Nicole Giangola. 9/28/12
Core Earth Science, C Even, Ms. Davies
Change, Kenneth. “Observations of an Asteroid Provide Hints of How the Earth Came Together.” New York Times. 10 May 2012. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/science/space/asteroid-vesta-proves-to-be-dwarf-planet.html>.
This article from the New York Times explains to the reader the history of the dwarf planet Vesta. It was created in the first few million years of the start of our solar system. Vesta’s features are very planet like. “It contains an iron core that may have even briefly generated a magnetic field-- all very planetlike features.” The knowledge of Vesta was found by NASA’s spacecraft, Dawn, that goes through space landing on many different planet like objects, and traveling through many parts of our solar system. Vesta and Ceres, another dwarf planet, are are just like Pluto, they aren’t considered planets because they don’t completely fit the regulations, but they are similar. The fact that Vesta is not considered a planet makes it a lot more interesting. Since it is located between Mars and Jupiter, in the astroid belt, it gives a lot of insight towards the planet building process. “Dust coalesced into larger chunks like Vesta, which is 330 miles wide, and these then combined to form the rocky planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.” If NASA keeps receiving information like this from Dawn, they can find information on how planets come together and why some of the objects in space aren’t considered planets. After Dawn finished exploring Vesta it made its way towards Ceres where it gathered more information on how planets form.
This article is important because it gives readers a lot of information on how the Earth, and parts of the solar system, came to be. If scientists can figure out how planets were created a lot of questions about life could be answered. For example, why we have water on the planet and information about the layers of the Earth, and what lies beneath them. I chose this article because I found that fact that a few small objects in space, can give a lot of information on how larger parts of our solar system were created.
Overall I thought the article was very well written and interesting, but there were some things I wish the author could have done better. I wish the first line was more interesting, rather than just starting off with facts. I think a better opening would draw more people in. Another thing that I did not like about the article was the way some of the information was given. I think the writer gave a lot of ideas but only shared a little information in small paragraphs. I wish the ideas had more evidence to back them up rather than quickly stating a lot of ideas, with one observation. Overall I think the article was interesting and it showed a lot of ideas I never knew.
Dwarf planets have always been very interesting to me, but I never knew much about them, so reading this review, I was happy to learn about the dwarf planet Vesta. The information on the planet itself and compared to other planets is written out very smoothly which engages the reader into the article. Including the way Vesta came about with the solar system is the way in which scientists can figure out how planets were created. I agree that the author gives a lot of facts in the article, but you did a great job explaining the information needed to help the reader understand your topic.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your reflection on the article you read because I learned that a spacecraft, Dawn, is traveling through our solar system and landing on different planets to observe. Also, I learned that Vesta is located in the asteroid belt which allows us to find out how the planet came to be. It’s interesting the technology we have today to be able to find out how our solar system came to be and what will happen to it in the future. Lastly, I loved the flow of your reflection because I knew what I was reading about. I didn’t need to look up anything because I wasn’t confused, you explained the planet well and backed it up with details. Your reflection is great and I don’t believe it needs to be changed. Great job!
I read Nicole’s report of the article called “Observations of an Asteroid Provide Hints of How the Earth Came Together.” I found it very interesting to read about how dwarf planets played such a large, vital role in the foundations of our solar system. I enjoyed reading Nicole’s review because it was very well written and easy to follow. It wasn’t boring and kept the readers engaged. I also appreciated the fact that she summarized the article well, and didn’t overwhelm her audience with facts that were not relevant. Nicole also did a good job of explaining the importance of the article.
ReplyDeleteThis report taught me a lot about the solar system. Previously, I had no idea that dwarf planets played such a vital role in building planets. Apparently, these dusty chunks are several hundred miles wide, and after evolving for thousands of years, become larger, rocky planets such as Mars and Venus.
Upon reading this article and your report, I think that you did a good job conveying the information. However, I think that you could have further explained the important of the dwarf planets and maybe how the solar system would be different if they did not exist. Overall, you did a great job!
Nicole!! I really enjoyed reading your review on the article called "Observations of an Asteroid Provide Hints of How the Earth Came Together." These topics, within the solar system, are sometimes really hard to tackle, but I think you chose a really interesting article. After reading the article I gained a greater understanding of how asteroids could have played a big role in the creation of our own planet Earth. One aspect of your review that was well presented was the first paragraph. After reading the article, I thought you did a wonderful job of summarizing all of the information that was presented. Another aspect of your article that I also agreed with was the things you would change about the article. I agree that the opening was a little weak and didn't really grab my attention at first. It could have been a little catchier. The third thing I enjoyed about your review was how you stated that by collecting this information form Dawn, scientists could use the information to answer other questions like how the water got on to Earth. One thing that I learned from reading this article and your review was the actual definition of a planet. The definition of planet, set by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, not only takes into account size and appearance, but also requires that a planet be the gravitational bully in its orbit. The second thing that I learned was that the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter was actually remnants of a planet that never came together, and a closer look at Vesta could reveal much about the planet-building process. One suggestion of how this review could be even better would be to maybe provide a little more information on how this article actually relates to the real world and our society. Otherwise great job!!
ReplyDelete