Space

Your Mission: Explore the Solar System

The Solar System Ask the students to list the names of the main celestial bodies in order from the sun. Use this slide and the wall graphic in the Space Discovery Center as visual supports. Include elements such as the Kuiper Belt even though they are not pictured. The Sun – Mercury – Venus – Earth – Mars – The Asteroid Belt – Jupiter – Saturn – Uranus – Neptune – Kuiper Belt – Pluto – Eris - Ceres

The Sun Question: Is the Sun a planet? Answer: No. The Sun is a star. Follow up question: What is the difference? Answer: There are many differences but a few basic differences include that planets appear to “wander” in complicated patterns through the solar system while stars appear “fixed”; planets orbit around stars but not vice versa.

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

Research 1st bullet point 2nd bullet point 3rd bullet point Summarize your research here in three to five bullet points: 1st bullet point 2nd bullet point 3rd bullet point 4th bullet point 5th bullet point The sun is in the center of all orbits There are smaller planets closer to the sun There is a mix of planet sizes further away

Variables Planet Mass Period of rotation Distance from the sun Mercury Controlled variables: These are the things that are kept the same throughout your experiments. Independent variable: The one variable that you purposely change and test. Dependent variable: The measure of change observed because of the independent variable. It is important to decide how you are going to measure the change. Planet Mass Period of rotation Distance from the sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

Works Cited Be sure to include print and electronic sources and put them in alphabetical order.