Earth and Sky - Class 1 Notes & Olympiad Questions

The Sky

The sky is the big open space above us that we see when we look up. During the day, the sky usually looks bright and blue due to the presence of the sun.
At night, when the sun goes down, the sky gets really dark and we can see the moon and stars.

The Sun

a) During the day, when we look up at the sky, we see the sun. It looks like a bright yellow or orange circle.
b) The Sun is like a big ball of hot, glowing gas.
c) It's like a giant star that gives us light and warmth.
d) The sun is very, very far away from us, even though it looks close.
e) Plants also need the sun to grow. They use sunlight along with carbon dioxide and other nutrients to make food.

The Moon

a) At night, we are able to see the moon up in the sky.
b) Moon doesn't give off its own light, but it reflects the light from the sun. That's why it looks bright and shiny in the night sky.
c) The moon is made up of rocks and dust. It has a solid surface, unlike the Sun.
d) The moon does not have any atmosphere, air or water to support life.
e) The moon changes its shape. Sometimes it looks like a big round circle and it even disappears. We call these different shapes "phases" of the moon.
f) When the moon is full and bright, it's called a full moon.
g) Sometimes the moon disappears completely. We call this a new moon.

Different shapes of moon with names is given below.

Stars

a) Stars are like little sparkly lights that we see in the night sky.
b) Stars are very, very far away from us.
c) They are like giant balls of burning gas, somewhat like the Sun, but much farther away.
d) Some stars are brighter than others and we call them "bright stars."
e) Stars have different sizes too – some are big and some are small.

Planets

Planets are huge round objects that circle the sun, just like the Earth.

There are 8 planets in our solar system. These are:

a) Mercury
b) Venus
c) Earth
d) Mars
e) Jupiter
f) Saturn
g) Uranus
h) Neptune