Accordion BookAccordion BookSolar System

Created By: The Owl Teacher

Reading Passages Included

This craftivitywas created with the intention of briefly reviewing all parts of our solar system, such as the sun, the

planets, the moon, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. In addition to covering these science concepts, it is a great

opportunity to provide your students with practice reading nonfiction text to build fluency, vocabulary, and

background knowledge.

First print pages four through six, single-sided only. Then stack them in the order they printed and cut them in half.

Take the stack on the left and place it directly on top of the stack on the right. Your pages should be in order now

and can be stapled to form a reading guide booklet for students. You can make an entire class set, enough for

partners, or a few to place in a center.

After your students have read and discussed the solar system reading guide, provide each student with three

pieces of construction paper and a single-sided copy of pages seven through nine. Students should first tape their

construction paper end to end (landscape) like this picture:

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Teacher’s Page

Then have students fold each piece of construction paper in half, back and forth like an accordion. Then

cut out each part of the solar system booklet (pages seven through nine) and glue on to each half.

Students can then color and add facts for each section based on the reading guide. Your final product

would look like this:

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page 4

Reading Guide

The outer four planets of the solar system are

know as the gas planets because they are made

up of gases.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar

system. It is so big that more than 1,300 Earth’s

could fit inside it! Even though it is so big, it can

spin very fast. It completes one rotation in just 10

hours on Earth.

Saturn is most known for having rings of rocks,

ice, and dust circling it. While other planets have

rings, Saturn has the most rings. Some pieces of

the rock and ice that spin around the planet are

the size of a house, while others are as small as

sand.

Uranus also has rings and is almost two billion

miles away from the sun. It contains a lot of

methane gas and rotates backwards like Venus.

Neptune has the stormiest weather in all of the

solar system. Some storms can be as large as the

Earth with freezing winds ten times faster than a

hurricane.

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page 5page 1

Did you know that at the very

center of the solar system is a star

that is bigger and brighter than the

stars you see at night? That

medium sized star is our sun.

The sun is a huge ball of spinning gases that

produce a large amount of energy. This energy

creates heat and light for the solar system.

Without this heat and light, there would be no

way to survive. The Earth is a perfect distance

away. It takes eight minutes for the sun’s energy

to reach the Earth.

The sun is very hot! At the surface the

temperature is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The core is even hotter with temperatures near 27

million degrees Fahrenheit! If just one spark from

the sun was to hit the Earth, it would set fire to

everything within 60 miles of it! Luckily, that isn’t

something we have to worry about.

Generally at night when you

look up in the sky you see a

glowing sphere with the stars.

That glowing sphere is the moon – but it

doesn’t create its own light. Instead, that light

is coming from the sun.

The light from the sun bounces off the moon

and reflects back to us on Earth. That creates

the appearance of the moon glowing.

Sometimes the Earth is blocking the light a

little bit and that is what makes the moon

appear to have different shapes, such as a half

moon. The moon takes 29 1/3 days to orbit

the Earth.

All planets have a moon except Mercury and

Venus. Some planets even have multiple

moons. For example, Jupiter has 29 moons

orbiting it.

The moon is very different from Earth, as it

does not have a magnetic field. However, it

does have some “seas” of lava.

©The

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2015

page 2 page 7

The first four planets of the

solar system are known as the

rocky planets because – you

guessed it – they are made up

of mostly rock!

Mercury is the first of the

rocky planets because it is closest

to the sun. Since this planet is the

closest, it completes its orbit around the sun

in only 88 Earth days.

Venus is the second planet closest to the

sun and is the brightest of all the planets. It

rotates backwards and is about the size of the

Earth.

Of course, our planet Earth is the third in

line orbiting around the sun and is the only

planet that life has been found on. Since the

Earth is tilted on an axis, movement around the

sun causes seasons in many parts of our world.

The fourth rocky planet is known as the red

planet because of its red cliffs and orange sky.

Mars has enormous volcanoes.

Planets are not the only things

that orbit the sun. Comets are moving balls of

rock, ice, and dust. As comets get closer to

the sun, the ice melts and turns into a gas.

This gas forms a long tail that carries pieces

of the dust and rock.. It can be millions of

miles long.

Asteroids are large chunks of rock and

metal that can be found in space. There are

thousands of them in a belt or ring found

between Mars and Jupiter. These asteroids

are too small to be called planets.

When chunks of rock and metal found in

space are smaller than an asteroid, it is called

a meteoroid. Most meteoroids that get too

close to the Earth burn up in its atmosphere.

As it burns up, it creates a streak of light

across the sky that looks like a shooting sky.

When they do hit the Earth’s surface it is then

called a meteorite. Sometimes they will fall in

groups and create a meteor shower.

Anytime a meteor does hit the

Earth’s surface, it leaves a huge

hole called a crater.

©The

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cher

2015

page 4

Reading Guide

The outer four planets of the solar system are

know as the gas planets because they are made

up of gases.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar

system. It is so big that more than 1,300 Earth’s

could fit inside it! Even though it is so big, it can

spin very fast. It completes one rotation in just 10

hours on Earth.

Saturn is most known for having rings of rocks,

ice, and dust circling it. While other planets have

rings, Saturn has the most rings. Some pieces of

the rock and ice that spin around the planet are

the size of a house, while others are as small as

sand.

Uranus also has rings and is almost two billion

miles away from the sun. It contains a lot of

methane gas and rotates backwards like Venus.

Neptune has the stormiest weather in all of the

solar system. Some storms can be as large as the

Earth with freezing winds ten times faster than a

hurricane.

©The

Ow

l Tea

cher

2015

page 5page 1

Did you know that at the very

center of the solar system is a star

that is bigger and brighter than the

stars you see at night? That

medium sized star is our sun.

The sun is a huge ball of spinning gases that

produce a large amount of energy. This energy

creates heat and light for the solar system.

Without this heat and light, there would be no

way to survive. The Earth is a perfect distance

away. It takes eight minutes for the sun’s energy

to reach the Earth.

The sun is very hot! At the surface the

temperature is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The core is even hotter with temperatures near 27

million degrees Fahrenheit! If just one spark from

the sun was to hit the Earth, it would set fire to

everything within 60 miles of it! Luckily, that isn’t

something we have to worry about.

Generally at night when you

look up in the sky you see a

glowing sphere with the stars.

That glowing sphere is the moon – but it

doesn’t create its own light. Instead, that light

is coming from the sun.

The light from the sun bounces off the moon

and reflects back to us on Earth. That creates

the appearance of the moon glowing.

Sometimes the Earth is blocking the light a

little bit and that is what makes the moon

appear to have different shapes, such as a half

moon. The moon takes 29 1/3 days to orbit

the Earth.

All planets have a moon except Mercury and

Venus. Some planets even have multiple

moons. For example, Jupiter has 29 moons

orbiting it.

The moon is very different from Earth, as it

does not have a magnetic field. However, it

does have some “seas” of lava.

©The

Ow

l Tea

cher

2015

page 2 page 7

The first four planets of the

solar system are known as the

rocky planets because – you

guessed it – they are made up

of mostly rock!

Mercury is the first of the

rocky planets because it is closest

to the sun. Since this planet is the

closest, it completes its orbit around the sun

in only 88 Earth days.

Venus is the second planet closest to the

sun and is the brightest of all the planets. It

rotates backwards and is about the size of the

Earth.

Of course, our planet Earth is the third in

line orbiting around the sun and is the only

planet that life has been found on. Since the

Earth is tilted on an axis, movement around the

sun causes seasons in many parts of our world.

The fourth rocky planet is known as the red

planet because of its red cliffs and orange sky.

Mars has enormous volcanoes.

Planets are not the only things

that orbit the sun. Comets are moving balls of

rock, ice, and dust. As comets get closer to

the sun, the ice melts and turns into a gas.

This gas forms a long tail that carries pieces

of the dust and rock.. It can be millions of

miles long.

Asteroids are large chunks of rock and

metal that can be found in space. There are

thousands of them in a belt or ring found

between Mars and Jupiter. These asteroids

are too small to be called planets.

When chunks of rock and metal found in

space are smaller than an asteroid, it is called

a meteoroid. Most meteoroids that get too

close to the Earth burn up in its atmosphere.

As it burns up, it creates a streak of light

across the sky that looks like a shooting sky.

When they do hit the Earth’s surface it is then

called a meteorite. Sometimes they will fall in

groups and create a meteor shower.

Anytime a meteor does hit the

Earth’s surface, it leaves a huge

hole called a crater.

©The

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page 2

Name ____________________________________

Three Facts About the Sun:

1.

2.

3.

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page 3 page 4

Three Facts About

The Gas Planets:

Three Facts About

The Rocky Planets:

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

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page 6page 5

Three Facts About

The Moon:

1.

2.

3.

Three Facts About

Space:

1.

2.

3.

©The

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2015

GreatA SpecialThank You!

Thank you for taking the time to

download this resource! I know as

a teacher, you have so much to do

and so little time, along with being

limited on your resources. I am here to help by creating products

that help you take back your weekends, without sacrificing

quality teaching!Thank you for letting me help you!

TermsTermsof Use

Each page of this document is © Copyright of Tammy DeShaw, The Owl Teacher. All rights reserved. (2014-current)*This product is to be

used by the original

downloader only for classroom and personal

use ONLY.

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like.

*You do not have

permission to claim any part of it as your own, to

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