The Earth and the Solar System

Syllabus tag: KCSE | Geography | Form 1 | Topic 2 The Earth and the Solar System

Lesson objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• Describe the theories of the origin of the solar system and its composition.
• State the evidence that the earth is spherical, and describe eclipses.
• Explain rotation and revolution and calculate local time and longitude.
• Describe the internal and external structure of the earth.

Summary

The solar system is the sun and the bodies orbiting it. The earth is spherical, flattened at the poles. Rotation takes 24 hours and causes day and night; revolution takes 365¼ days and causes the seasons. Longitude governs time: 15° = 1 hour, and the earth is east to west in structure from crust to mantle to core.