Download SOLAR SYSTEM

Solar System Foldable Information
Directions: Color your planets and the Sun accurately. You will need to look at actual
pictures of the planets to do this! Use the information below to fill out your Solar System
Foldable. You must include AT LEAST 4 FACTS for the Sun, Asteroid Belt, and each planet on your
foldable, so write on the back of the sections if you need to!
Sun - NOT A PLANET!
 A star (enormous ball of glowing gas)
 Largest object in our solar system
 Center of the solar system
 109 times bigger than Earth
 About 4.5 billion years old
 2,000,000 degrees Celsius
 The sun is Earth’s main source of energy. It powers wind, ocean currents, and the water cycle. It
provides light and heat that most living things need to survive.
Mercury - Terrestrial Planet
 Smallest planet and the planet closest to the sun
 Fastest orbiting planet, only takes 88 days to get around the sun
 It has almost no atmosphere because it’s so tiny and has very little gravity
 Temperature ranges from 427 degrees Celsius in the day to -184 degrees at night
 Its surface is rocky with craters and high cliffs
 It has 0 moons
Venus - Terrestrial Planet
 2nd planet from the sun
 Venus is the brightest object in our sky next to the Sun and Moon.
 It shines like a star. It’s so bright because its thick atmosphere (CO2) reflects sunlight
 It’s the hottest planet in the Solar System with a temperature of 470 degrees Celsius
 The carbon dioxide atmosphere traps in heat
 Very similar to Earth in size
 Venus rotates in the opposite direction of most planets. It rotates so slowly that a day on Venus is longer
than a year on Venus.
 It has 0 moons
Earth - Terrestrial Planet
 3rd planet from the sun
 Largest of the 4 inner planets
 Water covers more than 2/3 of the surface
 Atmosphere contains mostly nitrogen and some oxygen
 Earth is the only planet known to have living organisms
 The Moon is Earth’s closest neighbor in space (Venus is the closest planet)
 The Moon revolves around Earth so it is called a natural satellite
 One day on Earth (24 hours) is the time it takes to make one rotation on its axis
 One year on Earth (365 days) is the time it takes to make one revolution around the Sun
Mars – Terrestrial Planet
 4th planet from the sun
 “Red Planet” – has a surface similar to Earth’s deserts, the red coloring comes from iron oxide in its soil
 The atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide
 Average temperature is -55 Celsius
 Mars has 2 moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are much smaller than Earth’s moon and shaped like
potatoes
 More than 30 space probes have traveled from Earth to Mars, best studied planet besides Earth
Asteroid Belt – NOT A PLANET!
 Millions of asteroids in orbit together around the Sun
 Located between Mars and Jupiter
 Asteroids are small, irregularly-shaped bodies made of rock or metal
 Contains a dwarf planet named Ceres
Jupiter - Gas Giant
 5th planet from the sun
 Largest of all planets (all other planets could easily fit inside of it)
 Enormous ball of gas – mostly hydrogen and helium like the Sun
 Great Red Spot is a giant storm
 It has 63 moons, 4 of which (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) are referred to as the Galilean Moons
because they were first seen by Galileo Galilei in 1610
 It takes 11 years to revolve around the sun, yet it has the fastest rotation (11 hours)
 Its largest moon, Ganymede, is larger than the planet Mercury
 Jupiter has barely visible rings made of dust which were discovered recently
Saturn - Gas Giant
 6th planet from the sun
 2nd largest planet in the solar system
 Atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium gases
 Known for its rings, it has 7 main ring groups made up of chunks of ice and rock
 Has 56 moons, the biggest moon is Titan
 29 years to orbit the sun
Uranus - Gas Giant
 7th planet from the Sun
 Uranus’ surface is an ice cold ocean of liquid methane thousands of miles deep. Its atmosphere is
hydrogen and helium gas
 Average temperature is -195 degrees Celsius
 Has 11 dark rings made of ice and rock
 Has 27 moons
 Takes 84 years to orbit the sun
 In the summer, the sun does not set for 20 years and in the winter it is dark for over 20 years.
 The angle of its tilt is 98 degrees. It tilts so far on its side, it seems to roll around the sun like a bowling
ball.
Neptune - Gas Giant
 8th planet from the Sun
 Similar size to Uranus with similar gases. (surface icy cold liquid methane, -210 deg Celsius)
 Neptune has the fastest winds in the solar system. (2,000 km/hr)
 Takes 164 years to orbit the sun
 Neptune has 13 moons
 Circled by 5 rings