vocabulary

 Our solar system includes the sun, the planets and many smaller objects.

 The inner planets are the four planets nearest to the sun.  Mercury  Venus  Earth  Mars

 The outer planets are the four planets farthest from the sun.  Jupiter  Saturn  Uranus  Neptune

 A satellite is a smaller body that revolves around a larger body.  The moon is a natural satellite of the Earth.

 A comet is a body of ice, rock and dust that was formed in the cold outer solar system and orbits the sun.

 Asteroids are small rocky bodies that orbit the sun, found mainly in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

 A meteoroid is a rocky body smaller than an asteroid. Meteors burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. Meteorites do not burn up entirely and strike the ground.

Relative distances

 A U = the average distance of Earth from the sun  AU=149,600,000 kilometers  AU=92,957,000 miles

 Sun 0.0 AU  Mercury 0.4 AU  Venus 0.7 AU  Earth 1.0 AU  Mars 1.5 AU  Asteroid Belt 2.8 AU  Jupiter 5.2 AU  Saturn 9.6 AU  Uranus 19.2 AU  Neptune 30.0 AU

Sun =0 cm Mercury =4 cm Venus =7 cm Earth =10 cm Mars =15 cm Asteroid Belt =28 cm Jupiter =52 cm Saturn =96 cm Uranus =192 cm Neptune =300 cm