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Name Date Class The Outer Planets Inquiry Warm-Up, How Big Are the Planets? In the Inquiry Warm-Up, you investigated the relative sizes of the outer planets. Using what you learned from that activity, answer the questions below. 1. EXPLAIN Explain how in Step 2 you calculated the relative diameter of Jupiter in millimeters. 2. CALCULATE About how many Neptunes would you have to place side by side in order to equal the diameter of Jupiter? 3. INFER Based on their relative sizes, would you expect Saturn or Neptune to have the least mass? Explain. 4. ANALYZE SOURCES OF ERROR Explain whether a diagram, a data table, or a pie chart is better to use to precisely compare the sizes of the outer planets. Name Date The Outer Planets What Do the Outer Planets Have in Common? I get it! Now I know that the gas giants all I need extra help with What Are the Characteristics of Each Outer Planet? 1. DESCRIBE Describe one feature of each outer planet that distinguishes it from the others. I get it! Now I know that the outer planets differ in I need extra help with Class Name Date Class The Outer Planets On a separate sheet of paper, explain how the four outer planets are alike and tell one distinctive thing about each. Name Date Class The Outer Planets Understanding Main Ideas Answer the following questions in the spaces provided. 1. What are the outer planets? 2. Which planets are the gas giants? 3. Which planet is by far the most massive of all the planets that revolve around the sun? 4. What are Saturn’s rings made of? 5. Describe the tilt of Uranus’s axis, and explain how the tilt affects Uranus’s rotation as viewed from Earth. 6. Name one feature of Neptune’s atmosphere. Building Vocabulary Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. 7. Define gas giant. 8. What is a ring? Name Date Class The Outer Planets The diagram below shows the orbits of Neptune and Pluto. Read the passage and study the diagram. Then answer the questions that follow on a separate sheet of paper. The Orbits of Neptune and Pluto Pluto is a celestial body known as a dwarf planet. It orbits the sun and has a roundish shape, but has not cleared other objects out of the path of its orbit, a qualification for full planet status. Pluto was once thought of as a planet, but scientists downgraded it to a dwarf planet in 2006. The orbit of Neptune is very close to circular. Pluto’s orbit is more elliptical. The arrows on the diagram show Pluto’s position at different times. The unit of distance used in the diagram is the astronomical unit, or a.u. An a.u. is the average distance from Earth to the sun, about 150 million kilometers. Neptune’s distance from the sun is about 30 astronomical units, or 4,495 million kilometers. 1. In 1989, Pluto was as close to the sun as it ever gets. How close was it? 2. What was Neptune’s distance from the sun in 1989? 3. Pluto takes 248 years to complete on revolution around the sun. When will Pluto and Neptune next be an equal distance from the sun? 4. When will Pluto next be as far from the sun as it ever gets? 5. Which body is farther from the sun now, Neptune or Pluto? Name Date Class The Outer Planets Fill in the blank to complete each statement. 1. All the outer planets have many 13 to greater than 60. 2. A(n) , which range in number from is a thin disk of small particles of ice and rock. 3. Because the four outer planets are so large, they are often called . 4. A few scientists believe that Saturn’s largest moon, support life. 5. Uranus’s axis is tilted at an angle of about vertical. , may degrees from the If the statement is true, write true. If the statement is false, change the underlined word or words to make the statement true. 6. Temperatures decrease tremendously from the outer to inner layers of the gas giants. All the gas giants’ atmospheres are made up primarily of 7. helium and oxygen. 8. Space telescopes such as Cassini have revealed many details of the outer planets. 9. Uranus is three times as far from the sun as Saturn, so it is much colder. 10. Neptune’s blue color comes from methane in its atmosphere. The Outer Planets Answer Key 1. I found the diameter of the quarter and then multiplied by 11.2. 2. about four 3. Ignoring all other factors, the smallest planet should have the least mass. Neptune should have less mass than Saturn. 1. 29 a.u. 2. 30 a.u. 3. In 2227 (1979 + 248) 4. In 2113 (1989 + 124) 5. Pluto (after February 1999) 4. A data table would provide more accurate data to use in precisely comparing the sizes of the outer planets. Sample: The four outer planets, known as the “gas giants,” all contain hydrogen and helium. They all have many moons and are surrounded by a set of rings. Jupiter has an enormous storm, larger than Earth, called the Great Red Spot. Saturn has the most spectacular rings. Viewed from Earth, Uranus rotates from top to bottom, because its axis of rotation is tilted at about 90 degrees from the vertical. Neptune’s atmosphere has visible clouds. 1. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune 2. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune 3. Jupiter 4. chunks of ice and rock 5. Uranus’s axis is tilted at 90 degrees from the vertical. Viewed from Earth, Uranus rotates from top to bottom instead of from side to side. 6. Sample: Visible clouds 7. Sample: A planet that is very large and does not have a solid surface 8. a thin disk of small particles of ice and rock 1. moons 2. ring 3. gas giants 4. Titan 5. 90 6. increase 7. hydrogen 8. probes 9. twice 10. true