At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. name the planets in our solar system
2. describe the characteristics of each planet
3. build a model of the solar system
Watch the video below on the solar system
Our solar system consists of eight planets which all orbit around our home star, the Sun.
The solar system a collection of eight planets and their moons in orbit around the sun, together with smaller bodies in the form of asteroids, meteoroids, and comets.
The solar system was formed a crazy 4.6 billion years ago.
It consists of eight planets which all orbit around our home star: the Sun.
These eight planets are:
1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Earth
4. Mars
5. Jupiter
6. Saturn
7. Uranus
8. Neptune
A planet is an astronomical body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity.
Note: Pluto is no longer a considered to be a planet because it does not meet the requirements for being a planet: 1. It needs to orbit the sun.
2. It needs to have enough gravity to pull itself into a sphere.
* Pluto is a dwarf planet.
Mercury is the closest to the Sun and Neptune is the furthest from the Sun.
Four the planets in the Solar System have rings. They are the four giant gas planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Saturn, which has by far the largest ring system, was known to have rings for a long time. It was not until the 1970s that rings were discovered around the other gas planets.
Sizes of planets
Largest to smallest: Jupiter - (diameter = 142,800 km) Saturn - (diameter = 120,660 km) Uranus - (diameter = 51,118 km) Neptune - (diameter -= 49,528 km) Earth - (diameter = 12,756 km) Venus - (diameter = 12,104 km) Mars - (diameter = 6787 km) Mercury - (diameter = 4879.4 km)
Click here to take the quiz.
How to make a model of the solar system.
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