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The Solar System
Third Grade
Unit
Vocabulary Orbit means to circle around.
The planets orbit the Sun. Our moon is a body in space that circles
planet Earth. Other planets have moons, too. Our solar system includes the Sun and all
the planets, moons, and stars. A star is a body which looks like a bright
point in the sky at night. A star is not a planet or a moon. Our sun is a star.
Scientists pretend that planets and stars have a line drawn through their middles. This line is called an axis.
Order of the Planets
MyVery EducatedMotherJustServedUsNinePizzas
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
The Sun
The center of our solar system is the Sun. It is our closest star. All the energy we have here on Earth comes from the Sun. The planets in our solar system orbit, or revolve around the Sun.
Sun Facts
The outside of the Sun is 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit. A REALLY hot day on Earth is only 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The Sun's surface is about 100 times as hot as the hottest day on Earth!!!
The Sun is very, very big. More than one million planet Earths could fit inside of the Sun!
The Sun is very important to us. It gives us light and heat. Without light and heat we would not be able to live.
The Sun is composed of helium and hydrogen.
Sun Websites
http://www.astro.uva.nl/demo/od95/
http://library.thinkquest.org/3645/stars_sun.html
http://www.exploratorium.edu/sunspots/
Mercury Mercury is the planet which is closest to the Sun. It is one
of the four inner planets. These planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The inner planets are also called the rocky planets, because they are made of rocks.
1 Earth year = about 4 Mercury years!!
Mercury is about 1/3 as big as earth.
3 Mercurys = 1 Earth!
Venus
• Venus is the second planet from the Sun.
• Venus is sometimes called the "Evening Star" and the "Morning Star". It is very bright. You can see it at sunset and sunrise.
• Venus spins very slowly. One "day" on Venus is longer than one year on Earth.
• Venus is different from all the other planets because it spins "backwards" on its axis.
Earth
The planet we live on is called Earth. It is also called the blue, or water planet, because most of the surface of Earth is covered with water. From space Earth looks like a blue marble. Earth is just the right distance from the Sun to stay warm, and the water on Earth is constantly being moved by the Sun’s energy.
A photograph of Earth from space
Earth Facts
Earth is the third planet from the sun. It is the largest of the four inner planets.
Earth spins very quickly compared to other planets. It only takes Earth 24 hours to spin around its axis one time. One Earth day is 24 hours long.
Earth orbits the sun in 365 days. This makes one Earth year 365 days long.
The Moon
The planet Earth has a small body circling it. The body is called the Moon. The Moon cannot support life because it has no atmosphere. It is covered with craters from collisions with meteors and asteroids. The Moon affects life on Earth. Our tides are caused by the pull of the Moon on Earth.
The Moon is Earth’s Satellite
A satellite is anything that orbits another object. Earth is a satellite that orbits the Sun. The Moon orbits Earth and is our satellite.
Moon Facts
It has many volcanoes on it which do not erupt anymore.
We can see the moon at night without using a telescope.
It is the closest space object to our planet.
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is the last of the four inner planets. Mars is often called the "Red Planet" because the dirt on the planet is a red color.
Mars has an atmosphere, but it is different than Earth's. Our atmosphere is made up of oxygen (which we breathe), nitrogen, carbon dioxide and other gases. Earth has a lot of water vapor in the air. Mars has "air" made up mostly of carbon dioxide. Other gases in the air of Mars are nitrogen and oxygen, but there is not enough oxygen for a human to breathe.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun. It is the largest planet in the solar system and it is the largest of the outer planets. The outer planets are: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
Jupiter is mostly made of a gas called hydrogen. Its atmosphere has three layers of clouds in it. The first layer of clouds is made of ammonia. Ammonia is the stinky stuff that is used to clean floors.
Jupiter Facts
An interesting fact about Jupiter is that it has rings.
Jupiter has a lot of storms in its atmosphere. The spot in this picture is a storm on Jupiter. Scientists call this Jupiter's red spot. It is a storm which has been going on for about 300 years.
Jupiter has at least 16 moons.
Saturn
Saturn is the second of the outer planets. It is also the second largest planet in our solar system.
Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen and helium. On Earth these are usually gases. In fact, helium is the gas used to blow up balloons that float. On Saturn, hydrogen and helium are liquids! Saturn has weather and storms. Scientists think these are mostly wind storms.
The rings are made up pieces of rocks and ice. These pieces can be as small as a pebble or as big as a building. The rings get their pretty colors because the sun shines on them from far away.
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is the third of the outer planets. Like Saturn and Jupiter, Uranus has a very short day. One day on Uranus is only 17 hours long. A year on Uranus is VERY long. One Uranus year is 84 Earth years! It takes Uranus 84 years to orbit the Sun one time! That means Uranus goes all the way around the Sun ONCE in our lifetime!Uranus has more moons than any other planet in our solar system. So far, 20 moons have been discovered.
Uranus is made of methane ice. Methane is usually a gas on Earth, but it is so cold on Uranus that it is frozen into ice. Uranus's atmosphere is mostly made of methane gas. There so many clouds made of methane in the atmosphere, that they cover the whole planet.
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the fourth of the outer planets. Like Uranus, Neptune is a blue color because its atmosphere is mainly made of methane gas. Jupiter has the "Great Red Spot" that looks like an eye. Neptune has a "Great Dark Spot". Jupiter's spot is really a storm. Scientists think that Neptune's spot is a hole in its atmosphere.
Neptune has 8 moons. The biggest one is Triton.
Pluto
Pluto is the 9th planet from our sun. It is very far away! It takes Pluto about 248 years to orbit, or circle, the Sun 1 time. Pluto spins like a top 1 time in about 6 Earth days. We have not learned much about Pluto, because it is so far away from us. We know that Pluto is smaller than Earth, and that the temperature on Pluto may be -300 degrees! That is cold! Scientists are almost sure that there is no life on Pluto.
Additional Material
There are several other Brainpop movies on different planets. The new movie on Mars is good.
StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers is another great resource.
