1. Space

2. Your Mission: Explore the Solar System

3. The Solar System
Ask the students to list the names of the main celestial bodies in order from the sun. Use this slide and the wall graphic in the Space Discovery Center as visual supports. Include elements such as the Kuiper Belt even though they are not pictured.
The Sun – Mercury – Venus – Earth – Mars – The Asteroid Belt – Jupiter – Saturn – Uranus – Neptune – Kuiper Belt – Pluto – Eris - Ceres

4. The Sun Question: Is the Sun a planet? Answer: No. The Sun is a star.
Follow up question: What is the difference?
Answer: There are many differences but a few basic differences include that planets appear to “wander” in complicated patterns through the solar system while stars appear “fixed”; planets orbit around stars but not vice versa.

5. Mercury

6. Venus

7. Earth

8. Mars

9. Jupiter

10. Saturn

11. Uranus

12. Neptune

13. Pluto

14. Research 1st bullet point 2nd bullet point 3rd bullet point
Summarize your research here in three to five bullet points:
1st bullet point
2nd bullet point
3rd bullet point
4th bullet point
5th bullet point
The sun is in the center of all orbits
There are smaller planets closer to the sun
There is a mix of planet sizes further away

15. Variables Planet Mass Period of rotation Distance from the sun Mercury
Controlled variables: These are the things that are kept the same throughout your experiments.
Independent variable: The one variable that you purposely change and test.
Dependent variable: The measure of change observed because of the independent variable. It is important to decide how you are going to measure the change.
Planet
Mass
Period of rotation
Distance from the sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune

16. Works Cited
Be sure to include print and electronic sources and put them in alphabetical order.