Fifth Grade Presentation By, Andrea Gioulis Our Solar System Fifth Grade Presentation By, Andrea Gioulis

Our Solar System The sun is a star with nine planets orbiting around it. This family of planets is called the solar system. The planets all travel around the sun in the same direction, and are held in orbit by the gravitational pull of the sun. The orbits of the planets are slightly elliptical in shape. The nine known planets, in order of distance from the sun, are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto.

This is a computer generated image of our solar system.

The Sun The sun is a star which is the center of our solar system. The sun is composed of gases. It has a diameter of 1,400,00 km. Temperatures on the sun can reach as high as 15,000,000 ° Kelvin.

Mercury Mercury is the smallest planet. It is the closest planet to the sun, and this accounts for its extremely high surface temperatures. There is no air or water on Mercury.

Venus Next to the sun and moon, Venus is the brightest object in the sky. Venus has very heavy cloud cover and strong surface winds.

Earth Three fourths of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. The entire pleat is surrounded by an immense body of air called the atmosphere. Earth has one natural satellite, the moon.

Mars Mars shines with a reddish glow. The reddish color of the soil is due to the rusting of iron rich minerals as they react with the soil and water. The Polar Caps of Mars are 1-3 km thick and are more extensive during the Martian winter. Mars has two natural satellites, Phobos and Deimos.

Jupiter Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. The surface of Jupiter has light and dark bands of gaseous clouds covering its liquid hydrogen core. A striking feature of this planet is the Great Red Spot, which changes periodically in color and brightness.

Saturn Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system. It is known to have at least 21 moons. Saturn is a unique planet because it has many rings.

Uranus Uranus is the third largest planet. Its atmosphere is composed of methane, giving the planet a greenish appearance.

Neptune Neptune is often referred to as a twin of Uranus because it is about the same size and has the same color of atmosphere. Neptune has two moons.

Pluto Pluto is the smallest planet. It is the furthest planet from the sun. The existence of Pluto in our solar system was unknown until its discovery in 1930.

Want to review? Click on one of the following links. Our Solar System Jupiter The Sun Saturn Mercury Uranus Venus Neptune Earth Pluto Mars

All of the images used in this presentation were found on Nasa’s website. If you are interested in learning more, please visit www.nasa.gov