Planet Review! 6 th Grade Science

Mercury: What do you remember?

Mercury Closest to the Sun Smallest Plant (used to be second smallest after Pluto) Surface has many craters and high cliffs No atmosphere Varying temperatures  has a very hot side and a very cold side No moons

Mercury Fun Fact: A year on Mercury lasts only 88 days!

Venus: What do you remember?

Venus Similar to Earth in size and mass – “Earth’s twin” Has no water Thick atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide –traps heat = HOTTEST PLANET Droplets of sulfuric acid in the atmosphere give clouds a yellowish color Surface has craters, cracks similar to faults, and volcanoes Greenhouse effect makes it extremely hot Has no moons

Venus Fun Fact! Temperatures on Venus can reach 500 degrees Celsius or 932 degrees Fahrenheit!

Earth: What do you remember?

Earth: Atmosphere protects life Surface temperatures allow water to exist as a solid, liquid, and gas Has oxygen Has one large moon

Earth Fun Fact! Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field protects the surface from objects in space!

Mars: What do you remember?

Mars: Surface appears red because of iron oxide in rocks Has ice caps Has channels that indicate that water has flowed on the surface before Has many craters and inactive volcanoes Often has dust storms Has a thin atmosphere made up of mostly carbon dioxide Has 2 small moons

Mars Fun Fact! Iron oxide, (or rust!) gives Mars its bright red color

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are called the INNER PLANETS! What do they all have in common?

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are called the INNER PLANETS They are the closest planets to the Sun They are WARMER and smaller than the other planets All of them are made of solid, rocklike material In their early years of formation, they were constantly struck by other objects in space  causes them to have many craters The inner planets have few or no satellites

Inner Planets: Mercury, Venus, E arth, Mars My  Mercury Very  Venus Easy  Earth Method!  Mars

Jupiter: What do you remember?

Jupiter: Largest planet Has faint rings Atmosphere is hydrogen and helium; continuous storms swirl on the planet Has 67 satellites

Jupiter Fun Fact! Jupiter is 1,500 times bigger than Earth!

Saturn: What do you remember?

Saturn Second-largest planet Thick atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium Has a complex ring system Has at least 30 moons Has the lowest density of all of the planets –so low that the planet would float in water

Saturn Fun Fact! Winds on Saturn can blow at 500 meters per second.

Uranus: What do you remember?

Uranus Large, gaseous planet Covered in a bluish fog Faint gray rings made of graphite, the material used in pencils Rotates on such a tilted axis that it looks like it is lying on its side Atmosphere is hydrogen, helium, and methane Has at least 27 moons

Neptune: What do you remember?

Uranus Fun Fact! A day on Uranus only lasts 17 hours!

Neptune: The last of the gaseous planets with rings that vary in thickness Sometimes is father from the Sun than Pluto is Methane in the atmosphere causes a bluish-green color Has dark-colored storms in its atmosphere

Neptune Fun Fact! Neptune takes 165 years to orbit the sun!

Pluto: What do you remember?

Pluto: Small, icy-rock dwarf planet with a thin atmosphere Single moon, Charon, is half of its the diameter Its orbit follows a curved ellipse path that is different from the rest of the planets Sometimes is closer to the Sun than Neptune

Pluto Fun Fact! Pluto sometimes moves inside Neptune’s orbit and is closer to the Sun than Neptune is!

The Outer Planets Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

The Outer Planets Are far from the Sun Because of this, they are DARK and COLD! Giants made up mostly of gas Each has moons and a ring system

The Outer Planets! Just  Jupiter Speeds  Saturn Up  Uranus Names!!  Neptune

Put the Outer and Inner Planets together! M y V ery E asy M ethod J ust S peeds U p N ames!!

Other ways to remember the planets in order! My Very Excellent Mother Just Saved Us Nine Pizzas! My Very Evil Mummy Just Sat Upon Nathan’s Potty!

Are planets satellites?

Yes: Planets are satellites because they orbit around the Sun.

Are planets stars?

No! Why?

Planets are not stars because: They are smaller and cooler than stars They cannot make light

Planets rotate at DIFFERENT SPEEDS and have different length days For example, one day on Earth is 24 hours long, but one day on Venus is 243 Earth days long.