Jupiter's Four Great Moons
Students learn how Galileo's 1610 discovery of four moons orbiting Jupiter supported a Sun-centered solar system, and how tidal flexing and distance from Jupiter make Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto very different worlds.
Grades 5-8About 15 minutes of narrated flight, plus discussion stops8 stops
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What students will see and do
Students start at Earth with Galileo, fly to Jupiter for five stops (the moons' orbital rhythm, then Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto), visit the JUICE spacecraft on its way to Ganymede, and return to Earth. Aetherion pauses for discussion at the first Earth stop (why one observation could challenge a widely held idea) and at JUICE (why orbiting a moon teaches more than a flyby).
Learning objectives
- Explain why Galileo's observation of Jupiter's moons was evidence that not everything orbits Earth.
- Describe one key feature of each Galilean moon: Io's volcanoes, Europa's ocean, Ganymede's magnetic field, Callisto's craters.
- Use the idea of tidal flexing to explain why the inner moons are warmer and more active than Callisto.
- Compare the sizes of the Galilean moons with Earth's Moon and the planet Mercury.
NGSS connections
| MS-ESS1-2 | Gravity holds the moons in orbit around Jupiter, and gravitational tugs between the moons drive tidal heating. |
|---|---|
| MS-ESS1-3 | Students compare the size, surface and interior properties of four moons and relate them to their distance from Jupiter. |
Stops on this journey
- Galileo Looks Up (discussion stop)
- A Family in Step
- Io, the Volcano Moon
- Europa, the Cracked Ice Moon
- Ganymede, the Giant
- Callisto, the Ancient Face
- JUICE, Bound for Ganymede (discussion stop)
- Your Own Look
Vocabulary
- Galilean moons
- orbit
- orbital resonance
- tidal heating
- magnetic field
- aurora
- impact crater
- subsurface ocean