1. SC.5.E.5.2 Recognize the major common characteristics of all planets and compare/contrast the properties of inner and outer planets. Moderate
SC.4.N.3.1 Explain that models can be three dimensional, two dimensional, an explanation in your mind, or a computer model. Moderate
SC.5.E.5.1 Recognize that a galaxy consists of gas, dust, and many stars, including any objects orbiting the stars. Identify our home galaxy as the Milky Way. Low
SC.5.E.5.3 Distinguish among the following objects of the Solar System -- Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets -- and identify Earth's position in it. High
Pictures are provided by NASA/JPL/University of Arizona,
Models of planets are from an unknown source.

2. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are inner planets.
SC.5.E.5.2 Recognize the major common characteristics of all planets and compare/contrast the properties of inner and outer planets. Moderate
SC.4.N.3.1 Explain that models can be three dimensional, two dimensional, an explanation in your mind, or a computer model. Moderate
Ask students to respond to the prompt, Think of three words to describe some characteristics of the inner planets.
Remind students that these are models of the planets based on data collected by scientists using telescopes. In this model, the planets are resting on a surface. In reality, the planets move in space.
Think of three words to describe some characteristics of the inner planets.

3. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the outer planets or gas giants.
SC.5.E.5.2 Recognize the major common characteristics of all planets and compare/contrast the properties of inner and outer planets. Moderate
SC.4.N.3.1 Explain that models can be three dimensional, two dimensional, an explanation in your mind, or a computer model. Moderate
In 2006, astronomers at the International Astronomical Union in Prague voted to consider Pluto as a dwarf planet, so officially there are eight planets in our solar system.
1. Think of three words to describe some characteristics of the outer planets.
2. Use the characteristics to compare and contrast the inner and outer planets.
Think of three words to describe some characteristics of the outer planets.
Use the characteristics to compare and contrast the inner and outer planets.

4. How are the inner planets and outer planets alike and different
How are the inner planets and outer planets alike and different? What are some common characteristics of all planets?
Inner Planets
Outer Planets
SC.5.E.5.2 Recognize the major common characteristics of all planets and compare/contrast the properties of inner and outer planets. Moderate
This slide asks students to recall information about the planets and compare the data using a Venn diagram.
All Planets

5. Planets Compared to the Sun
SC.5.E.5.3 Distinguish among the following objects of the Solar System -- Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets -- and identify Earth's position in it. High
Emphasize to students that this is a model of the solar system. The model is not to scale and the planets are not in the correct order from the Sun. This model only shows the relative sizes of the planets compared to the Sun.
The Sun is a star. Like all stars, it is made up of very hot gases. It constantly produces heat and light energy.
How do planets compare to the Sun? The planets in our solar system are much smaller than the Sun. These planets orbit the star we call the Sun.
Other stars may have planets that orbit them. Using orbiting telescopes, scientists continue to collect data to learn about planets orbiting other stars.
How do the planets in our solar system compare to the Sun?

6. Our Sun is a Star How does the Sun compare to other stars?
Again, emphasize to students that this model shows only relative sizes of several stars, including our Sun. The model shows the stars as solid balls but in reality they are glowing balls of very hot gases.
How does our Sun compare to other stars? The Sun is much smaller than many other stars. The colors of stars are different. Some look reddish and others look orange or yellow. Some appear white. The colors are related to their temperature.
How does the Sun compare to other stars?

7. What can be found in a galaxy?
What is the name of our galaxy?
The Milky Way
What can be found in a galaxy?
SC.5.E.5.1 Recognize that a galaxy consists of gas, dust, and many stars, including any objects orbiting the stars. Identify our home galaxy as the Milky Way.
What is the name of our galaxy? Pause to ask for students’ responses. Click to show that our galaxy is the Milky Way
What can be found in a galaxy? Billions of stars, objects orbiting stars, gas, and dust

8. Many Stars and Galaxies
SC.5.E.5.1 Recognize that a galaxy consists of gas, dust, and many stars, including any objects orbiting the stars. Identify our home galaxy as the Milky Way. Low
Make connections by having students discuss what they see in this image.
Galaxies are the larger areas of light, representing billions of stars in each galaxy.
Stars appear to have different sizes, brightness, and colors.
Ask students what force could hold stars together as a galaxy. Help them to infer that one force that holds a galaxy together is the force of gravity. Scientists are still investigating other forces that hold stars together in a galaxy.
NASA picture from Hubble telescope

9. Distances of Inner Planets
What do you notice about the distance between Earth and Mars?
What do you notice about the distance between Mars and Jupiter?
What do you notice about the distance between Earth and Mars? They are relatively close together.
What do you notice about the distance between Mars and Jupiter? They are much farther apart than Mars and Earth.
Emphasize that the distances shown in this model of the solar system are really very large, so large that the distances are not measured in miles or kilometers but in a special astronomical unit.

10. Distances of Outer Planets
What do you notice about the distances of the inner and outer planets in relationship to the Sun?
What do you notice about the distances of the inner and outer planets in relationship to the Sun? The inner planets are closer to the Sun. The outer planets are farther away from the Sun. The outer planets are farther away from each other than the inner planets.
Again, emphasize that the distances shown in this model of the solar system are really very large, so large that the distances are not measured in miles or kilometers but in a special astronomical unit.

11. Pictures are not to scale.
What is a moon?
Earth has one moon.
What is a moon? A moon is a natural solid object that orbits a planet. Earth has one moon.
Earth’s moon was in the news on January 1, Twin spacecraft, GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B, reached the Moon and began to orbit around it. They will collect data about the Moon and send it back to Earth for scientists to analyze.
To get more background on this story, paste this NASA web address into your browser :
Click on the story “NASA's Twin Grail Spacecraft Reunited in Lunar Orbit.”
Pictures are not to scale.

12. Pictures are not to scale.
Mars has 2 moons.
Mars has 2 moons. From left: Mars, Phobos, and Deimos
Pictures are not to scale.

13. Jupiter Jupiter has 63 moons. Io
Jupiter has 63 moons. Jupiter's moon, Io, floats above the cloud-tops of Jupiter in this image captured January 1, The image is deceiving: there are 350,000 kilometers - roughly 2.5 Jupiters - between Io and Jupiter's clouds. Io is about the size of our own moon. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
The brief video clip spans 24 Jupiter rotations between Oct. 31 and Nov. 9, The small, darker shapes that appear are several moons orbiting Jupiter. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

14. Saturn has 61 moons.
Saturn has 61 moons. The white circles on the left are the moons and the black circles are their shadows.
Saturn also has rings made of rock, dust, and ice.

15. Uranus has 27 moons. Neptune has 13 moons.
Uranus has 27 moons. Uranus' moon Ariel (white dot) and its shadow (black dot) were caught crossing the face of Uranus in this Hubble Space Telescope image.
Neptune has 13 moons. Despina is a tiny moon of Neptune. A mere 148 kilometers across, tiny Despina was discovered in 1989 in images from the Voyager 2 spacecraft taken during its encounter with Neptune. Despina itself has been artificially brightened in this image to make it easier to see.

16. Halley’s Comet
SC.5.E.5.3 Distinguish among the following objects of the Solar System -- Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets -- and identify Earth's position in it. High
A comet is an icy object in the solar system that usually has a fuzzy atmosphere and often a “tail.” Comets orbit the Sun in the solar system, usually among the outer planets.
One famous comet is Halley’s comet, which appears in the inner solar system every 75 or 76 years. It last appeared in 1986 and is expected to appear in mid-2061.
How are comets distinguished from other objects in the solar system?
What is a comet?

17. Asteroids What are asteroids?
SC.5.E.5.3 Distinguish among the following objects of the Solar System -- Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets -- and identify Earth's position in it. High
An asteroid is a rocky and metallic object that orbits the Sun. Many asteroids orbit the Sun in the region between Mars and Jupiter. They are called the asteroid belt. There are millions of asteroids.
An asteroid was visible from Earth in November It was longer than 4 football fields.
How are asteroids distinguished from other objects in the solar system?

18. Our galaxy - the Milky Way - is a spiral galaxy with arms extending from the center like a pinwheel. Our solar system is in the Orion arm of the Milky Way. Our Sun is one of about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way. Our galaxy is just one of roughly 100 billion galaxies in the visible universe.
Click on picture to go to the NASA website or copy and paste the link below:
Hover over objects in the picture on the website for more information about the solar system.