Catalyst (5 minutes) Write down your universal address: (hint: House #, street name, city, state, country, continent, planet, solar system, location in the galaxy, galaxy name, universe.)

Assignment: You are now the top travel agents in the universe—you and your partner(s) will be assigned a table. At your table you will find a planet assignment, guide and materails. You must make a poster (be creative—this could be a facebook profile, sports stats page, brochure, poster, magazine cover, etc) to advertise your planet as future vacation destination. Your poster must include: Name of your planet Location of your planet Size of your planet relative to Earth Description of your planet—atmosphere, ground type Weather forecast at the destination (aka temperatures, wind?, etc) What makes your planet so special/cool?—remember your job is to make me want to go there (example rings, moons, supports life? etc). Example: The Pluto Paradise

The Solar System

Planet A large object in space that orbits a star

Two Groups of Planets Inner planets (AKA Terrestrial (Rocky) Planets) - Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars Outer planets (AKA Giant Gas Planets) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

Inner Planets

Vocabulary! Atmosphere: The mixture of gases that surrounds a planet

Mercury First Planet from the sun! Size: smallest Atmosphere: basically none! Temperatures: very hot and very cold, depending on the sun! Rocky – flat planes and craters Can’t support life! Too hot, no water, no oxygen

Venus Second Planet from the sun Size: close to Earth’s (Earth’s Twin) Atmosphere: dense and volatile. You would be crushed by it! Carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid Temperature: hottest planet! Why? Rocky surface with active volcanoes

Venus’ heavy atmosphere traps heat! Venus is close to the sun, and Venus’ atmosphere traps the heat! Too hot for life! Also no oxygen or water!

Earth 3 rd planet from the sun Atmosphere: oxygen and nitrogen Temperatures: moderate 70% Water (oceans) Rocky, mountains and active volcanoes. 1 Moon

Life on Earth? Moderate temperatures Water in liquid form Atmosphere with oxygen

Mars – the red planet 4 th planet from the sun Size: smaller than earth Atmosphere: light. Mostly carbon dioxide Temperature: COLD!! -20 F Barren, rocky land with craters, extinct volcanoes. Lots of dust. Polar caps - frozen water and carbon dioxide 2 small moons: Phobos and Deimos

Life on Mars? Somewhat moderate temperatures Ice (not liquid water) No oxygen

The Outer Planets: Gas Giants

Four Outer Planets: The Gas Giants Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

Gas Giants Atmosphere: Very thick! Mostly hydrogen and helium. Would crush you! Temperature: extremely cold!

Jupiter Location: 5 th planet from sun Size: Largest planet. 300 times more mass than Earth! Temperature: -238°F! “Land:” Mostly liquid hydrogen Moons: 63! Rings: very thin rings

Great Red Spot! A hurricane-like cloud. 

Saturn  Location: 6 th planet from sun  Size: second-largest planet About 10 times larger than Earth.  “Land:” Mostly liquid hydrogen  Temperature: -292°F  Moons: 47

Saturn’s rings are mostly made of ice and rock! Each piece is orbiting around Saturn. There are hundreds of rings.

Uranus Location: 7 th planet from the sun Size: 4 times the size of Earth, But much smaller than Jupiter and Saturn Temperature: -355°F “Land:” Icy ocean of water, methane, and ammonia Rings: very thin Moons: 27 Looks blue because of poisonous methane.

Uranus’ rotation Rotates from top to bottom! Most planets rotate from side to side. Why is Uranus different? Billions of years ago, it may have been hit by a large object that knocked it on its side

Neptune Location: 8 th planet from sun Size: almost 4 times greater than earth Temperature:-364°F Atmosphere: Methane clouds “Land:” Icy ocean made up of water, methane, ammonia, and hydrogen Rings: very thin rings Moons: 13

Life on the Gas Giants? No! No oxygen Too cold No liquid water

Who am I ?!! With your team table—you are going to study your card(s) After 5 minutes your team will read out some clues and the someone in the class must guess who you are!

Exit Ticket & Grade 15 minutes