1. Planet Flash Cards Get out 13 Index cards or cut paper into 13 pieces 3 sheets plus one card (share with your table)

2. The Order of the Planets ► 1. Mercury ► 2. Venus ► 3. Earth ► 4. Mars ► 5. Jupiter ► 6. Saturn ► 7. Uranus ► 8. Neptune ► 1. My ► 2. Very ► 3. Educated ► 4. Mother ► 5. Just ► 6. Served ► 7. Us ► 8. Nachos

3. Inner Planet (Terrestrial) -Mercury-Venus-Earth-Mars

4. Outer Planet (Gas Giant) ► Jupiter ► Saturn ► Uranus ► Neptune

5. Retrograde Rotation (spins backwards) ► Venus ► Uranus

6. Smaller Than Earth ► Mercury ► Venus ► Mars

7. No Moons ► Mercury ► Venus

8. Has a ring system ► Jupiter ► Saturn ► Uranus ► Neptune

9. No Solid Surface ► Jupiter ► Saturn ► Uranus ► Neptune

10. Too far away to see without a telescope. ► Uranus ► Neptune

11. Mercury: ► Closest to the Sun ► Shortest Revolution ► Smallest planet

12. Venus: ► Close in size to Earth ► “Earth’s Twin” ► Hottest Average Temp. ► Very thick atmosphere

13. Compare the sizes of the Terrestrial Planets:

14. Earth: ► 1 moon (Luna) ► Has liquid water ► Has the only known life

15. Mars: ► 2 Moons ► Thin Atmosphere ► The “Red Planet”

16. Jupiter ► Largest Planet ► Made mostly of H and He ► Most moons (about 64) ► Has a red spot (1.5 X the diameter of Earth) ► Radiates more heat than it gets from the Sun

17. Compare the sizes of the Gas Giants

18. Saturn: ► Made mostly of H and He ► Many moons (about 32) ► Less dense than water ► Largest rings

19. Uranus: ► Much smaller than Jupiter and Saturn ► Tilted at a 90 degree angle ► Has many moons (27)

20. Neptune: ► Much smaller than Jupiter and Saturn ► Many moons (13)

21. Compare the size of the Sun to all 8 Planets!

22. Pluto/dwarf planets: ► Considered a dwarf planet ► There are over 50 similar objects in the solar system – too many to call them all planets ► Pluto has a moon which is more than half its size ► Orbit is so elliptical that it’s path is inside Neptune’s for 20 years

23. Asteroids ► Large rocky bodies that revolve around the sun in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter ► Thought to be left over pieces from the early formation of the solar system that were not massive enough to form into a planet

24. meteoroid ► Small rocks that revolve around the sun in random orbits throughout the solar system ► Meteor – rock burning in our atmosphere “shooting star” ► Meteorite – a rock from space that has hit the Earth’s surface  (a meteor “rite” here on the ground)

25. comet ► Small object made of frozen gas, ice and dust ► Has a highly elliptical orbit ► Often called a “dirty snowball” ► Meteor showers happen when we travel through the debris of a comet’s dirty orbit