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HOW THE
SOLAR SYSTEM WORKS
from
A Spin Around the Solar System Series
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Maslowski Wildlife Productions
Teacher’s guide by...
Lauren LaComb
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Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Links to Curriculum Standards . . . . . . . .1
Summary of the Program . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Student Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Instructional Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Student Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Introducing the Program . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Follow-Up Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Extended Learning Activities . . . . . . . . .6
Internet Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Reference Materials/Bibliography . . . . . .7
Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Script of Narration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
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HOW THE SOLAR SYSTEM WORKS
from A Spin Around the Solar System Series
Grades 5-8
Viewing Time: 15 minutes with a three-minute,
ten-question, Video Quiz
INTRODUCTION
This in-depth series covers a wide range of essential matters about the solar system. Such topics as planet formation, gravity, nuclear fusion, and the Big Bang theory are
presented concisely with the help of specially designed
graphics and animations. Each of the eight shows can be
presented as a free-standing lesson on its own, but the
shows also work together to reinforce important concepts
and to add breadth and depth to a student’s cumulative
knowledge.
LINKS TO CURRICULUM STANDARDS
This lesson correlates to the following standards, outlined
by the National Science Education Standards, for students in grades 5-8. Use individual state standard outlines to specify correlations to your state's guidelines.
Earth & Space Science (Content Standard D)
• Gravity and inertia
• Energy source is the sun
• Earth in the solar system
SUMMARY OF THE PROGRAM
This program explains the basic concepts of the solar
system. It begins by explaining that the sun was formed
by a contracting nebula at the edge of the Milky Way
Galaxy. As the nebula contracted, it began to condense.
The force of gravity, along with condensation, pulled the
nebula gas into a tight ball. Due to the heat and friction
inside, nuclear reactions created light. Some gases
escaped gravity and formed small swirling clouds. These
clouds eventually became the planets of the solar system.
One of the laws of gravity states that bigger objects have
stronger gravity. Therefore, since the sun has 99.8% of
1
the solar system's total mass, it is the powerful center that
holds the planets. A second force is inertia, the force that
keeps things moving unless another force slows it down
or changes its direction. Inertia carries planets on a
straight line out into space from the sun. Inertia also
keeps the planets moving on their axis. Gravity holds the
planets in. These two forces are in balance with each
other and the planets go around the sun perpetually.
The sun is a medium-sized star mostly made of hydrogen.
It produces light and heat through nuclear fusion. Helium
is made inside of the sun by hydrogen atoms fusing
together, releasing the energy of heat and light.
There are four inner Rocky Planets: Mercury, Venus,
Earth, and Mars. These have crusts made of rock. They
are dense, weighing more than the four Gas Giants.
These gas giants lie beyond Mars. These are enormous
balls of gas, made from gases such as hydrogen, helium,
and methane. Their centers may be made of frozen
gases, and they are covered with poisoness at-mospheres. Each gas giant planet has moons, rings, or both.
Pluto is not only the smallest planet, but also the farthest
from the sun. It is neither a rocky planet nor a gas giant.
The solar system includes other qualities than just planets. The video highlights Kuiper Belt objects, asteroids,
comets, the Oort Cloud, and the Heliopause.
Notes:
• Underlined words are identified vocabulary words to
enhance student understanding.
• This program is an excellent tool to use at the onset of
your Solar System unit.
VOCABULARY
asteroid
atmosphere
axis
comet
condense
contract
cosmologists
Gas Giant
gravity
helium
heliopause
hydrogen
inertia
nebula
particles
nuclear fusion
Rocky Planets
sphere
terrestrial
2
STUDENT OBJECTIVES
After viewing the program and participating in the followup activities, students should be able to...
• Define key terminology in context.
• Explain the difference between gas giants and rocky
planets by describing physical attributes.
• Describe the force of gravity and inertia on the solar system.
• Explain the purpose of the sun: light, heat, and gravity.
• Identify at least one additional quality of the solar system.
INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
Before presenting this lesson to your students, we suggest that you preview the program, review the guide, and
the accompanying blackline master activities in order to
familiarize yourself with their content.
As you review the materials presented in this guide, you
may find it necessary to make some changes, additions
or deletions to meet the specific needs of your class. We
encourage you to do so; for only by tailoring this program
to your class will they obtain the maximum instructional
benefits afforded by the materials.
An optional pre-test is provided on Blackline Master 2,
Anticipation Guide. This will help you determine the
level of student comprehension prior to participating in
this lesson. An answer key begins on page 7.
This program concludes with a ten-question Video Quiz,
which may be used to gauge student comprehension
immediately after the presentation of the video.
Blackline Master 3, Video Quiz, provides students with
a printed copy of the questions and a list from which to
choose correct answers.
3
STUDENT PREPARATION
You may want the students to view the vocabulary words
addressed in the program prior to showing the video.
This may be accomplished by implementing a Word
Splash, Blackline Master 1. A Word Splash is an active
learning activity that introduces the students to vocabulary words to which they will be exposed in the program.
By doing this activity, students are given the chance to
show what words they know well, and to become aware
of the words they need to find meaning. This is a good
pre- and post-activity. It excites the students and gets
them thinking. Writing all of the vocabulary words on an
overhead does this (see Blackline Master 1) or individually on pieces of paper. Have students create sentences
using as many words as possible. This may be done individually, in partners, or in small groups. Have the students
share their sentences and post them. By exposing the
students to vocabulary prior to viewing the program, students will be prepared to listen for these words.
Additionally, they will want to find the correct meaning.
Note:
• Word Splash may be done at the conclusion of the
entire lesson, to compare learning accomplished by students.
INTRODUCING THE PROGRAM
Ask students to share what they know about the scientific explanation of how the solar system was born. Tell
them that they will complete Blackline Master 2,
Anticipation Guide, on this concept prior to viewing the
program. Explain that they are not expected to get all
answers correct, but they are expected to try their best.
• Present the program. The viewing time, including the
quiz, is 18 minutes long.
FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES
The following Blackline Activity Master sheets are included with this guide. They correlate with the learning objec4
tives outlined on page 3 of this guide. You may replicate
and distribute them as needed.
Following the program, students may have additional
questions. The facilitator may want to hold off questions
until follow-up activities are completed. They may write
these answers down and the class may review them prior
to the post-test. By doing so, the students may find the
answers on their own.
As a class, you may wish to discuss questions that
appear on Blackline Master 4, Discussion Questions.
These questions should be copied onto an overhead or
distributed to students, in order to meet the needs of your
visual learners.
In order to enforce vocabulary, review words from Word
Splash (Blackline Master 1, Word Splash) as a class.
Students can then fill out Blackline Master 5, Cloze
Activity. This activity also covers the concepts of gravity
and inertia.
To help students identify the difference between Gas
Giants and Rocky Planets, have students complete
Blackline Master 6, Venn Diagram. Students can start
by filling out the Venn Diagram individually. Once the students have done as much as possible on their own, have
students put Two Heads Together as pairs. This active
learning strategy allows students to pair up and teach one
another what they know, and provides the opportunity to
add to their own Venn Diagram. This can be done again
by putting Four Heads Together and so on.
To practice the concept of the purpose of the sun, complete Blackline Master 7, The Power of the Sun.
To conclude your study of A Spin in the Solar System:
How the Solar System Works use Blackline Master 8,
Post-Test. This should be given to your students after
viewing the program and completing additional activities
to assess their knowledge of the topic.
5
EXTENDED LEARNING ACTIVITIES
SCIENCE EXTENSIONS: Students can research different meteorites that have impacted planets and moons.
ART CONNECTION: Draw a model of the solar system
including the following: nine planets, sun, Kuiper Belt, and
the Heliopause.
MATH CONNECTION: Have students calculate the distance from the sun to each planet. They should figure
how long it would take to drive to any given planet. As a
class, decide on the speed vehicles should travel. With
this information, they could also make a scale drawing of
the solar system.
CREATIVE WRITING CONNECTION: Students act as
reporters and write an article on how the sun was created
or a planet was formed, from a scientific point of view.
Make a classroom newspaper or magazine.
SOCIAL STUDIES CONNECTION: Research cosmologists from the United States and other countries. Have
students make a classroom timeline on their findings.
TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION: Have students create
questions based on the topics covered in this program.
Type the list of questions for the entire class. Have the
students research using the Internet for answers to the
questions. It may help if you assign students to specific
questions. Have a sharing session at the conclusion of
class.
INTERNET SITES
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov (Galileo)
http://mpf.www.jpl.nasa.gov (Mars Pathfinder)
http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov (comets)
http://www.nsta.org/ (National Science Teachers’
Association)
http://www.nasa.gov (NASA)
http://www.sln.org/ (Science Learning Network)
6
REFERENCE MATERIALS/BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Origin Of The Universe. Andres L. Ruiz. Sterling
Publishing Co., INC., NY. 1996. 0-8069-9744-3.
Exploring The Reaches of the Solar System. Ray
Spangenburg & Diane Moser. Fact on File, NY, Oxford,
Sydney. 1990. 0-8160-1850-2.
Merlin's Tour of the Universe. Neil de Grasse Tyson.
Doubleday, NY. 1989. 0-385-48835-1.
Galaxies. Seymour Simon. Morrow Jr. Books, NY.
1988. 0-688-06184-2.
Comets and Meteor Showers. Paul Sipiera. Children's
Press: A Division of Grolier, NY, London, Hong Kong,
Sydney, and Danburg, Connecticut. 1997. 0516-203304.
ANSWER KEY
Blackline Master 1, Word Splash
Answers to the Word Splash will vary. When you use it
before viewing the program, do not expect correct connections. After viewing the program and completing the
Backline Masters, expect correct connections.
Blackline Master 2, Anticipation Guide
1. T
2. F, It becomes smaller.
3. T
4. T
5. F, Inertia keeps things moving.
6. T
7. F, hydrogen
8. T
9. F, rocky
10. F, earth
11. F, Pluto is considered neither a Gas Giant nor a Rocky
Planet.
12. T
13. T
14. F, There are more galaxies than just the Milky Way.
7
15. T
Blackline Master 3, Video Quiz
1. gravity
6. Mercury, Mars
2. Milky Way
7. Jupiter, Saturn
3. gravity
8. Pluto
4. inertia
9. Asteroids or comets
5. nuclear fusion
10. true
Blackline Maser 4, Discussion Questions
1. To investigate how the world was formed. An astrologist studies star formations, whereas a cosmologist studies how the world was formed.
2. Yes, because new discoveries are made every day,
which can change their current report.
3. A nebula is a large space cloud of gas and dust.
4. Gravity is the force that pulls one object to another.
Answers will vary for the second part of this question.
5. Inertia keeps things moving in a certain direction. For
example, if you roll a bowling ball down a street and nothing gets in its way, it will keep rolling. Answers will vary for
the second part of this question.
6. The nebula contracted, so the particles and dust
became dense. Gravity helped pulled these particles and
dust into clumps. Nuclear reactions occurred within the
ball, which created heat and light.
7. When the sun was forming, there were rings around it.
Not every bit of the nebula's particles and dust were
pulled into the sun. These leftovers formed small swirling
clouds, which condensed as well. These new masses
were too small to cause nuclear fusion, so they became
the planets.
8. Gravity and inertia are balanced with one another.
Gravity keeps the planets pulled towards the sun and
inertia tries to carry them in a straight line out into space.
9. Gas Giants are made of gases poisonous to humans.
Neither humans nor plant life could survive.
10. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus,
Neptune, and Pluto
11. Mars is so close. It would take so many years to study
Neptune.
12. Pluto is made of ice, rock, and metal. Therefore, it
8
does not fit either category.
13. Asteroids.
14. Comets mostly stay far beyond Pluto in the Oort
Cloud. Comets we see are tugged from the Oort Cloud
by gravity from Neptune and thrown towards the sun and
Earth.
15. Answers may vary.
Blackline Master, Cloze Activity
1. gravity
2. spheres 3. bigger
4. planets
5. ground
6. inertia
7. straight
8. force
9. direction 10. holds
11. balance
Blackline Master 6, Venn Diagram
Answers will vary. Encourage students to share ideas
and add to their Venn Diagram. Make sure that they have
the correct qualities under each type of planet.
Blackline Master 7, The Power of the Sun
The students' answers will vary. Highlight scientific
responses, such as photosynthesis, human existence,
etc.
Blackline Master 8, Post-Test
1. T
6. D
2. B
7. D
3. A
8. B
4. A
9. D
5. B
10. B
Script of Narration
A Spin Around the Solar System:
How The Solar System Works
What do we know about the solar system, this group of
nine planets that circle the sun? We know things move…
they spin, circle, and speed through space. We know
they grow, shrink, crash and explode. We think we know
how old the solar system is, and maybe even how it
formed. We also understand some of the forces that keep
the solar system working.
9
What's in the solar system?
• The sun. Solar means sun.
• Nine planets, including Earth, that circle the sun.
• More than 65 moons and a number of rings that circle
four of the planets.
• Countless asteroids, which are small chunks of rock and
metal that circle the sun like tiny planets
• Comets, which are ice balls mixed with rock and metal
dust. We see them once in a while.
• Waves of energy and particles, and unseen forces such
as gravity that help make things work.
• A variety of space gases and dusts.
• And space - lots of space. Our solar system stretches
across trillions of miles or kilometers of space.
So our solar system has lots of different parts. They are
tied together by the sun's gravity.
Cosmologists, scientists who investigate how the world
formed, think the solar system started developing about
four and a half billion years ago near the edge of a group
of billions of stars called the Milky Way galaxy. Here, a
large space cloud of gas and dust called a nebula, began
swirling and contracting, to become smaller and tighter.
As the nebula contracted, particles of dust and gas condensed, like drops of rain in a thundercloud. Soon another force helped draw the particles together into clumps gravity.
Gravity is an unseen force that pulls one object to another. On Earth, for example, gravity pulls an apple that falls
from a tree to the ground. While the solar system formed,
for hundreds of millions of years condensation and gravity pulled nebula gas and dust into an ever tightening
sphere.
When the sphere was more than a million times larger
than our Earth, the heat and pressure inside started a
chain of nuclear reactions. A new star, our sun, began to
shine.
Some leftover gas and dust remained nearby, forming
10
small swirling clouds that circled the sun.
Eventually these clouds packed together, in much the
same way as they had for the sun. The new masses, too
small to cause nuclear fusion, became the planets of our
solar system.
Gravity not only helped build the solar system by pulling
gas, dust and other space debris into spheres, gravity
keeps it together. Without gravity planets would fly away
from the sun.
One law of gravity states that bigger objects have
stronger pull. The sun has 99% of the solar system's total
mass. Its powerful gravity holds the planets in orbit.
But if gravity were the only force at work on the planets,
the planets would fall to the sun, like an apple falling to
the ground.
A second force called inertia prevents this. Inertia keeps
things moving in certain ways. For example, a ball you
throw in a straight line will continue straight because of
inertia. In space, inertia will carry a spacecraft in a straight
line forever, unless another force such as gravity or rocket engine thrust changes its direction.
Inertia tries to move planets in a straight line out into
space, away from the sun, but gravity holds them in.
Fortunately for each of the nine planets, gravity and inertia are in balance with each other, and the planets go
round and round the sun.
The planets also spin round and round their axis. Inertia
helps keep spinning objects spinning. Our planets have
probably been spinning ever since they formed from a
spinning nebula that was on a spinning galaxy.
Let's look a little closer at the sun. Well, not directly at it,
because that can cause blindness. Our sun is a mediumsized star made mostly of hydrogen gas, like the nebula
that formed it.
The sun produces heat and light through nuclear fusion.
11
Deep inside the sun, immense heat and pressure cause
the hydrogen atoms to collide so hard they weld, or fuse,
together. The fused hydrogen atoms make a different kind
of gas - helium.
The new helium atom, however, weighs less than the two
hydrogen atoms before fusion. What happens to the
missing hydrogen matter? It changes into energy, an
amazing amount of energy. We can see and feel some of
the light and heat energy on earth, 93 million miles (148
million kilometers) away.
The planets can be divided into three groups. First, there
are four inner rocky planets; second, four outer gas
giants; and third, and farthest from the sun, Pluto. Pluto is
neither a Rocky nor a Gas planet. It's one of a number of
small pieces of the solar system such as comets and
asteroids that remain somewhat of a puzzle.
Lets turn to the inner rocky planets for a moment. These
include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. All the rocky
planets are small and have crusts of rock. These planets
are also denser than the outer planets. That is, a bucketful of a rocky planet weighs more than a bucketful of a gas
planet.
The rocky planets all appear earthlike, so they are sometimes called the terrestrials. Terrestrial means earth.
Mars is the farthest rocky planet from the sun. Mars might
even have or at one time had microscopic life similar to
Earth's.
Beyond Mars lie the four gas giants. These are enormous
spheres of gas such as hydrogen, helium and methane.
Gas Giants have deep, swirling, poisonous atmospheres,
which give way to slushy oceans of frozen gasses. The
planets don't have solid surfaces like the rocky planets,
though deep inside may be layers of hard frozen gases.
Each gas giant has moons, rings, or both.
The closest gas planet is Jupiter, the solar system's
largest planet. It's 1400 times the size of earth. Next is
Saturn, which has spectacular rings that are thousands of
12
miles or kilometers wide. Then there is Uranus, which
leans over so much its axis points directly to the sun. The
last gas giant, Neptune, is so far away its sunlight is more
than a thousand times dimmer than on earth.
Beyond Neptune lies Pluto, our smallest, most distant
planet. It's forty times farther from the sun than Earth.
This cold chunk of ice, rock and metal may not have
formed the same way as the other planets. Pluto also has
an oversized moon called Charon, and appears to share
its orbit area with thousands of newly discovered small
objects called Kuiper Belt Objects. In addition to Kuiper
Belt Objects, a couple of other groups of small pieces
orbit in the solar system. These include asteroids. There
are hundreds of thousands of asteroids, which resemble
miniature planets ranging in size from a peanut up to
nearly 600 miles, or 1000 kilometers, across. Most asteroids circle the sun in a belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Some astronomers believe asteroids are pieces of a planet that could not put itself together because of the strong
pull of Jupiter's gravity. Many scientists also think an
asteroid hit the earth 65 million years ago and helped
cause the extinction of dinosaurs.
Once in a while a comet comes close to Earth, too. Comets are famous for bright tails millions of miles long.
However, the head, or nucleus, of an average comet is
only about 15 miles, or 20 kilometers, in diameter. As the
nucleus approaches the sun it forms a glowing coma a
few hundred miles or kilometers across. The spectacular
tail that follows is made of escaping dust and gas that look
on fire from the sunlight they reflect.
Comets mostly stay far beyond Pluto in an area called the
Oort Cloud, where there are billions of them. Comets we
see have been knocked out of the Oort Cloud.
Somewhere on the outside edge of the Oort Cloud we
meet the Heliopause. The Heliopause marks the end of
the sun's gravitational grasp, and the end of the solar system.
Our solar system is both simple and complex. The basic
13
concepts of gravity, inertia, and even nuclear fusion, are
fairly easy to understand. But uncovering the details of
how and why these things work will challenge scientists
far into the future.
Our solar system spans trillions of miles or kilometers.
Still, it is just a grain of sand on an immense beach that
makes up the Milky Way galaxy, which in turn is surrounded by countless other galaxies and endless oceans
of deep space. Amazingly, the same forces that make our
solar system work, work across it all.
VIDEO QUIZ
Let's take a few minutes to review some of the things you
learned in this video. In the following quiz, fill in the
blanks with the correct words when you hear this tone.
Good luck. And let's begin.
1. Our solar system has lots of different parts, all tied
together by the sun's _____.
2. We sit near the edge of the ____ _____ Galaxy.
3. _____ is an unseen force that pulls one object to another.
4. What force keeps the planets from being pulled into the
sun?
5.In the sun ____ _____ produces an amazing amount of
energy, some of which we can see and feel 93 million
miles away.
6.The four inner planets include ____, Venus, Earth, and
____.
7.The four Gas Giants include ___, ____, Uranus, and
Neptune.
8. Our smallest, most distant planet is _____.
9. Kuiper Belt Objects and _____ are among the groups
of small objects that orbit in the solar system with planets.
14
10. True or False: The Heliopause marks the end of the
sun's gravitational grasp and the end of the solar system.
15
1
Name___________________
HOW THE SOLAR SYSTEM WORKS
Word Splash
Directions: Create sentences using as many of the following words as possible.
comet
axis
nuclear fusion
atmosphere
gravity
c osm ologists
gas giant
inertia
helium
terrestrial
asteroid
contract
hydrogen
nebula
rocky planets
sphere
fusion
©2001 Maslowski Wildlife Productions
Published and Distributed by United Learning
All rights to print materials cleared for classroom duplication and distribution.
2
Name___________________
HOW THE SOLAR SYSTEM WORKS
Anticipation Guide
Directions: Answer the following questions by circling the correct response. Do your best!
1. Cosmologists investigate how the world was formed.
True False
2. Contracting means becoming bigger.
True False
3. A nebula is a large space cloud made of gas and dust.
True False
4. Gravity helped build the solar system.
True False
5. The force known as inertia blocks objects from moving.
True False
6. Planets spin upon their axes.
True False
7. Our sun is made mostly of helium.
True False
8. Nuclear fusion causes heat and light from within the sun.
True False
9. The inner planets are known as Gas Giants.
True False
10. Terrestrial means Mars.
True False
11. Pluto is categorized as a Rocky Planet.
True False
12. Gas Giants have poisonous atmospheres.
True False
13. The Oort Cloud contains many comets.
True False
14. The Milky Way galaxy is the only galaxy.
True False
15. The Heliopause marks the end of the Solar System.
True False
After viewing the program, review your answers. See how many questions you answered correctly.
Review the ones you answered incorrectly.
©2001 Maslowski Wildlife Productions
Published and Distributed by United Learning
All rights to print materials cleared for classroom duplication and distribution.
3
Name___________________
HOW THE SOLAR SYSTEM WORKS
Video Quiz
Directions: Now that you have viewed the video, let's challenge your memory by answering
some quiz questions. Fill in the blanks with the correct words. Good luck!
1. Our solar system has lots of different parts, all tied together by the sun's _____.
2. We sit near the edge of the ____ _____ galaxy.
3. ________ is an unseen force that pulls one object to another.
4. What force keeps the planets from being pulled into the sun? ___________________
5. In the sun, _______ ________ produces an amazing amount of energy, some of which
we can see and feel 93 million miles away.
6. The four inner planets include ___________ , Venus, Earth, and _________ .
7. The four Gas Giants include ____________ , ___________, Uranus and Neptune.
8. Our smallest, most distant planet is __________ .
9. Kuiper Belt Objects and ____________ are among the groups of small objects that orbit
in the solar system with planets.
10. True or False: The Heliopause marks the end of the sun's gravitational grasp and the
end of the solar system. ______
©2001 Maslowski Wildlife Productions
Published and Distributed by United Learning
All rights to print materials cleared for classroom duplication and distribution.
4
Name___________________
HOW THE SOLAR SYSTEM WORKS
Discussion Questions
Directions: Answer the following questions as directed by your teacher.
1. What is the job of a cosmologist? What is the difference between a cosmologist and an
astrologist?
2. Do you think that cosmologists’ jobs will be available in the future, since they already can
explain how the world is formed?
3. Explain what a nebula is.
4. What is gravity? Can you provide an example of gravity?
5. What is inertia? Can you provide an example of inertia?
6. How could a nebula become something as huge as the sun?
7. How were the planets formed?
8. What keeps the planets and sun in place? In other words, why are they not floating
around and bumping into one another?
9. Why do humans prefer to live on a Rocky Planet?
10. Can you name the nine planets?
11. Why do we know so much about Mars and so little about the Neptune, comparatively?
12. Why is Pluto considered neither a Gas Giant nor a Rocky Planet?
13. What objects are found in the Kuiper Belt?
14. How do comets come towards the Earth?
15. What do you think lies beyond the Heliopause?
©2001 Maslowski Wildlife Productions
Published and Distributed by United Learning
All rights to print materials cleared for classroom duplication and distribution.
5
Name___________________
HOW THE SOLAR SYSTEM WORKS
Cloze Activity
Directions: Choose the correct word from the word box to complete the paragraph below.
direction
spheres
balance
gravity
bigger
ground
force
planets
straight
holds
inertia
(1.) _____________________ not only helped build the solar system by pulling gas, dust,
and other space debris into (2.) ____________________ , it also helps to keep it together.
Without gravity, planets would fly away from the sun. One of the laws of gravity states that
(3.) _________________ objects have stronger gravity. The sun is 99.8% of the solar system's total mass. This makes the sun's gravity so powerful, it holds the (4.) ____________ .
But if gravity were the only force at work on the planets, the planets would be pulled into the
sun, like an apple falling to the (5.) __________________ . The second force that keeps the
planets away is called (6.) ____________________ . This force keeps things moving in certain ways. For example, objects such as spacecraft would move in a (7.) ____________ line
forever, unless another (8.) __________________ , such as gravity, slowed it down or
changed its (9.) _________________ . Inertia tries to carry planets on a straight line out
into space, away from the sun, but gravity (10.) _________________ them in. Fortunately
for each of the nine planets, gravity and inertia are in (11.) ________________ with each
other, and the planets go around the sun.
©2001 Maslowski Wildlife Productions
Published and Distributed by United Learning
All rights to print materials cleared for classroom duplication and distribution.
6
Name___________________
HOW THE SOLAR SYSTEM WORKS
Venn Diagram
Directions: Fill in the Venn Diagram below. Under the circle labeled Rocky Planets, write in
everything you know about Rocky Planets. Under the circle labeled Gas Giants, write in everything
you know about Gas Giants. Where the two circles intersect, write any common qualities that
Rocky Planets and Gas Giants share.
©2001 Maslowski Wildlife Productions
Published and Distributed by United Learning
All rights to print materials cleared for classroom duplication and distribution.
7
Name___________________
HOW THE SOLAR SYSTEM WORKS
The Power of the Sun
The sun provides the solar system with three essential powers: heat, light, and gravity.
Below, write about how the sun affects your life with these three powers. Before you write,
think of all the ways you need these things in your life. Use complete sentences and double-check your work!
Heat:
Gravity:
Light:
©2001 Maslowski Wildlife Productions
Published and Distributed by United Learning
All rights to print materials cleared for classroom duplication and distribution.
8
Name___________________
HOW THE SOLAR SYSTEM WORKS
Post-Test
Directions: Answer the following questions by circling the correct answer. Remember to double-check your work for
accuracy after you have completed the test. Do your best!
1. A contracting nebula formed the sun.
A. True
B. False
2. Cosmologists study what area of science?
A. Astrology
B. How the world was formed
C. Make-up and hair application
3. Gravity is
A. the force that keeps things moving in certain ways.
B. the force that pulls one object to another.
4. Nuclear fusion caused which of the following to happen?
A. Created heat and light within the sun.
B. Created the planets.
C. Created the moon.
5. Inertia is the only force that keeps the nine planets in line with the sun.
A. True
B. False
6. The sun provides us with which of the following?
A. Ultraviolet rays
B. Light
C. Heat
D. B and C only
7. The sun is made mostly of which gas?
A. Oxygen
B. Methane
C. Helium
D. Hydrogen
8. Gas Giants are different from Rocky Planets in which of the following ways?
A. Gas Giants are denser than rocky planets.
B. Gas Giants have poisonous atmospheres.
C. Gas Giants weigh more than Rocky Planets.
9. Which of the following are additional parts to the solar system?
A. Comets
B. Heliopause
C. Oort Cloud
D. All of the above
10. The word terrestrial refers to which of the following?
A Sun
B. Earth
C. Moon
D. Rocky Planets
©2001 Maslowski Wildlife Productions
Published and Distributed by United Learning
All rights to print materials cleared for classroom duplication and distribution.