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Name: All of the planets are different, with their own features or characteristics. They’re made of different things, they have different orbits around the Sun and are different distances from the Sun. Find a picture of each of the planets to paste in the space provided. Mercury Mercury is rocky and covered in a fine soil. It has lots of craters because it has no atmosphere, and matter from space crashes into its surface easily. There is evidence of ice at its north pole but there is no liquid water. Mercury has no moons. It is the fastest moving planet and is only 60 million km away from the Sun. It completes its orbit in 88 Earth days. Mercury’s diameter is 4879km wide and has an average temperature of 167°C. Venus Venus has a bare, rocky surface with many volcanoes, mountains and canyons. Its thick atmosphere is made of carbon dioxide (CO2). This atmosphere traps the Sun’s rays and this makes it the hottest planet in our Solar System. It has very strong winds blowing in the atmosphere. There is no water, and Venus has no moon. Venus is 108 million km from the Sun and completes its orbit in 225 Earth days. Its diameter is 12 104km and it has an average temperature of 464°C. Earth Our home planet is a rocky planet covered in soil and water. Our atmosphere has Oxygen (O2) (which animals take in) and Carbon dioxide (CO2) (which plants take in). Earth looks blue from space because of all the water on its surface – hence its name “The Blue Planet”. Earth is the only planet in our Solar System that supports life. It has one moon and is 150 million km from the Sun. Earth’s orbit takes 365 days and it has an average temperature of 15°C. Earth’s diameter is 12 756km wide. © e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za GRADE 6 Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Systems and Control: The Solar System: Sun, Planets and Asteroids (2) The planets of the Solar System GRADE 6 Mars is called “The Red Planet” because of its red appearance due to all of the red dust that covers its rocky surface. Mars has volcanic mountains, the most famous of which is Olympus Mons, which is 28km high! Mars is a cold and windy planet with many dusty windstorms in its atmosphere, which is very thin. There is evidence of water on Mars such as the dried riverbeds and ice at the planet’s north and south poles. Mars has two moons. It has a diameter of 6792km wide and an average temperature of -65°C. Mars is 228 million km from the Sun and orbits the Sun in about 687 Earth days. Jupiter Jupiter is known as a gas planet as it is made of Hydrogen (H) and Helium (He). Jupiter is massive with a diameter that is 11 times the size of Earth’s diameter! It is actually big enough to fit all of the other planets inside of it, and is thus the biggest planet in our Solar System. Jupiter has a streaky appearance because of the strong winds that are blowing the gases in an east to west direction. One of the interesting features on Jupiter is its “Giant Red Spot” – a hurricane or storm of swirling gases. Jupiter has 3 dark rings around it, which are made of dust and it has 67 moons. Jupiter is 779 million km from the Sun and orbits the Sun in almost 12 Earth years! Its diameter is 142 984km wide and it has an average temperature of -110°C. Saturn Saturn is also a gas planet made of Hydrogen and Helium. It is a very light planet. It has seven rings that are made of gas and of ice. The yellow bands on the planet’s surface are made by the fast winds blowing though the gaseous atmosphere. Saturn has 62 moons. It is the last planet we can see with the naked eye from Earth, but its rings can only be seen through a telescope. Saturn is 1434 million km from the Sun and orbits the Sun in 29, 5 Earth years. Its diameter in 120 536km wide and its average temperature is -140°C. Uranus Uranus is a frozen gas planet made of Hydrogen, Helium and Methane (which gives it its blue-green colour). Uranus’ axis is tilted so that it looks like the planet is lying on its side. Due to this, it is the only planet that rotates on its side. It has 9 dark rings © e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Systems and Control: The Solar System: Sun, Planets and Asteroids (2) Mars Neptune Neptune is very similar to Uranus as it is also made from frozen Hydrogen, Helium and Methane, and it also has a blue-green colour. It has incredibly fast winds which has earned it the title of the “windiest planet”. Neptune has 14 moons and 6 dark rings – we have not yet discovered what these rings are made of. Neptune is 4495 million km away from the Sun and has an orbit of approximately 165 Earth years (It has only orbited once since its discovery in 1846). Its diameter is 49 528km wide and its average temperature is -200°C. The Asteroid Belt In the space between the four rocky planets and the gas/ice planets, there is a “belt” of asteroids orbiting the Sun. These asteroids are big pieces of rock – some are as big as 1000km in diameter, others are only the size of a car. Activity Copy and complete this table in your class workbook and use the information in this worksheet to complete it. Planet What is it made of? Diameter Number Number Average Distance Length (km) of rings of moons surface from the of year temp. Sun (°C) Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune © e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za GRADE 6 Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Systems and Control: The Solar System: Sun, Planets and Asteroids (2) and 2 bright rings as well as 27 moons that we know about. Uranus is 2873 million km from the Sun and orbits the Sun every 84 Earth years. Uranus orbits the Sun in the opposite direction to all of the other planets. Its diameter is 51 118km wide and its average temperature is -195°C. GRADE 6 1) Which planet is the closest to the Sun and which is the farthest from the Sun? _________________________________________________________________ 2) Which is the smallest planet and which is the largest? ________________________________________________________________ 3) Which planet is almost the same size as Earth? _________________________________________________________________ 4) Which of the outer planets are made of frozen gas? _________________________________________________________________ 5) How does the temperature of the planets relate to the distance of the planet from the Sun? _________________________________________________________________ 6) Which planet is famous for the highest volcano in our Solar System? _________________________________________________________________ 7) Which of the rocky planets have NO evidence of water? _________________________________________________________________ © e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Systems and Control: The Solar System: Sun, Planets and Asteroids (2) Answer these questions on the above information: GRADE 6 Here are some pictures of the planets: Most were taken from http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm Mercury Mars Venus Earth Jupiter Saturn UranusNeptune © e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Systems and Control: The Solar System: Sun, Planets and Asteroids (2) Answer sheet GRADE 6 Copy and complete this table in your class workbook and use the information in this worksheet to complete it. Planet What is Diameter it made (km) of? Number of rings Number of Average moons surface temp. Mercury Rock 4879km 0 0 (°C) 167°C Venus Rock 12104km 0 0 464°C Earth Rock 12756km 0 1 15°C Mars Rock 6792km 0 2 -65°C Jupiter Gas 142984km 3 67 -110°C Saturn Gas 120536km 7 62 -140°C Uranus Gas/Ice 51118km 11 27 -195°C Neptune Gas/Ice 49528km 6 14 -200°C Distance from the Sun Length of year 60 million km 108 million km 150 million km 228 million km 779 million km 1434 million km 2873 million km 4495 million km 88 Earth days 225 Earth days 365 Earth days 687 Earth days 12 Earth years 29,5 Earth years 84 Earth years 165 Earth years A good resource to have a look at is this site: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ factsheet/index.html (for all the updated measurements). Answer these questions about the above information: 1) Which planet is the closest to the Sun and which is the farthest from the Sun? Mercury is the closest and Neptune is the farthest. 2) Which is the smallest planet and which is the largest? The smallest planet is Mercury and the largest is Jupiter. © e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Systems and Control: The Solar System: Sun, Planets and Asteroids (2) Activity GRADE 6 Venus is almost as large as Earth. 4) Which of the outer planets are made of frozen gas? Uranus and Neptune are made of frozen gases. 5) How does the Temperature of the planets relate to the distance of the planet from the Sun? The closer the planet is to the Sun the hotter it is. (Note that the presence of an atmosphere and what gases that atmosphere contains also play a role in the temperature of the planet. For example, Mercury is much closer to the Sun than Venus is, but Venus’s atmosphere is thick and full of CO2 which traps the rays from the Sun. This makes the average temperature of Venus much higher than Mercury’s.) 6) Which planet is famous for the highest volcano in our Solar System? Mars is famous for Olympus Mons which is 28km high! 7) Which of the rocky planets has NO evidence of water? Venus has no evidence of water. (A good higher-order-thinking question to ask is WHY?) The reason is probably that if there was water at any point on the planet of Venus, it probably evaporated very quickly due to the high temperatures!) © e-classroom 2014 www.e-classroom.co.za Grade 6 Natural Science and Technology; Planet Earth and Beyond; Technology: Systems and Control: The Solar System: Sun, Planets and Asteroids (2) 3) Which planet is almost the same size as Earth?