Space

Vocabulary

• Solar system • Orbit• planet• Asteroid• Comet• Gravity• Revolution• Rotation

Vocabulary

• Solar system- is the sun and the objects that orbit around it.

• Orbit- is the path an object takes as it moves around another object in space.

• Planet- is a large body of rock or gas that orbits the sun.

• Gravity- the force of one object’s pull on another

Rotation

• Is the spinning of an object on its axis.• Earth’s axis is an imaginary line that goes

through the North Pole and the South Pole.

Revolution

• A revolution is the movement of one object around another object.

• For example the Earth makes one revolution around the sun every 365 ¼ days.

asteroid

• An asteroid is a chunk of rock or metal that orbits the sun

• There are thousands of asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Comet

• A comet is a large ball of ice and dust that orbits the sun.

• The orbit of a comet is shaped like a large, flat, oval

The Solar System

• All the planets orbit the sun• The solar system has eight planets including

Earth.• Moons are large, rocky objects that orbit

planets.• Earth has one moon.

The Sun

• The sun is the center of the solar system• The sun is a star, a hot ball of glowing gases.• All the planets and moons in our solar system

could fit inside the sun.

The Inner Planets

• The four planets closest to the sun are called the inner • Mercury• Venus• Earth• Mars• The four inner planets all have rocky surfaces, they are

warmer and they are smaller than the outer planets,• None of them have more than two moons.

Mercury

• It’s the 1st planet from the sun• In the daytime Mercury’s surface is hot

enough to melt lead• Its surface is rocky with many craters• It has no moons

Venus

It is the 2nd planet from the SunIts surface is rocky with constant cover of thick

cloudsIt rotates backward compared with most of the

other planets

Earth

• Earth has a watery surface• It has a lot of oxygen and also it has plant and

animal life. • It is the 3rd planet from the sun

Mars

• The 4th planet from the Sun• Mars has a rocky surface with volcanoes,

canyons, and red dust.• Mars has the largest volcano in the solar

system, Olympus Mons.

The Outer Planets

• The five planets farthest from the sun are called the outer planets.

• Jupiter• Saturn• Uranus• Neptune• Pluto• The outer planets are mad up of frozen gases, they

are colder and they are larger than the inner planets.

Jupiter

• Jupiter is the 5th planet from the sun• Two Earths could fit inside Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.• Jupiter has a huge hurricane like storm on its surface

called the Great Red Spot.• Jupiter does not have a solid surface it is just cold

slushy gases• It has 16 moons

Saturn

• Saturn is the 6th planet from the sun• It has a large system of rings that reaches

260,000 miles from its surface• Its surface is frozen gases• It has 18 moons

Uranus

• Uranus is the 7th planet from the sun

• Uranus rolls on its side as it orbits the sun

• It has 15 moons• And its surface is

made up of frozen gases

Neptune

• Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun for 20 year periods when Pluto crosses it orbit

• It is the 8th planet from the sun

• It has 8 moons• Its surface is made up of

frozen gases

Questions

1.) What is a planet?2.) List three ways the inner planets are alike.3.) List three ways the outer planets are alike.4.) How are asteroids and meteorites alike and

how are they different? (create a Venn diagram)

Questions

1.) What is a revolution?2.) when it is winter in the northern half of

Earth, what season is it in the southern half?3.) Why are many places warmer in summer

than in winter?4.) How would day and night be different if Earth

did not rotate?

References

• http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=solar+system&FORM=IGRE1&adlt=strict#focal=36abca82baf827b22f5c277f99991792&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.laughtergenealogy.com%2Fbin%2Fspace%2Fsolar-system.jpg