Aurora

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/aurora

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Aurora (plural: aurorae or auroras)
2. What is the related phenomena?Geomagnetic storms, solar wind, magnetospheric disturbances, space weather
3. Why do auroras glow green, red, blue, and purple?The color depends on which gas the particles hit and how high the collision occurs. Oxygen at lower altitudes makes green light, higher oxygen makes red, and nitrogen can make blue or purplish‑red.
4. Where can we see auroras?Auroras appear mainly in oval-shaped regions near the Earth's magnetic poles. In the Northern Hemisphere they are called the Aurora Borealis, and in the Southern Hemisphere the Aurora Australis.

Solar Wind: A continuous outflow of charged particles from the Sun's corona, carrying magnetic fields and plasma.
Magnetosphere: The region surrounding Earth dominated by its magnetic field, shielding it from most solar wind.
Coronal Mass Ejection (CME): A massive burst of solar wind and magnetic fields released from the Sun's corona.
Thermosphere/Exosphere: The uppermost layers of Earth's atmosphere where auroras typically occur.