PLANETS

How many planets are in the Solar System?

8

Name the eight planets in the correct order as they go from

the sun.

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

Clue: My Very Eager Mother Just Sold Us Nine Pizzas

What are the four inner planets?

Mercury Venus Earth Mars

What are the four outer planets?

Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

What splits the four inner planets from the four outer

planets?

Asteroid Belt

What is the farthest planet from the sun?

Neptune

What is the sun?

Average-size star that gives off light

What two things are the sun composed of?

Hydrogen and Helium

What are stars?

Huge balls of gas

What is an orbit?

A path that planets follow around the sun!

What orbits around the Sun?

Planets

What does the Earth orbit?

Sun

What does the moon orbit?

Earth

What two things keep the planets in orbit and how?

Gravity: Force that pulls the planets toward the Sun

Inertia: A moving object that tends to keep moving in a straight line

What would happen to the planets if gravity were only

working?

Pulled into the Sun

What would happen to the planets if inertia was only

working?

Go in a straight line and fly off into space

Why does life exist on Earth and not on other planets in our

solar system?

1. Right Temperature

2. Air

3. Water

4. Resources

What is a day? What is the reason for night and day?

A day is the amount of time it takes a planet to complete one spin.

When the Earth spins, then only one side can be facing the Sun.

Name some characteristics of the moon.

1. No water

2. No air

3. No weather

4. Temperature changes greatly

5. Rocky Surfaces

6. Many craters

How long does it take for the moon to complete all of its

phases?

One Month

What is Earth’s nearest neighbor?

Moon

What are constellations?

Patterns formed by groups of stars in the night sky

Why do constellations appear to move across the sky?

Because Earth rotates

Describe the inner planets.

1. Solid, rocky crusts

2. Have atmospheres

3. Do not have rings

4. Warmer Temperatures

5. Slow rotation time

What planet is the only one that can support life?

Earth

Describe the outer planets.

1. Gaseous

2. Has rings

3. Cooler Temperatures

4. Many moons

5. Slow revolution time

What is an asteroid belt?

Region between Mars and Jupiter where most asteroids are found.

What are asteroids?

“Minor Planet”

Small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun.

What are meteors?

A chunk of rock from space that burns up as it travels through Earth’s atmosphere.

A “shooting star”

What are meteorites?

A chunk of rock from space that strikes the surface of

Earth or the Moon.

What are comets?

A “dirty snowball” orbiting the Sun- a mixture of ices,

frozen gases, rock, and dust left over from the formation

of the solar system.

What is a galaxy?

A collection of billions of stars.

What is the Milky Way?

Our galaxy

What is our solar system?

The Sun and the objects that are traveling around it.

What is a planet?

Any of the eight major objects that travel around the Sun and shine by reflecting its

light.

What is gravity?

The force of attraction between any two objects

due to their mass.

What does revolve mean?

To move around, or orbit, another object.

What is an orbit?

The path a planet travels in as it goes around the Sun.

What are phases?

As the moon travels around Earth, we see different

amounts of its lighted half.

What effect is there because of the Earth’s tilt?

Sun’s light shines differently throughout the year

What is an atmosphere?

The blanket of gases surrounding the Earth

What is rotation time?

Time it takes for a planet to turn on its axis

(24 hours)

What is revolution time?

Time it takes for a planet to orbit the Sun

(One Year)

What is a light year?

Distance light travels in a year

5.8 trillion miles

MERCURY

1. Closest planet to the Sun

2. Extremely hot and cold temperatures

VENUS

Hottest planet

EARTH

1. Water Planet

2. Right temperature and resources for life

3. Revolution time: 1 year

4. Rotation time: 1 day

MARS

1. Largest volcano in our solar system

2. Red Planet

JUPITER

1. Largest planet

2. Gas Giant

SATURN

Has most visible rings

URANUS

Tilted Planet

NEPTUNE

Twin Planet

PLUTO

No longer a planet-

dwarf planet