind?
29. What effect does solar wind have on other planets like Mercury, Venus, and Mars?
30. Why is Earth not effected?