Our sun is a star located in our Solar System. It is a huge, spinning ball of hot gas that lights up the Earthand provides us with heat.

The sun plays important roles, or does important things for us here on Earth.Some examples include:

It is a major source of energy.

It helps plants to grow.

It creates winds.

It is part of the water cycle.

Energy from the sun is called solar energy. Solar energy is the solar radiation that reaches the earth.

The sun has produced energy for billions of years. This type of energy from the sun can be changed into other forms such as, heat and electricity.

Once it is changed, the energy can heat water, buildings, and make electricity.

We must remember, not all the light, heat, and energy comes to us. Most goes back to space and some scatters around earth.

Did you know that at the sun’s core,or center, nuclear fusion makes enormous amounts of energy?

Each second the sun converts about 600,000,000 tons of hydrogen nuclei into helium nuclei. When the hydrogen and helium combine, reactions change the atoms’ mass (4 million tons) into energy and release it as heat and light into our solar system.

The Sun is the Earth's primary source of electromagnetic radiation. It is radiation from the Sun which sustains all life on the planet. Without radiation from the Sun, the Earth (if it existed), would have temperature of about -270o Celsius. It takes about 8 minutes for electromagnetic radiation emitted from the Sun to reach the Earth. The major fraction of the Sun's radiation is in the "visible" part of the electromagnetic spectrum, however the Sun radiates electromagnetic energy over a very wide range of wavelengths.

            

Helping

Plants

to

Grow

The sun helps keep plants warm. It also helps them to carry out photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process in which plants change sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into food energy, oxygen, and water.

               

Creation of WindsBelieve it or not, the sun also creates winds. These are called solar winds. They are a continuous stream of electrically charged particles that are given off by a magnetic field around the sun.

It takes a solar wind about 4.5 days to reach Earth. Solar winds affect the entire solar system. They can even cause of electronic disruptions on Earth.

                    

The Sun and WaterHeat from the sun cause fresh water to evaporate from the oceans leaving salt behind. This process is one of three in a cycle. The constant recycling of water is called the water cycle. It is never ending.

Let’s Review

What are the major roles the sun plays for us here on Earth?

What is energy from the sun is called?

What is the process by which plants make food?

What is the wind called that is from the sun?

How many days does it take for the wind to reach the Earth?

What is the constant recycling of the Earth’s water?