Look around you. Look at the lights. Look at this computer. You are looking at examples of electricity use! Electricity is what powers our everyday uses. It is the flow of electric charges. If you look at wires, electric charges are flowing through them. They are covered with rubber so you do not hurt yourself. The rubber on that wire is an insulator of electricity meaning that it does not let electric charges flow through it very easily. A conductor of electricity lets electric charges flow through it easily.
Conductors are usually found underground and are made of metal. Insulators are usually found above ground and are not made of metal. Some conductors are steel, iron, aluminum and copper. Some insulators are wood, plastic and rubber.
Earth, Sun, and the Moon The Earth, Sun, and the Moon are all part of our Solar System. The Earth is the planet we live on. All though these are all different planets, they have similarities and differences. The Sun is composed of hot gases, mostly hydrogen and helium. The corona is the atmosphere of the sun. The surface is called the photosphere. The sun is our main heat source. It appears to be moving across the sky but actually, we are rotating on our axis. Sometimes, we use the heat from the sun to create energy. This energy is called solar energy. We place solar panels outside. The sun's heat hits the panels and becomes energy for our appliances. Also, the Sun gives us light. It appears light during the day because of the Sun's light. the sun is very important to us! The Earth is the planet we live on. It is mostly water though. The earth revolves around the sun and rotates on its axis. It takes the earth one year to revolve around the sun. The rotation of the earth causes day and night. When the earth faces the sun, it is day. When the earth faces away from the sun, it is night. If the earth did not rotate, we would have six months of day and six months of night! The Moon The moon orbits around the earth. It has a rocky surface with many craters. The first trip to the moon was in 1969. the first person to step onto the moon was Neil Armstrong and then Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin. Michael Collins controlled the ship during that point in history. The moon has no atmosphere and very little gravity.
Ecosystems I live in an ecosystem. You live in an ecosystem. What is an ecosystem? Here is the definition.. Ecosystem- a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. what does that mean? Really, it is a community of animals that live together and where they live. For example, many organisms live in a desert. The ecosystem is the desert. The plants and animals are the people who live in the desert like a coyote or a cactus. In an ecosystem, the plants are producers and the animals are consumers. A producer is an organism that can make its own food by using photosynthesis. A consumer is an organism that eats other organisms. There are also herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. Carnivores only eat meat. Herbivores only eat plants. Omnivores eat both plants and animals. Also, there are predators, and there is prey. Prey is an animal that is eaten by another animal. Predators are animals that eat other animals. An animal can be both predator and prey. For example, a jackal can eat a rabbit making the rabbit its prey. That makes the jackal a predator. The lion could eat the jackal and the jackal would become prey.